Friday, June 4, 2010

Letters of Intent

Foursons


Dear Mr & Mrs G;
I wrote this post to you awhile ago when you were calling our previous dog over to your house. Now I'm writing it again.
I have been very patient with you, Mr. & Mrs. G, in regards to my animals. I've asked you nicely. I've pleaded. I've begged. Well, no more Mrs. Nice Shaun. Nope!
I let it go when I saw that you had MY dog in YOUR dog kennel. I politely asked you not to do it again. I bit my tongue so hard I thought I was going to bite it in half. I put on my kind neighborly face and simply said "Please call me next time." You got a little huffy with me, Mrs. G, but I let it go.
Flash forward a few weeks. I was out in the garden (which you can't see from your house) and I HEARD you call my dog over to your yard. I peeked around my shed. I saw you in your front yard, hands cupped around your mouth and I heard you shout "Vinnie! Come here boy!" I nearly lost my marbles right then and there. I grabbed the dog's leash and hightailed it over to your house. You were feeding my dog treats. I saw you with my own two eyes. I once again explained that you were NOT to call my dog over to your house. Your response, Mrs. G, was to say "It's not MY fault he comes over here." (Which is EXACTLY what you said LAST time with our OTHER dog that you were CALLING over to your house.) My response was "Well, Mrs. G, I was out in my garden and I heard you call his name." Your response was "No, I was asking Mr. G if he had seen Vinnie lately." Ooooookkkkkkaaaayyyyy..... I once again said "Mrs. G, we're trying to teach Vinnie his boundaries. If you play with him when he comes over, it's reinforcing negative behavior. You are more than welcome to come over and play with Vinnie anytime you want. In fact, I'm sure he'd love to play with you in his own yard with his toys." Your snotty response, Mrs G, "We're not going to NOT play with him if he comes over. We just love that dog." Oooooooookkkkkkkkkkaaaaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyy again. So, I asked you, Mrs. G if you would like to keep Vinnie for your very own. You see, I would rather you keep him then have him get hit on the road. Your response, once again in a very snotty tone was "No, we're too old for dogs. They're too much work." Ummm...yeah..I was kind of speechless. Well, not really. I had a lot of things to say, but in the interest of respect (which I seem to have, even though you don't) I bit my tongue even harder. I looked you straight in the eye, Mrs. G and I said "If we can't teach Vinnie to stay in the yard, he's going to have to go back to the pound. I won't have him getting killed because you keep reinforcing his bad behavior." Your response, Mrs. G was something like "You should have trained your dog better."
Now, let me ask you something, Mr. & Mrs. G. How am I suppose to train my dog if you keep calling him across the road? How am I suppose to teach him to respond to his name and the command "come" if that's the technique you use to get him into your yard? How?
This situation has a very simple ending. Stop calling my dog across the road. Walk over to my yard if you want to play with him.

Sincerely,
Your fed up neighbor

4 comments:

Foursons said...

That has got to be one of the strangest things I have ever heard. Why in the world would she deny calling your dog over? Wow. I'm almost speechless.

Thanks for linking up and good luck with your crazy neighbors!

Ashley T said...

See, we'd have a nice little problem. I might have to come out there and have a little talk with mrs. G. LOL I hope she listens cause she might get a lot more than she wants from you. She has been warned. I give you permission to kick some butt!

Beth Zimmerman said...

Oh My Goodness! That's crazy! I certainly hope she stops!

Rachel said...

That is nutso! Especially denying that she's calling him over. That is just bizarre and a little sad.

Sounds like they need local grandkids or something... you know, fun to play with, but "too much work to keep"...? ha ha