The Editor,
I am writing this letter on behalf of some of the dog owners in the neighbourhoods of the town of Bienfait in response to Bruce Dalziel's letter about the barking dogs of Bienfait. I would also express how important it is for people in the community to have an open line of communication, thank you Estevan Mercury.
I know Mr.Dalziel must feel his complaints go unanswered; however in our case we have done everything to alleviate our dog's contribution to the noise of barking. I would like to say, that even dog owners pay taxes and cannot be assumed to be non-taxpayers and subject to fewer rights. Bienfait has a high population of dogs, it is true. In fact, enforcement of the containment of larger dogs is a bit stricter than the containing of smaller ones. I am sure this is due to the potential for greater danger of large strays to people and property.
I think it is understandable, since we do not have appropriate facilities. Smaller dogs tend to roam the streets while the larger ones get quite jealous.
On a personal note, we love our neighbours and our dog. Unfortunately for our dog Max, we happen to live next to the town bar. Though we spent thousands to build a privacy fence around our home in direct response to complaints (hoping to shield the dog's view of passersby and to stop cross yard traffic), we have problems with vandalism (kids kicking in parts of our fence)and people teasing our dog though he spends little time out of doors. Each spring we discover items tossed over the fence at our dog, bottles and trash and such, which we pick up and carry on with our lives. There is only so much a dog owner can do to quiet a dog that has been teased in his or her absence.
In response to complaints, we put our dog on an outing schedule, outings three or no more than four times daily, and at the height of his outing in the evening he may be allowed two hours of freedom in our yard before we pull him back in again. Mornings he spends half an hour or less, noon time he gets one hour or no noon outing some days. Outdoors, Max spends a total of approximately five hours (at most) in small bits through the day in a 24 hour period. We bring him indoors where he barks (indoors) and sings the blues because he likes the snow and cannot be allowed outside for fear of complaints. Our dog is a Great Pyrenees male. He loves winter and loves to munch on snow and huff around looking awesome. He has never been "staked" or tied up, he has always been kennelled or contained in the yard, or walked on the leash.
I find it ironic that while we keep our dog inside for the benefit of our neighbours, small dogs rip into trash and make a big mess at the trash cans. Dogs run loose and Max doesn't like them around our home; it's territorial behaviour normal to dogs. I will agree the sound of constant barking is highly annoying, especially when the barking or howling is inside the home. Giving the dog treats to keep him quiet is misunderstood by the dog and he will bark louder and howl longer. We learned this the hard way. There are many triggers nearby for all the dogs in the area, trains, loose doggies, cats, passersby, people who insist on trying to make friends with a dog that is barking behind a fence to keep them away.
I have mentioned our situation in sympathy to Mr. Dalziel, however there are many dogs in Bienfait that do not go inside at night in the summer months. We never leave Max outside at night, our big ole pooch is scared of the dark and I worry something bad will happen if he is left out.
So, the question is why do we live with Max's barking? As fate would have it, our home was invaded one night (documented with the RCMP). Our door was kicked in; an intruder entered our home screaming and yelling. Max saved the day by barking and keeping the person downstairs away from the family (our children were awake and terrified). I have to admit before that day, Max's barking was much more annoying, but now I appreciate it to some degree. We spend time with our dog; he is part of our family. He will sit and howl and sing the blues with his sad face. He gets scraps in his food everyday and spends part of his time pretending to be a rather large rug. He is more than adequately housed, fed and watered. He is more than adequately loved. He is more than adequately praised. In the end, he is a dog and dogs will bark, because it's how they speak to us and to one another. Ultimately, as a community we need to find a means of resolution in which the parties speak to one another and can work together to make changes. At what point should we exercise our right to complain about complaints?
Stephanie Stachoski,
Bienfait
