Problems

I'm still here, and still intend to complete my A to Z posts, but some problems have intruded on my time the past week or so and my posting has been sporadic at best.

Our neighbors run a dog boarding and training business.  There are at least a dozen dogs of all shapes and sizes over there at any given time.  Not a problem.  The  yards have a chain-link fence between them and while the dogs run up and bark at each other, there has been no canine violence on either side.

A couple of days ago, I went to the park with my daughter.  While we were gone, the humans were less well-behaved than the dogs.  While my husband and our 14 and 16-year-old sons were in the back yard with our dog and 6 puppies, the woman came out from next door with some sort of weapon and took three shots at the fence line!

They have thrown rocks through the fence at our dogs before.  I said if I ever saw it again, I'd be up over the fence and in their faces.  But to shoot at them?  And while my sons were in the back yard.  H-e-double-toothpicks NO!

They called the sheriff on us.  We called the sheriff on them.  In the meantime, my husband went to the fence line to talk with the man who lives there.  I went with him, hoping to be a calming influence on everyone concerned.  His claims included that our dogs rushed the fence, attempting to "get at" their poor small dogs and at the man on the riding lawn mower.  My husband brought up the weapon that the woman had, having pointed it at our fence.  He said, "No, she was shooting at our dogs."  First of all, we have the exchange recorded.  Second of all, what is she doing pointing a gun at dogs for whom she is supposed to be caring anyway???

I ask:  if there is someone walking by your home, or dogs in your neighbors' yards, or someone mowing the lawn, what does a dog do?  Bark and run closer?  Uh, probably, yeah.  Does it mean that they have evil intent when they run up to you?  Uh, no.  However, the woman with the dog business claims also to have a degree in psychology, so maybe that makes her an expert in doggie motives...I honestly don't know.

When the sheriff did arrive, he went to the neighbors' first.  When he came here, we learned that they had conveniently forgotten to bring up the gun.

The woman later decided to trash us on her Facebook pages, both personal and professional.  She called us 'apartment squatters', said the deputy was on their side and bemoaned that they 'had to pay $700" to put up a privacy fence.  (Wouldn't that be a good idea for a dog trainer anyway?)

Funny, because when the sheriff came over to our building, we did inform him of the gun, he saw how scared my older son was, and he told us he didn't blame us for being upset.  But there was no report generated, and he didn't even take names or anything.

We had been working with the local Humane Society to get three of the puppies to a rescue organization for some time now, but so are a lot of people...so it just takes however long it's going to take.  The HS rep came to our house today, as I had explained to her what had been happening, and said that she had heard both good and "not so good" things about the training business next door.

So for now, the problematic incident has gone no further.  Cross your fingers for us.

For something happier that took place over the weekend, come back later for my "R" post!