NO NO DOGGIE

Since we moved into this house there have been many nights of sleep interrupted by some huge dog that lives somewhere in our neighborhood. I say "huge" and "somewhere" because you can tell from the bark that he has to be gigantic and we don't know where he lives. We can only hear the bark like it is in our back yard because the dog is huge and his bark carries so far.

I have often wondered what makes these people think that it is acceptable to keep such a loud dog in a neighborhood like this barking all night. Okay, dog lovers don't start sending the hate comments yet. I am fine with people having dogs and I am fine with people keeping dogs in their back yard, but if your dog barks like a monster all hours of the night you shouldn't be living in a neighborhood where the lots are an acre at most. I kid you not, this beast barks at 10 pm, 2 am, 6 am, noon, pretty much all hours of the day and night.

I have actually gotten more used to it and now he only wakes me up every once in a while. I have not had mean thoughts about this animal and the owners in several months. That is, until tonight.

Grayson has been doing so well in his new bed. He had some trouble last night going down and we couldn't figure out why. Then tonight's escapades begin. A few minutes after going down for bed Grayson started to wail. Justin went up to calm him down and he got quiet again. Now, we are not a family that believes you should jump every time your child cries, but it isn't like Grayson to cry out at night and it typically means something is wrong. Grayson calmed and Justin came downstairs. Several minutes later he is screaming again. We go upstairs and find him shaking in fear and pointing to his window. After a few minutes of wondering what he was pointing at we hear the dog bark and Grayson starts to cry again. This beast of a dog has our son terrified. Every time the dog barks, Grayson cries harder.

A side note here is that I always assumed that fear had to be learned. Well I never put much thought into it, but why would a kid be scared of something that has never given a reason to be feared. Grayson has had nothing but positive experiences with dogs. He is a little nervous around a new dog, but warms up quickly. However, in the dark of his room with a big doggie barking outside my little fella is terrified. That fear was not learned, he is just innately scared and it is pitiful.

We tried explaining to Grayson that the doggie was outside and lives in a different house with his mommy and daddy. We tried to explain that he lives there, not outside Grayson's window, and can't come to our house. We explained that if he didn't like the doggie barking he could say "no no doggie" and then go to sleep because he is safe in his big boy bed. None of these things have worked. He will say "no no doggie" but follows it with wails. Justin is currently in Grayson's room with him because he is so scared of this doggie and scared to be left in his room. Yes, it is 10:30 pm and this has been going on for almost 2 hours. I am not there because Grayson typically goes back down better for Justin than he does for me. Not tonight. He isn't going down at all.

I am doing a Beth Moore study right now. I LOVE her by the way. Last week she talked about meanness and the things that bring out the meanness in us all. Well this moment is bringing out my meanness. I am so mad I could spit! All I want to do is get in my car and find where this beast lives. I want to pound on the door, even if the house is dark because they can sleep through their beast's howls, and I want to tell them exactly how angry I am that their dog is keeping my sweet baby awake in fear. Justin has already told me I am absolutely not going anywhere so here I sit blog venting. I can't help but feel like we should let these people know how unacceptable it is for their animal to be disrupting everyone's evening with his loud barks. Then again, would it really make a difference? UGH, frustration!