Caution: Rant coming.

Why is it that people get a dog and then put it out in the back yard to let it bark at will? Our neighbor two yards down has done this only he's put not just one dog but two out there. And they bark off and on all morning and all afternoon some days, most days.

Actually, this didn't start this April, it started in early March and was more noticeable when the weather was unseasonably warm and I had the windows open for a spell. Everyone here thought spring had come for good. It was so warm and flowers to plant started appearing at the nurseries. Then cold weather hit again and mercifully I had to shut the windows again. I say mercifully because I had worked myself into such a state of agitation about those dogs. It was good for me to shut them out again. You see, I get the winter depression and so look forward to being able to open the windows again and get fresh air into the house. It really helps lift those winter doldrums. But to open the windows this year and having to hear those dogs barking all the time was just too much to bear. I grew absolutely full of resentment. So full of resentment that I cried tears of frustration for a few days and all the while I composed angry letters of complaint in my head that I wanted to send to the thoughtless, inconsiderate neighbors. Having to keep the windows shut also meant our cats couldn't enjoy their catquariums once more (see Oh, the Life).

The dogs barking drove me absolutely crazy! Sometimes it was perfect again, as if the dogs weren't there but eventually at some point in the day something would start them up again. Mostly, the one dog would bark off and on every few minutes for thirty seconds to a couple of minutes long either most of the morning or most of the afternoon. And some days all day long, other days not at all. But when he got into that frenzied-I'm-not-going-to-stop barking it was like Chinese water torture. Turning on music and even using headphones barely kept the noise out. I searched the Internet for the neighbor's name and a phone number and found one. In the past, I had confronted neighbors about an offending noise and drew nothing but angry stares and louder retaliations so I was reluctant to make myself known to this neighbor. But I knew I had to venture out again or this resentment was going to kill me.

The little girl that lives on the other side of him told us that her mother had spoken to the man but evidently it didn't do any good. I started actually writing that angry letter and every few days added something new to it all the while trying to get the courage up to print it and send it. And then, finally, with a clarity of reason and will, I rewrote the letter from my heart, signed it with my address, folded it, put it in an envelope, sealed it and sent it off. First, though, I did try the phone number I had found. I let it ring and ring and no one ever answered. So, that avenue was out.

Three days later my daughter was walking her two kids down the street and the neighbor told her he had gotten my letter. The biggest surprise to me was that he said he was sorry the dogs were causing me such discomfort. He said he was going to come over and apologize to me. Amy told him that that wasn't necessary. She would give me his condolences. He also mentioned something about getting a dog collar that zaps them when they bark.

Well, two weeks passed and nothing had been done by our apologetic neighbor. Bill scoured the Internet and came up with an electronic device that is supposed to detect barking within 75 feet. He mounted it on a tree by our fence line. We think we are too far away for it to be picking them up because so far it's not working. He went to our neighbor that is in between us and the barking dogs and asked them if he could put the device in their yard closer to the dogs. They were all for it. The dogs' barking were bothering them, too. I guess my letter to the offending neighbor prompted him to ask the other neighbor if the barking dogs were driving them crazy. They said yes. He said something to them, too, about getting the dog collars but, again, so far, no action had been taken on that. The weather around here has been pretty cold yet and now it's rainy today again so Bill won't be moving the device today but that is his next step to take. We have concluded that it needs to be closer, if it's going to work at all. I still have my doubts but I am hoping, maybe too hard, that the thing will work.

The neighbor truly seems to be taking our complaints into consideration BUT he has yet to act upon them. One day, he heard Bill yelling at the dogs so he did come out and moved them inside or somewhere. They were back out and barking several hours later.

So, first, we're still going to give the electronic device a try. Bill will move it closer and I'll fire up my best prayers that it will work. Actually, what works pretty well is when I stand on my deck and yell at the dogs to shut up. They do respond to that for an hour or so. But then I've got to go back out and do it again. Small dogs don't seem to have much memory retention. Okay, okay, these small dogs don't.