07-27-2009, 04:35 AM
On the other side of the equation we have neighbors who do a lot of yelling, fighting, and banging around at all hours and then yell at our dogs when they respond to the noise by barking; not nonstop barking, just raising the alarm that something is going on type of barking. How can people who basically stand at the fence line yelling and cursing at the top of their lungs and then complain when the dogs on the other side of the fence respond? My dogs respond to raised voices, cars that stop in front of our house, and anyone on foot who approaches our gate. When those things stop or move on, or once the dogs know I am aware of what is happening, they stop barking.
When I was laid up with my broken ankle, the dogs didn't remember I was home, I was amazed at how little noise they made. At night I bring them in so they don't join the night time canine chorus which goes off every time a pig cruises down our road from the forest reserve, other neighbors don't and you can follow the progress of the pigs down the road by following the barking. The reality is that the most common Puna security system is canine. One of our dogs is a rescue dog who spent the first 18 months of her life on a 6 foot chain guarding a storage shed at Hapuna with little human contact or food; she was rescued by the people feeding the cat colony there when her owner was preparing to shoot her because he didn't need her anymore. She probably barked her head off the whole time, now she only barks whenever something is happening that she thinks is important for us to know about. OK, her concept of what we need to know about includes falling palm fronds, but she is also the first to tell us when someone is at our gate. Isolated chained dogs will bark non stop for hours on end, dogs which are treated like sentient beings and properly trained to take direction from their people usually will not. The sad reality of Hawaii is many people here use dogs as living fences, and the dogs respond to their living conditions by barking nonstop at all hours. Because this is so common I just don't see the police or Humane Society coming to your rescue. The police department doesn't even respond to criminal matters in a timely matter here, they just don't have the manpower to make a dog/neighbor conflict a high priority.
Carol
When I was laid up with my broken ankle, the dogs didn't remember I was home, I was amazed at how little noise they made. At night I bring them in so they don't join the night time canine chorus which goes off every time a pig cruises down our road from the forest reserve, other neighbors don't and you can follow the progress of the pigs down the road by following the barking. The reality is that the most common Puna security system is canine. One of our dogs is a rescue dog who spent the first 18 months of her life on a 6 foot chain guarding a storage shed at Hapuna with little human contact or food; she was rescued by the people feeding the cat colony there when her owner was preparing to shoot her because he didn't need her anymore. She probably barked her head off the whole time, now she only barks whenever something is happening that she thinks is important for us to know about. OK, her concept of what we need to know about includes falling palm fronds, but she is also the first to tell us when someone is at our gate. Isolated chained dogs will bark non stop for hours on end, dogs which are treated like sentient beings and properly trained to take direction from their people usually will not. The sad reality of Hawaii is many people here use dogs as living fences, and the dogs respond to their living conditions by barking nonstop at all hours. Because this is so common I just don't see the police or Humane Society coming to your rescue. The police department doesn't even respond to criminal matters in a timely matter here, they just don't have the manpower to make a dog/neighbor conflict a high priority.
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb