Just want to enjoy the warm weather like everyone else. Unfortunately, when warm weather comes, that also means it's time to for neighbors to leave the dogs outside. And that means more barking. I wish it were easy to just pick up and move. The reality is, most people aren't able to afford moves. Especially when it involves a purchased home. I can be thankful for the winter. We were fortunate enough to not have a barking problem. But we also didn't spend anytime in our backyard. My wife and I actually were very hesitant of spending any time in our backyard, figuring why push our luck.
Well this afternoon, I took my son outside to enjoy the warmer weather. All seemed well, until he ran near the back of our yard. That's all it took. Our neighbors dog started barking at us immediately. I walked over to see where the dog was, and the dog was near the fence, and just barking directly at us. Not only was the dog barking a problem, but I noticed the fence was loose. Now I have a barking dog, with the potential of getting into our yard. Not a combination that I'm at all happy about. Thankfully, after my inspection of the fence, and a quick yell at the dog to stop, the neighbors came out and took the dog in.
I'm still frazzled that I'm still dealing with this issue. Animal Control has been great throughout all of my reporting, and has definitely had a huge impact on the barking problem. I'm just upset that, now I'm so programmed from the frustration of the barking that did occur, that my tolerance for a dog bark is very low. Had the owner addressed the barking sooner, I might have a higher tolerance for moderate barking.
Ideally, I'm hoping I can earn more in my career soon, and make a move that puts us in a better neighborhood, with more space between us and our neighbors hopefully. It's been over a year now since we've moved into our home. The barking problem has definitely made it very stressful for us living here. Even now that the barking is much less, it still has had a lasting impact on how we are able to enjoy our own home. It's not easy to forget the discomfort caused by the nuisance barking, and my wife and I are very wary of any activity in our backyard.
I hope the incident that we had today, is not the norm. We still plan on using our backyard, and letting our son enjoy running around and playing with all his toys. But we also plan on staying vigilante in our reporting of any dog barking nuisance.
This is just a place for people to dream of a Bark Free Zone!
