Too much to ask??

What do you do when your neighbors are driving you up the wall??? I live on the end of a dead end street (well, the last house on the left...the very end leads into a marsh) and really can't stand any of my neighbors! When we first moved here, I thought how wonderful it would be to live on a nice quiet road, with only about 6 or 7 houses on it between the two sides. And the house really is wonderful, just in itself. I love the house and the yard it sits on. I thought it would be a wonderful change from the side-by-side condo we were then living in. We have a two story, two car garage and an above ground pool with wrap around deck. I thought everything would be great...

But unfortunately, it soon came to pass that my neighbors are not the best people to live next to. I have a hard enough time with the screaming children who treat ours and others property with little respect (our fence that's broken in 3 places is testament to that), but the biggest problem is another neighbors dog. These people live across the street, one house down. They have a white husky/shepherd mix that they leave in a pen almost all day and night. From what my mom found out a year or two after we moved here, the dog is not very nice. The father said he has bitten him and other members of the family and escapes when he can. Every day they walk him from their front door to his prison-like pen. This dog barks almost non stop every day. I mean, seriously barks...NON STOP. Last night I timed over two straight hours. It is driving me C-R-A-Z-Y!!!

I mean, I live with Shelties; the most barky breed out there. Both of my girls do bark a lot...but it is indoors where no one else can hear them but my mom and I. Outside they bark when they play, but are not permitted to bark incessantly. And that is the greatest difference: they're not outside alone, without me, to be ALLOWED to bark incessantly! But this dog, this dog just barks because he has nothing else to do. And it's not even the barking that bothers me. It's the complete indifference of the owners. I mean, they can't NOT hear it. The dog is in their own yard for petes sake. They must just ignore it. And they expect everyone else around them to as well. They let it go on for hours and hours, and at the most inconvenient times. The dog was outside until 10:30 pm last night and was out at 7 am this morning...and today is SATURDAY! I mean, people have the day off, and (can you believe it?) expect to be able to sleep in! They are now essentially dictating when I can and can't sleep! I can't go to bed before 10:30, or get up after 7...are you kidding me??? Is a little consideration for your neighbors too much to ask??

And as I type this, and everytime the dog is out there barking, behind my irritation is a sadness. When I go to sleep and wake up every day, (what ever time that may be) the first and last thing I see are my girls, snuggled up next to me in bed. I go to work to make money that I spend on toys, food and treats for them. They get the best veterinary care, eat the best food, have memory foam beds and my vacation time is planned for their enjoyment as much as mine. But that dog...that dog that does all the barking across the street, gets none of that. That dog is locked out in his pen (which can't be more than 10x12) in the freezing cold and blistering heat, day in and day out. The only things he sees is the chain from the pen door and the tarps that cover the walls. His paws touch nothing but the dirty concrete that is his floor. The only walks he gets is the 15 foot tug of war he fights as the owners bring him to or from the house. He barks because he is bored, and probably neglected. Now, I don't know what his indoor life is like. I don't know whether he gets right up on a warm spot on the couch when he gets unleashed just beyond the door, or whether he is locked in the basement or a crate. I hope its the first option...

So as I sit, with my nerves rattled and my irritation escalating, I stop and realize that we are both asking ourselves the same thing: is allowing the dog inside too much to ask??