Drama in Suburbia

Growing up, I lived in a very small town. There was an entire acre of land standing between our house and our neighbors. Pretty much everyone had animals of some sort whether it were the usual dogs & cats or cows & goats. I never knew I'd miss 'country' life so much.

The past 5 years, I have lived in an apartment. It was fun at first, but got old quick. The lack of space and no yard to call my own was something I was ready to leave behind.

When we moved into the suburbs, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. 

I had never lived in a housing area before. My husband had, but even still, the houses weren't this close together. I was just ecstatic about finally being in a house. A few weeks after we moved in, the high that I was on began to fade. I still love this house, but getting used to neighborhood life is taking more time than I would have imagined. 

Yesterday morning, as I was in the kitchen getting the coffee started, we hear a knock on our door. Aaron answered, and it was one of our neighbors. She proceeded to say that if we didn't get our dog's barking under control, she was going to call the cops on us. As soon as she said that, my blood started boiling.

First of all, my dog rarely barks. She does bark at people she doesn't know, in situations where she's scared, and when she's being protective. So yes, from time to time, when she's outside, she will bark....especially when she smells an animal or person close to our fence. What annoys me most [other than her threatening to call the cops on us]? Is that the lady said that she has 'tried to be nice to the dog & feed her treats'. UMMM, hello! Obviously if you're trying to get at the dog through the fence and she is BARKING at you, she doesn't like you or she thinks you are trying to endanger her family. If she doesn't want your treats & continues to bark/growl at you, take a hint. She's also claiming that Kami wakes her up at 3:30 am barking, which I know is untrue because Kami sleeps in our bedroom! I don't let her out in the morning until Adelei wakes up, which is usually 8:30 or 9.  I just honestly don't see how this is possible when I am home 90% of the time [in other words, I know if my dog is barking to bring her inside!]. I don't know whether it's true or not, but she says some of the other neighbors have complained as well. She also told us that we needed to keep our dog inside [she's an inside dog, but obviously I let her out to do her business & get exercise], and that we need to video tape Kami while she's outside. Getting the cops called means we'd have to pay a fine, and if they reported it to our real estate company, we could get evicted. I miss living in a place where, if a dog barked or rooster crowed, no one got their panties in a wad.

p.s. Did I mention there are other dogs in the neighborhood?