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Post by Deleted on Mar 22, 2009 12:26:49 GMT
It's always easier to focus on the problem rather than the solution. There have been several suggestions made,why not try implementing one or two of them? We could go round and round with this. There is no magic answer. Not knowing the culture as someone mentioned does render much of the advice moot. What inner city children do for entertainment,what parents allow etc., varies even in one given city or town. Inner city children here in New Orleans do play in the street, ten miles down the road in the more "refined" neighborhoods children are playing expensive video games or are enrolled in some soccer camp. It's a socio-economic issue. Again, there is no one magic solution but several options/suggestions that you might go forward with and see what happens.
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Post by gringalais on Mar 23, 2009 16:07:11 GMT
Casimira - I did ask some friends here and another neighbor who is annoyed by the noise what they thought would happen if I leave a note or talk to them as has been suggested. Unfortunately, much as I expected the consensus is that we could complain about the dogs (which are not much of a problem any more) but any criticism of the kids is not likely to go over well here AT ALL. They thought it may end up exacerbating things, like they could tell the kids to play directly in front of my house, especially since there are now 3 families I would have to deal with.
I guess if I see them putting their hands through the gate again, I would have more grounds to say something since there is potential danger of my cat scratching them or the puppy nipping at them. I could frame it as concern for the kid and maybe their parents will tell them to keep some distance at least.
This is the first time I have ever hoped the winter is long, cold and rainy.
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Post by gringalais on Mar 30, 2009 17:44:28 GMT
Well, they were putting their hands under the gate again, trying to pet the puppy, with the parents right there watching. I loudly said to them not to do that, the parents heard too, but didn't do anything to the kids or tell them to stop. So, my initial opinion that they are just lazy parents seems to be true. If the parents see them doing that and don't even tell them not to, I don't know what good talking to them will accomplish.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2009 17:49:02 GMT
Damn, I was hoping for some good news on this subject. Why don't you want them to pet the puppy?
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Post by gringalais on Mar 30, 2009 17:55:32 GMT
She doesn't know the kids, so I am not sure how she will react to hands being put in her face. She likes to sit with her snout under the gate performing her guard dog duties. If they startle her she could bite them. She is a German Shepherd mix and about 7 months or so, so she is quite big and has her adult teeth now, so if she were to do something like that, she could break the skin.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2009 17:59:08 GMT
Oh, okay -- German shepherd mix. I understand your concern. Why don't you have a session where the kids make friends with your puppy? It seems like it might be profitable for both parties.
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Post by gringalais on Mar 30, 2009 18:23:09 GMT
Isn't she cute?
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2009 18:26:34 GMT
She looks like she loves children.
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Post by Deleted on Mar 30, 2009 18:27:06 GMT
For breakfast.
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Post by gringalais on Mar 30, 2009 18:51:44 GMT
She was okay with my friend's kid, but the kid was around for a while before he got close to her, so she was able to get used to his presence.
Sometimes when she is playing she will nip at our fingers or toes, a habit that we are trying to break. So, it does seem possible that she would try the same with a hand coming under the gate towards her.
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Post by Kimby on Mar 30, 2009 19:31:00 GMT
Could you put a Beware of Dog sign on your fence or gate? Even if she's a harmless lovebug, which it looks like she is, you would be putting everyone (who can read) on notice not to mess with your dog....
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Post by rikita on Mar 30, 2009 20:56:53 GMT
and even or especially if the parents didn't react to you calling out, i would talk to them then, right? in a friendly and serious way - if they still ignore it, and the kids do indeed get bitten, at least you have done all you could to prevent it.
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2009 5:05:35 GMT
I would love to know how this situation turned out after a couple of months.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 9, 2009 6:28:29 GMT
The dog has child on her breath.
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Post by Deleted on May 9, 2009 11:24:26 GMT
Scared me there for a sec Bixa when I saw this post this a.m. by your name.
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Post by gringalais on May 11, 2009 16:38:28 GMT
It is a bit better, mostly because it is getting dark earlier and it is getting colder so they are out there less. One other time we tried to say something to the parents when we were walking with the dog back to hte house. They came running up to her and pretty much flung themselves at her when the parents were trying to get them into the car. Again we said something, but they just got into the car without a word. So, they are totally worthless. From then on, I just say something to the kids, if they are being really loud in front of my house, I tell them why don't they play in front of their own house. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
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Post by Kimby on May 18, 2009 20:02:39 GMT
Why DON'T they play in front of their own house? (Their parents probably shoo them away to bother others rather than themselves.)
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Post by Jazz on May 18, 2009 23:55:44 GMT
Why DON'T they play in front of their own house? (Their parents probably shoo them away to bother others rather than themselves.) For god's sake, they probably play outside of the 25 metre line of demarcation because they are just kids!!! I doubt that 'the parents are totally worthless' (gringalais)...you simply have no understanding of each other.
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Post by gringalais on May 19, 2009 16:30:34 GMT
Well, kids may be kids, but shouldn't it be the parents' responsibility to supervise and tell them not to taunt the pit bull down the street or stick their fingers under my gate where our large puppy is sitting? Sadly, they don't seem to think it is their responsibility, because the two times they saw what was happening, they didn't tell the kids not to or respond to our attempts to say anything to them.
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Post by Deleted on May 19, 2009 17:11:09 GMT
I have seen so many excessively relaxed parents and so many excessively uptight parents that I sometimes wonder if the parents in the in-between category exist.
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Post by rikita on Jun 2, 2009 17:59:43 GMT
well i see the loud playing and the touching the dog as two different issues... in the first case my opinion is more "kids are just kids, and have a right to be loud sometimes" - but in the second issue i agree that the parents should really say something too. after all, they are endangering their own kids, by not teaching them to stay away from potentially dangerous animals (and despite all cuteness and niceness, dogs can be potentially dangerous). and there i see a problem for you too, and can understand you being annoyed - since depending on what the laws about this are in chile, you might be held responsible if your dog indeed ends up biting one of the kids.
one thing though is, that if that repeatedly happens, maybe you should just say something to the parents while passing them on the street, but go to their house, without your dog, ring their door bell, and in a friendly but serious manner tell them that their kids need to stay away from your dog, because just as kids are just kids, dogs are just dogs... then again, that is just my thoughts, not sure what i would in fact do in the situation, nor do i know the people in question, of course...
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2009 18:03:26 GMT
Rikita, that dog just wants her picture taken. Haven't you seen the other thread?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 6, 2010 19:13:52 GMT
We got a new neighbor in my office building today. We occupy 5 floors, but there are 4 other floors for other companies. The production company of a sleazy media personality took over two floors today. God knows what we are in for. For you North Americans, think 'Geraldo,' think 'Jerry Springer.'
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 6, 2010 20:23:16 GMT
And you should be thinking of ways to let your Inner Outrageous out, even if you have to fake it. Get on the show!
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Post by tillystar on Jul 6, 2010 21:13:43 GMT
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Post by Kimby on Jul 6, 2010 22:54:09 GMT
go to their house, without your dog, ring their door bell, and in a friendly but serious manner tell them that their kids need to stay away from your dog, because just as kids are just kids, dogs are just dogs... I'd be careful about that. If your dog DOES bite their kid, then they could claim that you came and told them that your dog was dangerous, which could make you liable for medical bills and worse.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2014 14:47:23 GMT
Ah, damned neighbours.... it's always been a problem!
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Post by lagatta on Feb 28, 2014 15:23:09 GMT
I'm reading this over and thinking of bixa's neighbours...
And then there are cultural differences. In Italy, it is a big gaffe to make noise during the siesta; I mean just talking and laughing. It is like doing it at 3 am in some other countries.
Rikita, a good friend of mine is Brazilian, but his family (parents, grandmother and uncles and aunts all emigrated) are Viennese, so he displays an odd mix of such attitudes, and you have to read whether the Germanic or Latin side is taking centre stage. He was very upset once when I arrived ten minutes late (in Paris). But he's Latin about other stuff.
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Post by fumobici on Feb 28, 2014 20:43:55 GMT
I don't notice the siesta so much in more businesslike Tuscany. A few years ago I was visiting my father in Anghiari and after the neighbor and his crew had successfully brought in the year's tobacco crop to the drying "barn", which is a very old house in the typical tuscan sandstone that has been repurposed for what looks like perhaps the last century as such, they held a harvest party which lasted literally until daylight in the adjoining capanno, which is maybe ten meters from where I slept. I got rather boisterous for a few hours around midnight and cars slowly streamed out through the night but there were a few hardy souls who were still drinking wine and laughing and talking until daylight when their wives arrived to bundle them off back to home. Their tenacity impressed and surprised me but the thick stone walls allowed me to sleep through it decently.
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Post by lagatta on Feb 28, 2014 20:57:12 GMT
We were in Rome. Indeed, much less in Tuscany and probably farther north, and when I was studying in Perugia, there were so many foreign students and former former students that it was unusually cosmopolitan for an Italian hilltown.
This was also at least 20 years ago. European economic integration and globalisation are eating into the long lunches and siestas of yesteryear.
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