Rude Crazy Neighbor Lady Strikes Again!
So I wake up at 8am, since I always wake up around 8am, let the dogs eat their breakfast and let them out to potty then get ready to fix Gryphon's breakfast when I hear Sirius barking her mad head off. If it was just a jogger or a passerby she would have only barked a few times, but this went on and on enough for me to walk outside *barefoot* and see what the commotion was.
Well there she was, rude crazy neighbor lady with her dog *one of Halley's litter mates* standing in my driveway. She asks to let the dogs play. I'm thinking internally "no no no no no" but my heart is saying "give her the benefit of the doubt and try to mend fences". So I obliged and let the dogs out to play. They are in the front yard, I have no leash, no shoes I figure no problem. She starts "petting" Halley but I know what she's doing, she's checking her ribs and such for malnourishment or whatever. This is when the problem starts. Halley, after being confined all night in her crate is obviously very excited to see another dog, her brother. So rude crazy neighbor lady *from here on referred to as RCNL* says that its because she's not getting enough attention that she is so hyper and that I am not giving her enough attention and love and that I should again, give her my dog. That's when I got pissed. I said that I let her on my property in good faith and that she is no longer welcome on it, and she should get off or I will call the police. So she says something like "whatever" and starts walking away saying something to the effect that she will be watching me and will take Halley, however my dogs, having no leash and excited about the new dog follow her because they are still playing with the other dog. Sirius comes when I call her but Halley does not, since she is in uber hyper puppy mode and is still bouncing around her brother trying to play with him. I yell out at her to stop taking my dog and she just keeps walking faster. So now I have to scramble over my gravel driveway to chase after her, yelling for Halley to come. *we haven't practiced that much since it was a fairly new lesson at training* and I yell at RCNL to stop taking my dog or I will call the police, and she just looks at me and shakes her hips and goes "ooohhhhh" as in oohh I'm so scared. So I'm hobbling along the pavement best I can with no shoes on and Sirius bounding ahead like we're going for a walk and she stops so I can get close enough to call Halley effectively and have her come to me. I pick her up and call Sirius and go back to my house. I was so pissed of, and so angry I cried. I'm still crying as I write this, I'm just so pissed off.
I had an ENT apt. at 9:20 and tried to call Duncan but he was in the Lab so I couldn't get ahold of him. So I put the dog back in her crate and Sirius back in our bedroom and I went to the Marshall's office. I didn't know what else to do. This is the second incident and I was NOT about to let her bully me around especially when I know I have done nothing wrong. I couldn't help get very emotional when I spoke to the officer, I was just so angry and upset at her harassing me. I told him the story of the previous time she came by our house, told him of my discussion with the dogs previous owner and what she told me about wanting to give Halley to someone else, and about the previous incident. I only knew her first name, not where she lived and gave the officer a brief description about what she looked like. I also told him I had a bill of sale from the previous dog's owners with her name and address on them and Halley's shot record that I could bring him. So he said he would see what he could find out and I went to my ENT apt.
On the way there Duncan called me and I told him everything, I was just so upset I probably shouldn't have been driving and crying and talking on the phone at the same time but I was just getting to the office, I was 10 minutes late but luckily they still squeezed me in. After the apt, I talked to Duncan some more and went home and found the bill of sale, Halley's vet records, her rabies tag info, and anything else that I thought the officer might need and went back to the office.
He said he tracked her down by way of the town hall and called her, she wasn't home but he left a message, and she called him back. She said that her primary concern was for the welfare of the dogs and I can understand that, but she went about it all the wrong way. So the officer said that he told RCNL that he would look at the dogs personally and let her know his findings since he used to be a K-9 officer and knows a lot about dogs. I happily agreed and he followed me home. I let the dogs loose and of course they were happy to see a new person and were jumping and licking and such all over him. He said that they were well fed, that he saw nothing wrong with them and even made mention something about our home being nice. I agreed with him and told him that my dogs were well cared for, showed him Halley's graduation from puppy kindergarten certificate, and he agreed with me that there was nothing wrong with my dogs. So he asked me if I wanted to file a harassment charge against her and my brain said "yes yes yes yes" but my heart again said "no no no" so I told him that I don't want to be the "bad neighbor", but I want her to stay off my property, away from my dogs, and if she has a problem with them, to go through the proper channels and call the humane society or SPCA and I will be happy to let them check my animals out and show them my vet reciepts. He said that the humane society wouldn't find anything and that he would talk to her and let her know his findings. I thanked him and let him out.
I am still very much pissed though, and very afraid that she is still going to steal my dog someday. I don't know how problematic this may turn out in the future, but I want her to realize there is a proper course of action for these types of things, and harassing me is not one of them. I also want her to realize that she has to take responsibility for her actions, and that she is NOT going to bully me around. If she keeps punching at me, she's going to find that I only take a few hits before I start swinging back *metaphorically*.
**EDIT**
Also forgot to add, that the officer mentioned something about the RCNL saying something about me crating my dog, which the officer saw no problem with. I was like, ya I crate my dog, she is still in training, its better than her running around my house chewing on everything, eating the cat litter, getting into the trash, chasing the cats, peeing in the house etc while I am gone. She stays in her crate when we are gone, or it is bedtime. He said some people don't like the idea of the crate but he has used it on his dogs in the past. Crating is not abusing my dog, it is giving her a safe place to call her own, her den. And ya, generally she doesn't like it, she'd rather be out chasing the cat, or getting into the trash, etc. So she does bark when she is in the crate, that is why she has a no-bark collar on at night. She doesn't bark, we all get sleep, everybody is happy, I take it off in the morning. But either way, the previous owner of the puppy, the same person that gave her HER puppy, also gave me the crate to train her in.
Well there she was, rude crazy neighbor lady with her dog *one of Halley's litter mates* standing in my driveway. She asks to let the dogs play. I'm thinking internally "no no no no no" but my heart is saying "give her the benefit of the doubt and try to mend fences". So I obliged and let the dogs out to play. They are in the front yard, I have no leash, no shoes I figure no problem. She starts "petting" Halley but I know what she's doing, she's checking her ribs and such for malnourishment or whatever. This is when the problem starts. Halley, after being confined all night in her crate is obviously very excited to see another dog, her brother. So rude crazy neighbor lady *from here on referred to as RCNL* says that its because she's not getting enough attention that she is so hyper and that I am not giving her enough attention and love and that I should again, give her my dog. That's when I got pissed. I said that I let her on my property in good faith and that she is no longer welcome on it, and she should get off or I will call the police. So she says something like "whatever" and starts walking away saying something to the effect that she will be watching me and will take Halley, however my dogs, having no leash and excited about the new dog follow her because they are still playing with the other dog. Sirius comes when I call her but Halley does not, since she is in uber hyper puppy mode and is still bouncing around her brother trying to play with him. I yell out at her to stop taking my dog and she just keeps walking faster. So now I have to scramble over my gravel driveway to chase after her, yelling for Halley to come. *we haven't practiced that much since it was a fairly new lesson at training* and I yell at RCNL to stop taking my dog or I will call the police, and she just looks at me and shakes her hips and goes "ooohhhhh" as in oohh I'm so scared. So I'm hobbling along the pavement best I can with no shoes on and Sirius bounding ahead like we're going for a walk and she stops so I can get close enough to call Halley effectively and have her come to me. I pick her up and call Sirius and go back to my house. I was so pissed of, and so angry I cried. I'm still crying as I write this, I'm just so pissed off.
I had an ENT apt. at 9:20 and tried to call Duncan but he was in the Lab so I couldn't get ahold of him. So I put the dog back in her crate and Sirius back in our bedroom and I went to the Marshall's office. I didn't know what else to do. This is the second incident and I was NOT about to let her bully me around especially when I know I have done nothing wrong. I couldn't help get very emotional when I spoke to the officer, I was just so angry and upset at her harassing me. I told him the story of the previous time she came by our house, told him of my discussion with the dogs previous owner and what she told me about wanting to give Halley to someone else, and about the previous incident. I only knew her first name, not where she lived and gave the officer a brief description about what she looked like. I also told him I had a bill of sale from the previous dog's owners with her name and address on them and Halley's shot record that I could bring him. So he said he would see what he could find out and I went to my ENT apt.
On the way there Duncan called me and I told him everything, I was just so upset I probably shouldn't have been driving and crying and talking on the phone at the same time but I was just getting to the office, I was 10 minutes late but luckily they still squeezed me in. After the apt, I talked to Duncan some more and went home and found the bill of sale, Halley's vet records, her rabies tag info, and anything else that I thought the officer might need and went back to the office.
He said he tracked her down by way of the town hall and called her, she wasn't home but he left a message, and she called him back. She said that her primary concern was for the welfare of the dogs and I can understand that, but she went about it all the wrong way. So the officer said that he told RCNL that he would look at the dogs personally and let her know his findings since he used to be a K-9 officer and knows a lot about dogs. I happily agreed and he followed me home. I let the dogs loose and of course they were happy to see a new person and were jumping and licking and such all over him. He said that they were well fed, that he saw nothing wrong with them and even made mention something about our home being nice. I agreed with him and told him that my dogs were well cared for, showed him Halley's graduation from puppy kindergarten certificate, and he agreed with me that there was nothing wrong with my dogs. So he asked me if I wanted to file a harassment charge against her and my brain said "yes yes yes yes" but my heart again said "no no no" so I told him that I don't want to be the "bad neighbor", but I want her to stay off my property, away from my dogs, and if she has a problem with them, to go through the proper channels and call the humane society or SPCA and I will be happy to let them check my animals out and show them my vet reciepts. He said that the humane society wouldn't find anything and that he would talk to her and let her know his findings. I thanked him and let him out.
I am still very much pissed though, and very afraid that she is still going to steal my dog someday. I don't know how problematic this may turn out in the future, but I want her to realize there is a proper course of action for these types of things, and harassing me is not one of them. I also want her to realize that she has to take responsibility for her actions, and that she is NOT going to bully me around. If she keeps punching at me, she's going to find that I only take a few hits before I start swinging back *metaphorically*.
**EDIT**
Also forgot to add, that the officer mentioned something about the RCNL saying something about me crating my dog, which the officer saw no problem with. I was like, ya I crate my dog, she is still in training, its better than her running around my house chewing on everything, eating the cat litter, getting into the trash, chasing the cats, peeing in the house etc while I am gone. She stays in her crate when we are gone, or it is bedtime. He said some people don't like the idea of the crate but he has used it on his dogs in the past. Crating is not abusing my dog, it is giving her a safe place to call her own, her den. And ya, generally she doesn't like it, she'd rather be out chasing the cat, or getting into the trash, etc. So she does bark when she is in the crate, that is why she has a no-bark collar on at night. She doesn't bark, we all get sleep, everybody is happy, I take it off in the morning. But either way, the previous owner of the puppy, the same person that gave her HER puppy, also gave me the crate to train her in.