This Week's Barking News Roundup - 10/26/12

This week's edition of the Barking News Roundup is dedicated to the hellhound across the street. Thanks for barking me out of a sound sleep at 6 a.m. this morning. I was hoping to sleep in. Oh, I have the same low opinion of your owner.

Barks vs. sirens dog Washougal

Excerpt: The city has a vested interest in reaching middle ground in the noisy conflict. It owns the property on which the Humane Society is located and acts as the shelter's landlord.

City officials say they hope to clear the air and bring peace between the two neighbors. The shelter has been in the same location for more than a decade. [The tax-paying business next to the barkophony] moved into its building about five months ago.

City officials say the two parties need to reach an understanding both sides can live with.

My take: How about this for an understanding? Keep the dogs quiet so that the employees of the tax-paying business next door can get their work done. You can share your thoughts on this story via Facebook.

Dogs beware: County proposing barking ban

Excerpt: The proposed barking dog ordinance says owners of dogs that howl or bark for more than 10 minutes during any half hour period after midnight and before 6 a.m. are subject to fines of $100 for a first offense. A second offense within 12 months means a $250 fine, and additional offenses after that are subject to $500 fines.

Tip: This story is open for comments. Follow the above link to add yours.

My life, or lack thereof, with dogs

Excerpt: Perhaps someone more Buddhist than I, perhaps someone with more tolerance and generosity of spirit, can put up with spasms of pointless barking throughout the day. But for me, it has the effect of applying a cheese grater to my cerebellum. Not to show my prejudice, but most of the dogs I hear are small dogs and -- I'm pretty sure I read this somewhere -- the barks of "yip dogs" as I call them are scientifically proven to be more deadly to peace of mind than the barks of larger dogs.

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This Week's Barking News Roundup wouldn't be complete without an advice column question. Here goes...

Question: I have new neighbors that moved in up Stairs. They leave their dog alone all day long. The dog is barking non stop, my wife works night shift and it's impossible to sleep. Can they do this, and is there anything I can do? thank you

Found among the answers: I own the place, and people up stairs are renting. I spoke with the owner but it seems they don't care.

To which I say: This is why that oft-heard "talk to your neighbor" advice is so useless. You'll probably have a more productive conversation with a brick wall. Here's what Dr. Craig Mixon, creator of the BarkingDogs.net website, has to say on this subject:

"In my experience, better than 45% of those who maintain noisy dogs are reflexively obstinate people who ignore polite requests and pathetic pleas, and will quiet their dogs only if you hound them for an extended period of time. Incredibly, an equal percentage are dig-in-your-heels, never-give-an-inch, hard core, incorrigibles whose perspective parallels that of Charleton Heston: i.e. you can have quiet when you pry it out of their cold, dead hands.

"At first blush, it doesn't seem possible that the rate of recalcitrance could be that high. After all, if you randomly selected ten people on the street and did a psychological work-up on them, you might find that one or two of them are chronically oppositional. But you would never expect to find that 90% of those whom you randomly evaluated, were predisposed to that kind of behavior. Nonetheless, if you take a close look at those who keep chronically barking dogs, the rate of recalcitrance does indeed seem to be that high."

The Department of Shameless Self-Promotion. Still want to try talking to your neighbor? I didn't think so.  But, on the off chance that they can read, you might want to start walking and driving around with the tee shirts and bumper stickers from the QuietBarkingDogs store. Who knows, they might just get a clue.