SOOOOO Angry I could thump someone

[Nicky Vangalis]

Hi all,

I hope you can help calm me down as I'm livid. My fiance had a visit from the RSPCA today - complaining that Ollie barks.  What is funniest of all is that Ollie quite often is indoors with my fiance as he works from home and only goes out when he wants to play.  The moron neighbours ACROSS THE ROAD didn't come and see us, just called the RSPCA!

Am not cross at the RSPCA at all as I know they are doing their job and the inspector took one look at Ollie and laughed and said no way can he be a problem, I'll file a report saying nothing going on here. I'm just so infuriated!

How DARE they! Wish I knew who it was for definite!!

[Cherry Casey]

Same thing happened me 4 yrs ago, I was so angry and couldn't think of anything bad enough to call them, then the neighbour who complained got done for drunk driving and lost his licence, prooving what goes around comes around, so karma will sort it out for you!!!!!

[Chantal McIlveen-Wright]

Ollie barks, of course Ollie barks, you would not expect Ollie to roar like a lion or sing like a bird.
Nicky, please just ignore this type of people, as they are far too low to deserve any consideration, and their worse punishment will be to be ignored, and even worse for them ... that you continue to greet them with your nicest smile.
Nicky be very cautious with stupid people, stupidity has no limit, they can be dangereous and you do not want your dear Ollie to become a target.
If it were me, I will give myself a good hour or two for pesting, raging, shouting and kicking whatever, then a good walk with my dog and tomorrow I will visit all my neighbours one by one, saying you had the visit of the RSPCA, you were not aware/did not realise that your dog was barking to the point of disturbing people, you regret and apologise if it was the case for them, and ask them the favour of letting you know directly if it is happening again (give your and your fiance mobile number???). Whatever you choose to do Nicky, always remember that stupidity has no limit and your best victory will be to neutralise it.

[silvia]

Oh Nicky, I would second the Chantal suggestion.. put a smile on your face, and go to see them offering apologise.. not only -hopefully- the "culprit" will act differently next time, but you'll also build up a network of more keen neighbours - that may help to put him/her in minority ;)

best victory is to neutralise them :)

[Nicky Vangalis]

Hiya,
See the thing is I have no problem and total respect for the RSPCA officer as I know he is just doing his job and I would hope that if there was a complaint that I made then I would want them to follow it up. It just made me laugh when the officer took a look at Ollie and said, 'honestly, I thought you had a staffordshire bull terrier the way this woman was complaining, I know for a fact setters only bark when they are playing so there's nothing wrong here'. Now, having owned Staffs in the past I know this is correct as Staffs will guard, Ollie couldn't guard to save his life!

I like your letter, I think that is a good idea. To be honest I'd be too inclined to grit my teeth so hard that a letter would be better!!

As you say I'm not stooping to their level of ignorance, I'm just so sad that someone would even think a dog barking in a garden when he's running around playing that they would consider that a case for the RSPCA! What a tragic world we live in....

[sue morgan]

As an Ex - Dog Warden, the RSPCA would NOT respond for a noise problem....your Local (hopefully friendly/helpful ) Dog Warden would call Or An environmental Officer.but both would explain who and why they were there and carry I.D.......THEY WOULD OFFER ADVICE and ask if there were any problems...............Sue

[Nicky Vangalis]

Hi Sue,
Please see my next post on the forum - possible bogus officer :-(

[lyn hathaway]

watch out nikki they might call your local council next lol.these people must lead such boring lives that even a setter havin fun and enjoing himself in his own back garden is too much for them to bear.they would be all right with my layla she barks as soon as lead is on until halfway down road.oh tries to stop her but i think its her way of lettin people know shes here especially with her not been able to see.hope you dont have any more trouble though

[Sue and Cash]

I like the letter idea as well. If you knew which neighbor for sure that it was, I would be inclined to bake them some cookies and kill them with kindness. Say your sorry and didn't realize that your dog play barking was annoying them. Then yes give them the phone number and tell them you will make it a point to nip it in the bud next time they call. It's so hard to dislike someone who bakes you cookies :)
I would be in big trouble if the dog park was my yard. My dog is so quiet you wouldn't know I had one here at home. But when he gets with his friends Cash will yap like a madman. He barks to the point of embarrassment.
Everyone knows him and knows he is just engaging others to run with him, but it is so loud I would be homeless by now if it was my yard!

[Nicky Vangalis]

well the RSPCA said it was a mix of barking and 'crying' - now Ollie doesn't cry but he makes a very odd growling sound when he's playing fetch with himself or trying to uncover something buried in the garden. Most odd boy, but he certainly doesn't cry. If you could peer into our garden you'd see his tail wagging like the clappers as he's a happy chappy!!
Bottom line we know he is happy, he's cared for, he's not a barking nuisance just a regular dog that likes to play. So we wrote the letter to diffuse anyone who may be out to cause trouble and also so if something else happens we have evidence of how we have conducted ourselves on our side!
Seriously such a waste of time and I think the RSPCA do a stellar job, I really do respect them, but they had their time wasted when they came here which makes me sad.

[Nicky Vangalis]

Oh Finn it's okay I know you meant that!!
After all the events we have found today (see my other post on the forum) it has at least given us an opportunity to talk to the people who complained about Ollie barking when he was a puppy as they have always avoided us ever since...as you all said blind them with kindness and actually there's nothing more they can say. I said to them as an aside if ever they are bothered by Ollie then please come and tell us as we don't want to bother anyone and we know he can be a nutter. She was perfectly nice and said, it's okay, I know dogs bark, it's just we thought he was going to be a pain. Fair enough. So the silver lining of this whole debacle is our neighbours have no reason to ignore us any more. Still, I just hope there is nothing more sinister as the idea of a man coming in to our property to see our dog just freaks me out. Doors are double locked tonight!!

[Dixie Cruise]

Sue ... you are too good.  If it were me, there'd be something in those cookies, compliments of Ollie.  Not sayin' what.  These types of neighbors are just the worst ... they don't like when dogs act like dogs nor when children act like children.  Just dried up bitter lemons, they are.  Oh well ... let's lift a glass to the GOOD neighbors and tolerate the others.  (grrrr ... )