Viewer Stories

Please share your stories with us in the comment box (located at the bottom of the page) about your experiences with 2nd Hand Barking.

You can use any or all of the questions below to clarify your story. A one sentence answer to each in bullet point form is fine:

• Do you have a dog now or have you ever had a dog?
• Was having a dog a pleasant experience?
• Describe your experience with other’s dogs barking:
• What was the context?
• What happened and over what length of time?
• What were the effects on you, on others?
• What did you do about the situation?
• What were you anxious about before you spoke up /wrote / other?
• If you chose not to take any action, what were you going through?
• How did you imagine the dog owner would respond?
• How would you like to have had the dog owner respond?
• If you spoke up, what did you say/express?
• What was the dog owner’s reaction?
• How did you feel after the interaction?
• Did you get a reaction you thought was kind, considerate and included positive action to solve the problem?
• Did the dog owner respond in action to help solve the problem their dog was causing?
• If so, how do you feel about this?
• If not, how do you feel about this?
• What message would you like to send to dog owners who allow their dogs to bark in a way that is negatively affecting you or others?

3 Comments

• 
  Anita J. Novarro February 3, 2011 at 8:01 am

  One day my husband and I were stopping at a special place people go to eat and shop for unique things and were relaxing for the day.

  As we were parking our car and getting out, putting things in the trunk, etc., way down the parking lot, about 20 cars away, 2 women had parked their car and were walking behind all the cars to come to the entrance. As they passed a car, a huge German Shepard dog suddenly leapt up at the car window in attack mode, full body, full attack barking and the 2 women were so shocked and caught off guard that by the time they got down by our car, they were still holding their chests and showing signs of trauma.

  We soothed them and agreed with the hideousness of such an experience. We were all out in the country, having an adventure and boom! “Shock and Awe”. Later they said they had not really regained their equanimity and wouldn’t come back, even though logically they knew that particular dog’s owner would likely not be there at the same time as them again.

  Reply
• 
  Tom R. Bennett July 5, 2011 at 3:03 pm

  I was in Fed Ex on a trip one day, sending items back home and the mother of an employee came in with her small dog in her arms.

  The dog screamed, but the family was cuddling and cooing over the dog AND THE USUAL FEW ADDED THEIR “OH HOW CUTE” WHICH SEEMS TO BENEFIT THE OWNER’S EGO. Clearly, it feeds THE OWNER’S emotions and THEIR needs for attention from others without any regard for those around, in the whole store. I felt like screaming in the ear of the dog owner and asking ‘How do you like THAT!?’ And why shouldn’t we? they can scream at us through their dog but would be shocked to receive same in kind, eh?

  Reply
• 
  Linda September 28, 2011 at 7:57 pm

  We were at a beautiful art fair in a lovely small town and while enjoying a perfect weather day while looking at amazing crafts and art, someone had brought a small dog that yapped and screamed and ruined the atmosphere for blocks around in this lovely fair. People were commenting on how ugly that was in the midst of such community enjoyment.

  One other woman overheard these 2 people talking about this on the other side of the street, not even near the barking dog, and an intrusive woman sneered at the 2 people saying no dog’s barking could bother people and certainly not cause anyone long term stress, as one of the speakers was describing having experienced in her neighborhood. This rude speaker tilted her head back and sneered.

  Clearly this intrusive and defensive person is a small dog owner herself or she wouldn’t have even felt defensive about comments concerning another’s dog’s barking! She neither remained quiet, inquired as the the 2 people’s experience which lead to their reactions and comments between themselves, nor showed an ounce of empathy for their clearly terrible long term experience in their homes, which this current dog’s yapping and screaming was reminding them of, and for which they had left their home that day to get away from!

  Reply

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