Where is a large bird of prey when you need it? We’re on vacation this week, which means we get to sleep in past our normal 2:45 am wake up call. Sounds wonderful, but only in theory. In reality we have a neighbor that owns two very obnoxious “squeaky toys” with four legs. They were up and at it barking their heads off at 4:15 this morning. I know because I looked at the clock. I laid there for a few minutes thinking all sorts of evil thoughts of different ways of their demise. Of course, I could never actually follow through with any of my mental wanderings, because ultimately it’s not the dogs fault. The blame rests squarely on the owner’s shoulders.
Maybe he was lonely, I don’t know, but getting a dog requires a lot more than just being a cure for loneliness. You have to interact with them, a lot. There’s training, training and more training. Affection and lots of exercise. We have labs, and labs have a ton of energy and if left to their own devices, can get very hyper and destructive, mostly from boredom. Everyone that comes to our home always comments on how laid back they are. Don’t get me wrong, we don’t have giant rugs here, these guys can destroy a room in no time (and have) if we would let them. Our neighbor even built a doggie door for them so that he didn’t have to get up to let them out. Which means now he has even less interaction with them. He fenced off a tiny little area in his yard for them to run around in. Maybe a six square foot area. He fenced it off with a garden fence, something my dogs wouldn’t even notice as they walked through. So now these two loud obnoxious animals rush outside at all hours and bark incessantly. Amazing how something so small can be so loud. It is beginning to grate on my last nerve. Even my dogs are tired of their irritating rants. On our walk yesterday, Charlie turned and started to charge at the dogs with hair raised down his back. I was almost tempted but I was sure there might have been witnesses.
I’ve even tried to make up to them with no success. No I really don’t want to see the dogs dead, just quiet.
A woman's view of hunting...with men 
I know how you feel! Too many dog owners just don’t give their dogs any attention and wonder why the dogs develop irritating habits. There should be a dog class that every high school student is required to take to avoid that happening.