Have you noticed that barking dogs never seem to bother their owners?
I've never been able to understand people who let their dogs stay outside overnight and the dogs bark constantly -- yet the owners never seem to hear them or care about it at all. Am I the only one who's lived in neighborhoods with this sort of nuisance going on? I doubt it.
Most of the dogs -- well, really, most of the pets -- which we've had have been "indoor" pets. Even when we've had dogs, they may have spent time outside, but generally came indoors overnight.
My problem isn't people who leave their dogs outside. My problem is when those people obviously neglect the dogs, and who obviously care nothing at all about their neighbors.
The last neighbors like this in our neighborhood insisted they never heard the dogs and weren't aware that it was a problem. They were lying, I'm sure. Everyone within four square blocks of their house heard the dogs -- almost all night long on almost every night for six months before the neighbors finally moved out of the neighborhood and took their dogs with them.
In the first place, such dogs suffer themselves. They generally are barking incessantly out of boredom, or loneliness, or even out of fear because of the loneliness.
In the second place, such poor dog owners cause many others to suffer -- and even put the dogs at risk from irate neighbors who may retaliate in drastic ways to silence the dogs.
So I guess my plea to you all would be this: Be aware of your pets' behavior, whether they are outdoors or indoors, and take care of them. You'll be doing your dogs a favor, as well as keeping peace in your neighborhood.
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