My dogs bark... your kids yell!

People... my dogs bark, I know. They bark when they play. They bark when they get excited because I am reaching for the leash (it's walk time!). They bark when they get nervous or agitated. And they bark when they are scared or trying to protect me. My dogs bark. My dogs bark because, well, they are dogs. And here is the crazy thing - I will let my dogs bark... when it is appropriate. But if the barking isn't warranted or is getting out of control I try to put a stop to it. And when my neighbors come and tell be that Finn barked for an hour straight in the morning, I am mortified and come up with a solution so it doesn't happen again (Solution - I built a dog run on the side of my house so they were confined to a smaller area and not able to bark at the kids and dogs in the neighboring yard). I really don't want to be that neighbor who has dogs that bark all of the time. And for the most part, I don't think I am. The only time my dogs are outside is when I am at work. And even then they spend most of their time inside the garage.


Now here is what really pisses me off. Yes people, I said pisses me off, is that I can't go to the same neighbors and say, "Hey, your kids were playing outside and yelled bloody murder for two hours straight... just thought you would like to know." Or, "So, I noticed you stayed inside your house all day while your spawns played in the street yelling all day. I find this disturbing." Why can't I say this? Well, because while it is ok to tell me my dogs are loud, it isn't acceptable to tell other people their kids are loud. Ugh.