I just want to take a moment to address the letter that our pretty awesome neighbors (eye roll) took the time to write up and send to us. Since there was no returning address, I don’t know another way to address this than to send it out to our community. And since all the people that “live within 10 houses in every direction” are bothered, maybe this is the way to reach the most people. I have attached the letter to this post for your reference so that all houses that were included in this complaint know what was said on their behalf.
I want you to understand that we are reasonable people. If you have an issue with us our any part of our family (dog included), it could have been addressed in a much better way. If you wanted to remain anonymous fine. But, the letter and the way that it was written was completely inappropriate and was written in a very not neighborly way.
We understand that when the dog barks at “all hours of the night” that would be annoying. It would annoy us too. But the truth is, he’s not barking at all hours of the night because if he was, we would hear it too.
Despite what you presume to know about us we are not up “streaming Netflix until midnight.” We have kids that are in bed on most nights between 8-9 too. We also understand that they “need sleep for their health and well being.” While it is none of your business, you may notice that our lights are on late at night. But instead of presuming to know that we are up “streaming Netflix” maybe if you took the time to get to know your RENTAL neighbors, you would know that I currently have a full time job (teacher in PISD), 3 kids, and I have decided to go to nursing school. So, once my kids are in bed, I stay up late grading papers, planning for the next school day (COVID sucks and we are having to recreate almost everything so that it works for our virtual students as well as our in-person students), but in addition to that, I take classes at night and have to stay up until “all hours of the night” studying, doing my own assignments for nursing school, and getting things ready for the next day (mom stuff). I am definitely not up “streaming Netflix.” And if I was, it’s really not any of your business and was an unnecessary comment.
We also don’t appreciate the cops being called on us and the fact that whoever called them, is a LIAR. Last Saturday night I was up studying in the front office. My husband had taken the kids to a friends house to hang out so that I could have a quiet house you know because of the “noise coming from inside our home from whatever it is that we are doing” (eye roll). Kevin (the dog) was outside. I did hear him bark a few times randomly. It was defiantly not constant (nonstop) barking and when he did bark it was a few barks and then he would stop. He maybe barked a total of 3 times over the course of a couple of hours. He’s a dog, he is going to bark some especially if he hears other dogs in our neighborhood barking or people outside our house. That night, our neighbors had people in front of our house going back in forth to their car after 9 pm. We are not even going to address the fact that those same neighbors often have their guests park right in front of our house so that my husband has to park across the street when there is not a single car in their driveway (talk about annoying). But, OK fine, so any little noise outside bothers you if it comes after 9pm. Maybe it takes you a while to drift to sleep you hear another bark that wakes you up again. You are annoyed, so you call the cops, fine, maybe that was the best way to address the situation at that time of the night. I’m not bothered that the cops were called, or even that you were annoyed by the dog. We all have different things that really bother (trigger) us. I guess a few barks really sets some people off. I am however bothered that those neighbors also told the police that I went outside screamed at Kevin and then proceeded to beat him. Seriously??? Why lie?? Is that what you had to tell the cops to get them to come?? Because the cop sat outside our house for a while and never heard the dog bark until my husband pulled up around 11pm. Kevin barked when he heard the truck a few times and then stopped barking before they even got inside the house. Again, my issue is not that the cops were called because clearly you were annoyed. But, why lie?
We also don’t appreciate you talking down to us or treating us as if you are better just because we are RENTERS. The letter was addressed to our “Rental Neighbors.” Why not just neighbors?? What difference does it make that we rent our home rather than buy it? We also do not appreciate you making comments that we are “streaming Netflix until midnight” and “we may not hear the dog bark because of all the noise in our home.” We don’t appreciate being threatened by our so called neighbors of a legal suit or of an eviction. Never in my entire life have I ever felt so unwelcomed and judged by people that don’t even know us. We pay just as much as you (probably more) to be here. You are no better than us.
Let me reiterate that my issue is not with your complaint about Kevin (the dog). We understand and are sorry that he has caused you any “annoyance.” We are going to do what we can to resolve the issue so that he is no longer a problem. My issue is that instead of the letter that was sent, all that was really needed was a letter like this…
Hi Neighbors,
We just wanted to let you know that your dog has been barking quite a lot and has been keeping us up at night/waking us up early in the morning. Is there any way that you can maybe bring him inside from 9pm-6am so that we can get some rest?
Thanks,
Your Sleepy Neighbors
You should have given us the benefit of the doubt and a chance to resolve the issue before talking down to us, threatening to have us evicted, and threatening to file a law suit. At least, that is what any normal human being would have done. You, my neighbors, that OWN your home, and were a part of this letter are all jerks.
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