The dog haters' coalition
A reader comment this week directed folks to the website dogassault.com.
It's a group that bills itself not as dog haters, but as a “human rights organization" that believes dogs and dog owners are getting away with too much.
They’ve had it with the barking, the biting, the pooping, and they’re calling upon Americans to join together and turn in dogs who bark too much, owners who don't pick up their dog's waste and to report to police and animal control departments dogs who appear violent or poorly behaved.
From looking it over, they seem to be a group that wants more order in their universe and sees dogs as antithesis of that. And though its leaders profess to be pet owners, its literature makes it sound like they would prefer a world whose canine population was limited to Aibos.
While the site doesn’t call for an all-out, world-wide dog ban, it refers readers to another site that does -- the “No Dogs Anywhere” movement (and let’s hope it’s a small movement), whose petition to rid the world of dogs can be found here.
Last I checked, the petition had 22 signatures -- a dozen from the U.S. and 10 from Australia, where the man behind the petition, Peter Bright, lives. He's also behind a website called quietas.net, which pushes for a quieter (and barkless) Tasmania.
Tasmania, an Australian friend told me, is looked at by some Australians the way some Americans look at West Virginia. She said that, not me. I consider West Virginia wild, wet and wonderful.
Anyway, here’s Mr. Bright’s petition:
"The selfish and reckless determination of many owners to keep domestic dogs under circumstances which are entirely unnatural to a creature congenitally programmed to free-range has been allowed by default to become an uncontrolled plague causing almost universal distress to man and dog to such a disruptive extent that while consequent human suffering is increasing exponentially millions of these cruelly victimised creatures are now being euthanised annually …
"We, the undersigned acting compassionately in the interests of human and animal welfare, require all regulatory and control authorities to recognise the suffering and cruelty being inflicted on dogs, and as a consequence through barking and bloody attacks, on mankind everywhere.
"We petition to legislate for the removal of dogs from societies everywhere except in special cases where this animal's behaviour is socially beneficial."
Some regular readers might wonder, why even write about this guy – why give credence to websites that contain so much misleading information? For one thing, because of the threat they pose. For another, Mutts believes everyone should be allowed to get their barks in, even those with whom we so strongly disagree.
I don’t know the man, but personally, given a choice between living next door to Peter Bright or a perpetually barking dog, I believe I would choose the latter. And really, when it comes right down to it, how much difference is there between the two? Both want something. Both are not getting it. Both are frustrated, starved for attention, and demanding to be heard.
Yes, dogs can be annoying – though as a rule I find people more so – and, yes, living next door to a constantly barking dog can leave one’s nerves on edge. The same is true of living next door to crying babies, drug dealers and out of control frat boys.
The answer isn’t to wipe them off the face of the earth, but to address and solve the underlying problems – one at a time.
The Dogassault website also contains llink to a YouTube video recorded by a man in Norman, Okla., who lives next to a barking dog – a disruption of what, from listening to him, sounds like a very neat and orderly life. In it, you can’t really see much. But you can get a sense of how crazy a steadily barking dog can drive someone, which is especially true of people who were maybe already headed in that direction.
Comments
Thank you for recognizing DOGASSAULT.com as a threat to the inconsiderate, irresponsible, disrespectful, abusive, and illegal behaviors of bad dog owners. That's our goal! But please don't group the dog lovers in the same group as they are clearly a different breed of owner. We also don't want to turn dogs into the authorities - it's not their fault they have bad owners. We want to eradicate the bad dog owner behaviors. So regarding "misleading information", I hope this helps clarify your misinterpretation of the facts. If you have any other questions, don't hesitate to write another blog.
Posted by: Chris LeClair | February 28, 2008 4:31 PM
I think dogs belong safely inside the house at night, sleeping peacefully on the sofa. I hate having my sleep stolen from me by barking dogs, but I know it's a human problem not a bad dog. Lately I've had some luck with pro-active Milk Bones....
A rottweiler lives behind me, and I don't think her owner feeds her enough or gives her enough attention. Last year, after a severe cold snap and a night spent listening to Miss Rottie's (I don't know her real name) sad barking, I took an old wool blanket to the owner and said I wanted to give it to his dog since she seemed to be very cold inside her plastic dog house. I think this act shamed the owner into taking his dog inside on many other cold nights last year. Miss Rottie has been barking a lot again recently, so I've been sneaking her a couple big Milk Bones through the fence at bedtime. Just a little attention and a little food seems to quiet her, and I get a better night's sleep, too.
It'd be nice if human beings had to possess a certain level of caring, intelligence, and responsibility before they could get a dog. (And I wish every kind and caring person who likes dogs could be around one, especially people in institutions or people of modest means.) Neither the world nor my neighborhood are perfect for people and dogs, but I've been pleased with how a simple act seems to be making things better for one dog and for me.
Posted by: Mary Schmidt | February 28, 2008 6:29 PM
Let's talk about crazy. Every time I read about a baby being murdered by a dog, it makes me insane. Every time I have to listen to the neighbor's dogs bark for hours starting at six am and going until midnight, it makes me insane. Every time I see RV tourists allowing their dog to crap in my town's park without cleaning it up, it makes me insane. Everytime I jog down my neighborhood street and the vicious dog on the corner is again out running loose, it makes me insane, especially when I have my well-behaved dog helplessly trapped on a leash jogging beside me. Yes, those of us torment by these out of control dogs might be already heading toward an insanity diagnosis, but why is it too much to expect the rude, aggressive, anti-social dog owners who are truly the mentally ill to be considerate and socially responsible in an overpopulated world? We'd like to stop the aggression and terrorism at the source - the bad dog owner. Peter Bright, on the other hand, has been fighting this bad dog owner epidemic for much longer than we have and maybe he is much more discouraged in his efforts. IF society cannot possibly control these dog-owning sociopaths, then perhaps banning dogs is the only solution? I'd like to think there is another option, but maybe I'm just a little too idealistic? Time will tell.
Posted by: Jay Monroe | February 28, 2008 7:51 PM
Webster's Dictionary defines "mutt" as: a stupid person, a blockhead, and: a mongrel dog, a cur.
The same dictionary defines "cur" as: a mongrel dog, a person who is mean and contemptible.
"Mutts" is a perfect reflection of the under-educated, uninformed, selfish opinions by the writer of this silly column.
We do not know if the State of Tasmania can be compared to West Virginia, but what we do know is that Australia's imperfect (compared to the USA) animal control laws are at least 20-30 years ahead of yours, where many of your State authorities permit the confinement of more than two dogs per domestic property. Some of the comments in this column illustrate exactly why home dwellers are demanding that their families, especially their children, be protected from other people's dogs. They are organising to express the rightful view that they no longer accept exposure to widespread, toxic, stressful barking pollution, degraded domestic hygiene and poop-infested public areas. All this going on in what used to be, an attractive, courteous country?
Lift your game, America.
Posted by: Joe Isaac | February 29, 2008 12:40 AM
Feb.29, 2008
2 working dogs across the road barking all day long (never walked, never trained and left alone in a tiny yard for over 4 years) caused me so much stress I developed invasive, aggressive breast cancer, and am presently on chemotherapy. 2 neighbours, too intimidated to support my complaint, and stressed out to blazes, sold and moved. The World Health Organisation, the U.S.A. EPA, the Australian Gvt., and many others have now proved beyond any doubt that noise is a deadly toxin. Yet Councils still put the right of an irresponsible dog owner to keep a barking dog way above human health and the right of a person to enjoy the privacy of their own homes.
One day you might cop a non-stop barking dog next to y ou - then you will understand it is pure torture for the victim - and the dog also.
Audrey Robb, Queensland, Auystralia
Posted by: audrey robb | February 29, 2008 12:54 AM
I've had three non-stop barking dogs next to me for two years. The owners have told me "we live here now and YOU no longer get a quiet neighborhood." I've been bitten by three dogs in the past two years to the point I no longer want to go for walks. Even after my reports to the police these dogs are still running loose. I read about children getting killed by the family pet and so many people attacked by dogs. What is wrong with society to allow these abuses to continue pretending all dogs are perfect and those that aren't are just a minor inconvenience to be ignored. I should have a right to live in my own home, on my own property free from bad dog owner harassment. I should be able to freely walk down a public street without vicious dogs attacking me. We live in an overpopulated world that is now becoming overpopulated with out of control dogs. There is no reason why these bad dog owners cannot control their dogs and be accountable for their behaviors. I truly appreciate the efforts of Peter Bright and DogAssault.com and all the groups and individuals out there who are working toward a safer world free from dog assault.
Posted by: Candace McCay | February 29, 2008 8:34 AM
When I first moved to my current place we were surrounded by Rottweiler owners. One could not safely go for a walk anywhere. Am glad the Rottweiler Bubble popped and these big ugly and awful dogs are now long gone. Have also had dogs harrassing and killing my small livestock, and coming here to make a mess of the trash cans. Now people down the street have 3 unleashed mutts that threaten me every time I walk past. If they are out in the street when I drive by - well, accidents happen but the next time, I am calling in a complaint to the pound - not the first. Having been a responsible dog owner myself, but having had to put up with others' irresponsible ownership I am in full sympathy of the DA website.
Posted by: Casey Burns | February 29, 2008 11:39 AM
I am Michael Wright, the man in Norman, Oklahoma, who at night made the video of the
barking dog nuisance next door. I appreciate your posting this, but please tell me and link me to it if you hear about others doing the same. The more "trophies" like this I collect, the more power I'll have in demanding that the city council take the animal control and noise control ordinances seriously. I am not a dog-hater but will admit to harsh feelings about irresponsible dog-owners who have let their neglected animals disrupt my life this way.
Posted by: Michael P. Wright | February 29, 2008 12:58 PM
The author of this column does not know or understand the effects of loosing control over what happens in your own house when you are attacked on a regular basis by obnoxious barking dogs. After having the peace of my house stolen for over two years, I will always support Peter Bright in his effort to ban dogs, and I will always support DogAssault.com in their efforts. Please do not compare barking dogs with crying babies, (I have not heard or seen the first crying baby that is left outside all night long to cry until exhaustion). It is best to compare barking dogs with a false alarm going off several times during the day or night. The effect of a baking dog is the same as that of an alarm, they want to alert the owner about something wrong or something that requires attention, the problem with the barking dog, is that the owners decide to ignore its plea, and the victims of the barking have no resource or obligation to tend to the issue, however they will have to listen to it loosing the peace and right to happiness that every property owner is entitled to.
Posted by: Sofia Garcia | February 29, 2008 1:33 PM
John,
Your blog entry entitled “The dog hater’s coalition” brought up the website dogassault.com. But you never discuss the facts that the site is trying to present. Namely that MILLIONS of dogs AND humans are significantly impacted in a very negative manner. Euthanasia (over population), Abuse at the hands of owners (and non-owners), dog bites, and the invasion of homes via barking dogs. All these happen Millions of times each year in our country. Millions of negative occurrences of anything is called an epidemic.
Yet you choose to personally attack the author of a website that is only related to dogassault.com because of a link. Interesting approach. Yet you cut PETA some slack in your 02/18 entry “Buy One Get One Killed”:
“PETA going over the edge, of course, is nothing new. We've come to expect nothing less from them than heavy-handed tactics and a holier than thou attitude. Then again, maybe it does take a sledge hammer to drive these points -- all well worth making -- home. I'd love to hear your opinion on these. (You can send it via the comment button below.)”
Aren’t the facts that dogassault.com (and other sites) present also deserving of “sledge hammer” approach? Why the personal attacks?
In closing, I personally would never of imagined that dog barking could be so harmful - - until a couple of years ago. Did you know that dogs can very easily bark over 1,000 times an hour? 3 hours of barking a day translates into well over 1,000,000 individual barks and thousands of hours of barking in 1 year. How much is too much? Let’s think about the Chinese Water drip torture. Sure, 5 drips won’t impact you. Neither will a couple of hundred. But you start significantly impacting someone when you force something upon them thousands and millions of times. And unlike the smoking bans sweeping this country, where the victims of this toxin could at least GO HOME to escape it, we are force this toxin in our own home - - the American Dream, my Castle, the place I and my family are supposed to release/relax from our daily stresses.
And the root cause is my neighbor’s dogs are not trained, exercised, socialized, and de-sensitized. Shouldn’t this be the true message being sent out? Why the label “Dog Hater”? I can PROVE I’m not a “Dog Hater” because my neighbor’s dogs are still around. I respect their rights, and I admire their desire to be dog owners even in light of all the issues. In return, I expect my rights to be preserved. My wife shouldn’t be on heart medication because of the stress of being assaulted hours a day, day after day, week after week, month after month, NO END IN SITE. I expect my neighbor to be responsible… training, excersize, socialization, etc.
And it’s much more than “leaving one’s nerves on edge”. This isn’t one of those infrequent occurrences we all face a couple of times a year - - where something like a loud noise startles us (scares the crap out of us??), we say ‘boy, that was irritating’, and go our merry way.
I monitor many web sites related to Dog Ownership - - the action web sites, training, forums - - lots of reading. Hum, why did I just write that last sentence? To prove to you I’m not an activist? Why is it bad to be an activist? Why are victims of abuse categorized negatively?
Posted by: Brian Shaul | February 29, 2008 2:37 PM
John Woestendiek, you sad, sad man. You have absolutely NO IDEA what you are saying about living next door to a barking dog rather than live next door to one Mr. Peter Bright. Living next to Peter Brigh would absolutely ensure ones peace and quiet IN ONES OWN HOME. I highlight the words in ones own home because, our homes are their for us to live in, in peace, not for our neighbours dog to remove th peace from. Si I want to seee this challenge, why not move in next door to Mr. Peter Bright? It would not have any impact on your life in any way. But then, move nevxt door to the dog my family had to endure for nearly two years and see how you like it. Move in next door to a sog kennel if you like barking so much. And then try and have the authorities enforce the laws to quiet the dogs if you find the barking too much, which I bet you will find it to be so. You are so full of rubbish, you're a disgrace, ill informed, of poor opinion and ready to make a lame effort to discredit a credible website for no other purpose than to rally offencive, irrresponsible dog owners together. You see the support the dogassault.com website already has now and you will find yourself in the dog house. You are a cheap sensatinalst that has failed seriously in this effort to discredit a website about a most serious issue, AND even worse, chosen to single out a man and try and tear shreds off him, and yet you have not even met or spoken to the man. You are a gutless whimp and a creap!
Go on, rip shreds off me, because I run two anti-barking web site, www.barkactiongroup.org and www.geocities.com/vodaan. The proof is in every news publication about dog attacks and dog barking that these issues are of growing concern. Supporting irresponsible dog owners and lawless government bodies that refuse to enforce the lame laws that exist now is a totally irresponsible act you have undertaken. Basically you are blaming all innocent victims of dog attacks and barking for the issues they were forced to endue due to some other persons ireesponsibility.
Go on you twit, move next door to a mad as hell, insane barking dog and their cowardly bullying shot gun carrying owner, tee that up with an incompetent and ignorant animal control and see how much more happier your life will be.
I have no fear, I'll put my name where it counts. You are the reason idiots think they have rights over and above others to make hell in our communities. As far as I am concerned, you are an antisocial buffon, and one doy, these types of article that you wright will come back and haunt you. I have seen karma in action many times, and yours is about due.
DO not condemn the innocent victims of dog crimes, You may as well bash a sleeping baby. You are the one that has the issues, see your psychiatrist.
Matthew Ridgeway
PO Box 194
Hampton Park
Victoria 3976
Australia
www.barkactiongroup.org
www.geocities.com/vodaan/
Send me your phone number!
Posted by: Matthew idgeway | February 29, 2008 5:01 PM
Sorry about the spelling/typping errors above, I was disturbed by noise at the time!
Posted by: Matthew Ridgeway | February 29, 2008 5:57 PM
Hmm.
Years ago, when my children were attending grammar school, we lived in a neighborhood of row houses and apartments where there were a lot of families with children.
My next door neighbor's son was unable to work due to an illness. Alcoholism is an illness, right? By 2:30, when the children would be walking home from school, he was usually pretty far gone. His hobby was standing on his front porch watching for racially mixed groups of children walking up the hill from school. He would then shout N-WORD! at them in a voice that would scare any youngster to death. Neighbors who protested were greeted with either N-WORD or N-WORD-LOVER.
What to do? I was somewhat intimidated by an obese drunk who was twice my size, not to mention mean and loud. I tried the police but was informed that as long as he wasn't making threats, or using public profanity, or violating city noise ordinances, he was within his right to free speech to yell whatever he wanted from his front porch. The city actually has a department of race relations (or something of the sort), and they said the same thing. I tried the school (thinking it might qualify as child abuse) but with no better luck. The concept of "hate crimes" was pretty undeveloped back then, so there was no help at all.
Oh. He also had an electric guitar with amplifier--a cheap one with lots of feedback.
All this is just to say that there are things out there that are just as bad as barking dogs. Or maybe worse.
Posted by: Anne | February 29, 2008 11:05 PM
I went to school with a kid that had a hideous scar on her leg due to an attack by a loose vicious dog. The dog ripped some of the muscle out of her leg and she had to have surgery. There are numerous attacks like this all across the USA yet all cities still tolerate loose dogs and accomodate vicious dog owners.
A few years after meeting this kid we had our new neighbors move in with two loose dobermans. The dobermans would rush up to me with teeth barred and barking as I would get off the school bus. People in the neighborhood would carry weapons with them if they had to walk past that home. Our family moved and sold the home at a loss.
The first house I bought on my own had bad dog owners next door within 6 months. The people were backyard dog breeders - the same people who you buy your dogs from out of boxes at the local parking lot. The animals were ignored for the most part and barking at every thing from the elderly lady tending her flowers 4 houses down, to me bringing in groceries or merely opening a door or window, at a scared rabbit, at the wind rustling the leaves. They barked day and night - sometimes froth came out of their mouths from barking so much. Eventually they attacked a child - not hurting the child severely- and the owners got rid of these dogs.
The owners then got more dogs who also barked. Barking day and night at every little insignificant daily event in the neighborhood. Again these dogs aren't pets they are inventory to be sold or breeding stock.
Its people like you that support bad dog owners that truely hate dogs. Move next door to a bad dog owner maybe you will enjoy watching and hearing the dogs misery. The barking from a neglected and unloved dog must be music to your ears. Perhaps you hope you will get lucky and be able to also hear the screams of a child being attacked by these neglected and abused dogs. I think the word for people like you is sadist although I can think of a lot of other words which I won't post here.
Posted by: Melanie | March 1, 2008 10:52 AM
Anne, you are absolutely right, there are many other important issues that need to be addressed. We can discuss these at length, but the focus of the victims of dog barking is on dog barking issues. To introduce other issues on this topic will "water down" any efforts made by victims of any issue. You may be thinking there are more important issues, but even so, ALL issues need to be addressed. This is why people are organizing in focus groups to resolve these issues.
If you have had a bad situation such as racial vilification in your neighbourhood, yes, you can do something about it. You could teach the kids coming home from school to call out the the racial abuser, "Ignorant drunken slob!" or "No hoper", "Get a job you oaf". Or I am sure there is a crime of intimidation there, and that as a concerned resident, you could submit a petition by your neighbours to have the issue resolved. I am sure verbal abuse of children is not acceptable in the courts. So, here, you have a course of action you can take. Victims of dog barking and dog attacks have a focus on these issues, and due to our experience, we know we are futher victimised because laws are not strong enough, or even present, nor are they enfoced as vigorously as needed. So as a result, we are taking the same action you should on the loudmouth drunk. Although our problem seems to be wide spread and difficult to have it recognised.
We will still focus on this most important issue of dog barking and dog attacks destroying our communities and force feeding suffering unto the innocent unprovoked.
I congratulate you on seeing the parallels of these problems, but advise you to take up your battles on your issues, and not try and divert our focusses off our issues. As a victim of dog barking for years, and a victim of the lack of animal control generally, I know the severity of this issue, and we must stand firm in the efforts to resolve them and not be distracted by any other issue.
Matthew Ridgeway
www.geocities.com/vodaan/
PO Box 194
Hampton Park
Victoria 3976
Posted by: Matthew Ridgeway | March 1, 2008 7:02 PM
If you're going to get rid of bad dog behavior, you need to do the same for unruly children.
My dog is better behaved than 90% of children today.
Posted by: Carey Hughes | March 2, 2008 12:33 PM
Matthew, I don't often argue back. I have to admit I did not spend too much time on your website because it's pretty well impenetrable to my Macintosh. That, alone, causes me to view it with a jaundiced eye. My point was not to dilute your message but rather to point out that there's a lot of noise out there. If you read my message carefully, you may discern that the incidents related happened a long time ago. We've been able to get decent legal definitions of "hate crime" in many communities, and such incidents are much less frequent now. The same can be done with animal control laws. It takes time and effective action, which means people learning how to complain effectively and learning how to band together to get their point across to their politicians.
Newspaper blogs are great places to interact, but how often have you been on Page 1 of the local section of your local paper?
I'm assuming (though I cannot see for sure) that you are making suggestions for people to organize for effective action. Simply calling the cops or animal control a time or two isn't going to get the job done--nor is insulting folks who happen to have affection for dogs, nor is making emotional appeals.
And hopefully you will get someone to show you how to use a cascading style sheet. That might be a good next step.
Posted by: Anne | March 2, 2008 10:34 PM
Audrey:
A barking dog caused you to get cancer????? really?? seriously??
I agree that stress affects us. How YOU deal with that stress is a whole different issue.
To say that a barking dog CAUSED you to have cancer is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my 15 years in the medical field.
Posted by: carey hughes | March 3, 2008 12:35 PM
Great article. It is very interesting and informative!
Posted by: AnimalEnthusiast | March 22, 2008 3:29 PM
Have your say!
Do you believe we should have dog-free communities?
Please lodge your vote at
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Quiet_Tasmania/
Posted by: Peter Bright | March 22, 2008 6:28 PM
Gee wiz, maby some one could start a stupid petition to shut up all the whinging loonies going on about dogs, heck send them all down to Tasmania!
How peaceful it would be for the world.
Posted by: lotsa space | March 24, 2008 1:23 AM
This new Petition of mine will be much more to your liking!
It's at:
http://gopetition.com/online/17921.html
Thankyou for your keen interest.
Peter Bright
Tasmania
Australia
Posted by: Peter Bright | March 24, 2008 2:49 AM
Carey and Anne,
- This issue being discussed is the epidemic of Irresponsible Dog Ownership that negatively impacts MILLIONS of dogs and humans. Racism and misbehaving children does not justify Irresponsible dog ownership. Take off your coat of teflon.
- Any one of our 5 senses can be overloaded to the point of causing stress, no matter what you try to do about it. The single most important place each of us needs to have is a HOME where we CAN relax from our daily stress.
- Go to this website for a sampling of research that shows the impact of having our hearing overloaded with unwanted sound. Bottom line is if you become stressed, your immune system will be depressed. At this point ANYTHING can happen to you.
http://barkingdogs.net/chartnoise.pdf
Thanks,
Brian
Posted by: Brian Shaul | May 6, 2008 11:45 AM
Brian,
I'm not saying that anything justifies irresponsible dog ownership. I have been educating people about how to take care of their dogs in a responsible way for years.
I personally do not allow more than two barks to escape from my dog before he is corrected. And he LISTENS to me when I correct him. It's called training and it happens on a daily basis in my house.
Unfortunately my neighbors do not take the same measures with their children. They are constantly running through the neighborhood screaming and yelling and playing on MY PROPERTY.
When in public my dog is on a very short leash and is not allowed to approach anyone. He is also not allowed to bark. I cannot say the same for the children of today. I spend most of my time in stores dodging running children who refuse to listen to their parents. And those are the ones whose parents are even trying to correct them. Most parents just see a store as a playground where their kids can get all of their energy out.
Again, I state, my dog is more well behaved than most children out there. And I'm sure you will find this shocking, but I'd take a group of dogs over a group of kids anytime.
Posted by: Carey Hughes | May 6, 2008 1:00 PM
Carey,
I agree with the children misbehaving is bad. Ironically in your scenario, if the child gets hurt the store will get sued. A sad state of affairs we are in.
But at least you can escape the rudeness when you leave the store. Being force fed barking dog noise in your own house for hours on end, day after day, week after week, and month after month has a very negative affect. I believe my wife is now on heart medication from these stresses caused by our neighbors for over 6 months back in 2006. When we approached the neighbor, we were met with ridicule (somehow it was our fault), and the traditional verbal assault. Ironically, we were told then that they had 'done enough'. But in the 18 months since, they have significantly reduced the abuse. Now I don't know about you, but if I make a statement like that while chewing someone's rear-end off, only to find out I was wrong, I would apologize. Wouldn't you? I also caught them being hypocrits (don't wake me up by calling to complain, but I can wake you over 100 times over a 9 month period).
No doubt some are impacted by rude children (or pick your quality of life issue). But my observation in just walking many different neighborhoods is that barking is the most prevelant cause. Now we can have a huge discussion on 'provocation', but me walking on a sidewalk or stepping in my own backyard in no way is a reason for dogs to start going nuts.
I'd love to have you as my neighbor. You seem to very considerate, 2 barks is very reasonable (assuming its not every 30 seconds). I'd work with you in the social/de-sensitivity training to minimize that.
Thank you for the discussion.
Brian
Posted by: Brian Shaul | May 6, 2008 5:00 PM
Why is this comment sailing at us out of right field after three months??
And why have you not taken the trouble to read my original comments? If you had, you would have found that I'm opposed to noise in general and in favor of taking active steps to abate it wherever possible. Along the way you might also have intuited that I'm opposed to idiots who put up non-accessible websites and expect credibility.
Incidentally, Carey and I don't see eye to eye on the subject of children. We are able to disagree because we actually read the posts and comments here and are able to behave with civility and a reasonable degree of intelligence.
Having said that, I will assert that our dog is not a nuisance barker. He barks when we want him to bark because we have taken the trouble to train him. We had two home-invasions in 2004. In the first, nothing was taken but my handbag--with passport, checkbook, credit cards, cash, and keys. My husband was awake and surprised that burglar before he could get away with anything else. In the second robbery, my mother (aged 80 at the time) was beaten senseless by someone who forced their way in, cut the phone lines, smashed her to the floor, hit her several times in the head, and helped themselves to whatever they wanted. She is still alive but has been rendered mute by the trauma to her brain. Her rather considerable intellect was also destroyed. She is unable to read a book, appreciate music or art, follow a television show, take a walk, or even to identify her tormentor(s).
After the second invasion, I felt faced with a clear choice: Get a dog or get a gun. I chose the more peaceable alternative. Actually, the cost of rescuing a dog in terms of adoption fees, preliminary vet care, license, and initial supplies is just about the same as the cost of purchasing a handgun from a reputable dealer (if such exists). The advantages of a dog over a gun are too numerous to mention, and they include such intangibles as friendship and companionship, exercise, fun, and fellowship with other dog owners.
The dog alertly barks whenever anyone he does not recognize comes through our gate. Once an individual has been recognized as a friend, or if we are expecting someone and say "That's OK," he does not bark. We accomplished this by rewarding him for barking at strangers and by encouraging him not to bark at friends. He doesn't even bark at the postman now. Checks with the neighbors indicate that he's quiet when left alone--unless somebody comes through that gate. He has a deep affection for my mother and stays by her side when she comes to visit--she is unable to live with us. She, in turn, is reassured and soothed by him. Her face relaxes peacefully as he approaches her--as he *quietly* approaches her. As for me, since my spouse works at night, I, too, reap the benefits of having a friend and companion--another living being--in the dark house with me.
So that, Mr. Shaul, is why I will never be without a dog and why I will train any dog I live with to alert me to strangers. It's certainly preferable (I think) to blowing the head off my neighbor when he comes home a bit inebriated, forgets his key, and crashes through our backyard to climb over the fence. But it's also why you and your companions are (if you will pardon the expression) barking up the wrong tree when you keep pestering me about this topic.
Posted by: Anne | May 6, 2008 7:25 PM
Anne,
Your statement about me pestering you seems to imply you don't like that. Now imagine being 'pestered' for hours a day. I'm responding because of your approach (yes, I have read your previous comments). Let me illestrate.
In the state I grew up in during the 1980's, some judges and lawyers were letting rapists off by ridiculing/attacking the victims. Through the use of a warped sense of logic, the victims themselves were responsible. Needless to say, these folks were relieved of their duties and disbarred.
So your approach would be to let the rapists off because they could have done something worse to them, such as murdering them. Luckily, our state stopped this scenario from ever playing out.
You are no doubt at this very moment thinking of what a horrible story. Let's see if you can resist the other tactic used, namely ridicule the approach vs. the message.
And the message is simple. Just because there may be worse cases in society of being violated, millions of Dogs and Humans are being violated. Racists, guitar playing, unruly children, the neighbors cat caused my dog to go nuts, you hate dogs (like the title of this blog), just deal with it, ridicule of the victims, - - excuses that don't address the issue and propose a solution.
One solution is of course banning dogs. I don't agree with that, but if I only had 2 choices I would go for it. Of our 7 closest neighbors, 5 have dogs. We don't have any issues with 4 of them. Seems close to the 2005/2006 National Pet Owners Survey that indicates one-third of dog owners report their dogs as having "Excessive Barking".
There's an epidemic of abuse occuring. The answer is not to 'sweep it under the rug', but to address it head on. Seems you agree with what the answer is: Proper care of the dog, including training.
So my request is for you to reconsider your previous statement "All this is just to say that there are things out there that are just as bad as barking dogs. Or maybe worse." Hopefully I've shown this to be an illogical approach. You make the statement to Matthew about "...nor is making emotional appeals." but I content that people who use excuses to deflect the real issues are the ones being emotional. They just simply want the issue to go away.
It won't go away. So I suspect you will continue to be pestered on the topic.
Thank you for your consideration,
Brian
Posted by: Brian Shaul | May 7, 2008 11:37 AM
Brian, if this were a user-moderated forum like, say, Slashdot, somebody would long since have modded you down as a troll. Since this thread is three months old, has passed to the archives, and no one else is reading it, I suspect that won't be necessary. I had your comment brought to my attention by the blog's author.
I'm therefore going to mod you down myself by no longer checking the thread for comments. You may have a field day. Say whatever you like. No one else is reading this thread and now I'm not, either.
Posted by: Anne | May 7, 2008 8:20 PM
Anne,
Thank you for proving my point for the achrives (and Google) to hold. To the end, you show your warped sense of logic, calling me a troll while admitting the blog's author as bringing you in for reinforcement (or to use your term: Troll).
The following journalist seems to be able to clearly idendify the flawed logic:
http://www.mcall.com/news/local/all-b1_5vermin.6371950apr27,0,1024425.column
Thanks and take care.
Posted by: Brian Shaul | May 8, 2008 1:37 PM
I know you all don't think anyone is reading this blog, but I found it on Google just today. Interesting comments. I especially enjoy the rational comments by those troubled by irresponsible dog ownership and their dogs. They make their case very clear and sensible. Anne, you don't make any sense what so ever. You contradict yourself with every comment and harass anyone who disagrees with your latest babble. And then name calling when you don't get your own way? Your dog barking out of control is just like your posts - irresponsible and immature.
Posted by: Judy Mulvaney | June 26, 2008 11:01 AM
Judy, We know exactly how many people are reading this blog -- about a quarter of a million views since the beginning of this year. And as for Anne (who another commenter has nominated for the Nobel Prize), I know for a fact that she only snaps when she is strongly provoked.
Posted by: john woestendiek | June 26, 2008 3:12 PM