The dog next door...

**Kathleen** · February 4th 07, 04:45 AM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior

montana wildhack wrote:

On 2007-02-03 14:43:54 -0500, (Melanie L
Chang) said:

On the other hand, I think the dog next door is really lonely. I am
considering leaving an anonymous note on the door that says, "Your dog
barks all the time when you are gone. We think he is very lonely and
perhaps alone at home a bit too much." I would sign it "your
neighbors." I would not sign it by name because even in a
dog-friendly building, I am not keen to get on my neighbors' bad side.

An unsigned note using words like "we" and "your neighbors" seems very
passive aggressive to me. I would be infuriated because somebody
couldn't communicate with me on an honest level and if I found out that
my neighbors knew nothing about the note and it was just one person...
well, I wouldn't be happy.

What do you expect the result of leaving a note such as you have
described to be?

I've been on the receiving end of a note like that. It was a couple of
decades ago but I still remember how unnerved I was, at least initially.
I was distraught to learn that my dogs were apparently in distress
while I was gone, that their distress was disturbing my neighbors, that
my neighbors felt the need to resort to an anonymous note.

The upshot of the communication was an immediate major re-alignment of
my dogs' downtime.

Was I upset? Sure.

Did I fix the issue? You bet.

Do I recomend the technique? Yes, especially in situations where you're
not all that familiar with your neighbors.

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