Precisely. I have joked about wringing my dogs or some elses dog's scrawny little neck. The thing is it is said in frustration to people that know me well enough to know I don't mean it. Telling neighbours you could poison someones dog is not a joke because it is not funny. Then admitting it in writing seems to me more like covering one's back.

But we do not KNOW this person HAS written it!

It is merely conjecture and speculation and completely unfair IMHO to suggest such a thing when the person under discussion is not here to present the OTHER side of the story (and there always is one)

No we don't know the neighbour wrote the original letter but they still admitted joking about poisoning the dog in the letter that they did write!

If your preferred method of communicating such matters with neighbours is face to face that is fine, bin the letter and speak to them and tell them you feel offended or just disregard it as petty nonsense. But they have done precisely the thing that they are complaining that Andy has done!!

I think it is terrible to joke about something such a poisoning a dog! There are certain sayings, such as wringing a dogs (or childs etc) neck, that people will use due to frustration etc but poisoning IMO takes that one step too far, whether a joke or not... It is NOT funny!

I agree!

Maybe YOU like to visit people face to face, but not everyone is like you. I personally, would write a letter because I don't like confrontation... also, due to the fact that in a situation like this a threat was given, I would worry that I would lose my composer... a letter prevents that, coz you can write in when you are calm and change bits before it is sent if you lose your cool.

Right, so lets not believe ANYTHING written on here, since WE do not know 100% what the truth is. We need to put our trust in the OP, and believe he is telling the truth, since we do not have his neighbour to verify or argue with what he has said... I choose to respond based on it being fact, whether it is or not, we can only go on what he has said.

YOU may need to put your trust in the OP, I try to see the whole picture from an unemotional point of view (a bit like what happens when you go to court) and see the argument from both sides.


I choose to try and determine the facts rather than just "believe" or "assume"

Is it really ?? In my former life(pre retirement)I had several successful court cases based on fingerprints found on paper !! Not only that but by the time the SOCO got the paper it was usually several weeks after the crime !!

Didn't know that getting fingerprints from paper had gone backwards so quickly

If whoever sent the original letter complaining about the dog was a neighbourly and reasonable person - they'd have come round in person to have a word about the barking nuisance. So they obviously are not and decided anonymous threatening letter was the way to go.

However, I would not have sent out the bulk letter to all neighbours in response and I would not like to receive that letter either - I've been driven crazy by barking dogs who are left outside (worst of all if they set your own dog off inside your house and you are constantly having to soothe your dog). And I have approached the owners in the past to say something like 'you probably aren't aware because of course it only happens when you are not here ....'

To assume that the neighbour who was offended by the letter must be the sender of the original one is a bit much. The same as it is a bit much to assume the only NON dog owner must be the sender. There are many reasons for some not having pets - one of them being that they will be out all day at work and do not want to leave them alone.

I would be spending my time and energy working towards a solution to avoid my dog aggravating neighbours by barking or being left outside for extended periods.

And I think it would be a much better idea to find someone who can WALK your dog while you are away - not just let it outside to pee. It's not difficult to find people who will do this - some even do it for a living. I feel sorry for any dog left alone for extended periods.

I own a mini pinscher and they are renowned for barking (whether inside or outside - and not just when left alone). I worked VERY hard with her to stop her barking at every little thing (or even for nothing) as I live in an apartment and it would not go down very well with neighbours at all. I also had to work hard to stop her getting agitated by other dogs who are left outside on verandahs while owners work and who bark constantly. She is fine now but it took time.

One more point I would mention is that I do not think the number of times a dog pees when outside is an indication of how often it 'needs' to pee. All the dogs I've ever owned pee a lot when outside or walking. But not when at home.

I have a job to convince this min pin that she DOES need to go out to pee after being home for 5 or 6 hours if it is wet outside as she hates it!

As for needing to poo 4 times a day - well I've never had a dog that needed to poo that often so I cannot comment on that. Once or twice has been average for all the dogs I've owned.

I wish you luck but I think the key is to try to sort the problem out and not to get into too much confrontation with neighbours about this. It could impact on you badly these days if it ends up in a dispute should you ever wish to sell your home.

And I would not dare take the chance of leaving a beloved pet outside after receiving threats against it - for fear it could be poisoned or shot or whatever.

Unless you have PROOF to show who sent the original letter, for all you know it could be the person who has acted the most sympathetically to your face. If they were going to be honest and up front about it, they'd never have sent an anonymous letter in the first place. They'd have approached you or even gone straight for making an official complaint.

EXCELLENT post

Andy, sorry but the only thing I can suggest is come and live here, we have two Newfies and one we trained to bark at any stranger walking up our road, a job which she carries out with dedication

At night it is not uncommon for both of them to be outside barking at creatures in the forrest which I can't even see and for anything up to an hour, there's plenty I don't like about this place but at least I don't have to put up with threats from ignorant slobs that don't even have the guts to put their name on a piece of paper. England is a vastly overcrowded island and a cull is long overdue

Your Newfie is only alerting you to something going on around your home so it's just a natural thing for them to do.

Do you know about the 'Ten Dog Barks and their meaning' it's not a 100% accurate analysis but I've used it to identify some of the barks that ours use.

Unfortunately the kind of response you've had to a few innocent barks is typical of the type of people who now live in Britain, would such people be so quick to complain about all the other sorts of noise (e.g. late night parties, drunken fights in the street, firwork displays etc. etc.)

in fact forget it, you pull apart everything I write anyway so your probably not interested in who taught me and what I've learned so deleted what I just wrote. All I said was its difficult, not like powder on a window.