April 04, 2006
Ruff Stuff
I don’t like dogs. Never have. Never will. Period. At least four of my neighbors own Labrador Retrievers. Some so full of love for the breed, they have two. If you live on a farm or have something that needs to be retrieved, owning a Labrador might make sense. But if you go to an office all day and leave your dog outside to bark at every passing leaf that blows or car horn that toots, maybe not. Every time I go outside to garden, get the mail, or take out trash, the Labs become a choral madness of barking that seemingly never ends. It is the single most annoying thing about living in the city. Not being able to enjoy my own yard is extremely depressing. Ultimately, the owners are to blame—but that doesn’t mean I forgive the dogs. Stop barking already.
With that said, Stray Rescue and Mad Art present the second annual Mad Arf event this Friday, April 7, 2006 from 7-11pm. If you enjoy dogs and art, don't miss this benefit for the organization whose sole purpose is to rescue stray animals in need of medical attention, restore them to health, and place them in loving adoptive homes. Over 30 local and national artists (my curmudgeon self included) have donated one-of-a-kind pieces of art using Stray Rescue dogs as their inspiration. The works will be displayed in the gallery for two weeks and will be for sale through silent auction bidding. Admission is free. Last year was packed, which just goes to prove (again) I’m in the minority.
There are ordinances against allowing dogs to bark all day in your yard.
Try calling one of your aldermen.
Posted by barker on Tue., Apr 4, 2006 at 4:25 PMI should mention that I'm moving in another 1-2 months, so I may get some relief.
Posted by Andrea Avery on Tue., Apr 4, 2006 at 4:36 PMOh man, you have my sympathy. Our neighbors have a rather aggressive pit bull that barks and lunges like a lunatic every time we walk out either of our back doors. It has snapped at us before, but is restrained (for now) by the chain link fence. The two pit bulls these guys owned before the current one actually got out and mauled another neighbor and his dog, nearly killing the dog and doing considerable harm to the man as well.
I can see why that happened, too--I have yet to see these guys come out and play with the poor puppy, and they almost never even bring it inside from the tiny yard when the weather is very bad. The poor thing is untrained, penned up, unexcercised, and very lonely (Just the other day I started whistling a tune while I was working in the yard, and the dog got really hopeful and excited, thinking I wanted its attention to play.).
An unpleasant situation for us, and a far worse situation for the dog. I don't really know what I can do about it, though.
Posted by Claire "Cat Lady" Nowak-Boyd on Thu., Apr 6, 2006 at 5:03 PM