My dogs are barkin'

I came home from work Thursday simply exhausted. Busy doesn't even begin to describe it. E-mail, meetings, systems breakdowns, customer complaints, more meetings, pop-ins, phone calls, more customer complaints and a mad dash to get my single mother ass over to the school to pick up one kid, across town to get another and home to make sure the last made it back, safe and sound. Then off to the grocery.

But let me back up.

My day started with my sitter telling me that my kids are no longer welcome at the home she watched them after school. Apparently they were a "distraction." The truth is, I was late getting my kids a few days before, and a few days the week before, and so on. They were at my sister's house and instead of her delivering that message directly to me, it came via the sitter.

Classic.

So all the crap I dealt with also included me scrambling to find after school care for my kids.

It's no surprise then that when I finally got home, my dogs were barkin', both literally and figuratively. Yes, my feet hurt. But also on my door was a note from the police saying that a neighbor had complained about my dogs' barking.

Now I had an opportunity to live in a really nice house, much larger, same rent. But they wouldn't take the dogs. In fact, no one would. I was lucky to find this place, nice as it is. And now the note-- a warning-- said if I was cited, I would be fined $100. Each time. And faced owing the complainer $5,000 for the stress.

Nevermind the fact that several dogs live in the area-- I can hear one barking now. It has been off and on all day.

I researched online and found this ultrasonic box that emits a high frequency noise each time the dogs bark. It's inaudible to humans, but it is supposed to curb dog barking behavior.

Here it is, Saturday. I arrived home from running my youngest to the doctor, and two neighbors are outside chatting. I walked over feeling quite sheepish, explained the note and what I was doing about it. Immediately both insisted the complaint hadn't been from them. They also insisted that I should get the shock collar.

You know, the one that shocks the dog each time it barks. "Oh it doesn't hurt them," one insisted. The other nodded emphatically in agreement.

I don't even know what to say to this. It seems so illogical. Of course it hurts them-- that is the Pavlovian point.

Anyway I'm sticking with the ultrasonic box. It should arrive in the mail this week. Hopefully this will fix the problem because my gawd-- I can't move out again, I just damn near finished unpacking the garage. Oh, and that whole one-year lease thing.

*sigh*