One bark too many

Our neighbors' dog gets out a lot. She digs out from under the fence and runs around the neighborhood. A few times she's even dug into our yard.

We've brought her back to her own yard, we've spoken to her owners, we've left a note in their mailbox (nothing angry, just to let them know), but nothing works. She just keeps getting out. We've even called animal control, but by the time they show up, the dog has inevitably gone back under the fence into her yard.

Coupled with her daily escapes, she and her sister are noisy. The two of them bark incessantly (though, for some reason, only one of them gets out). Their barking drives us crazy — especially Misty, since she has such a difficult time getting to sleep as it is.

A glance into our neighbors' back yard will tell you that those dogs are neglected. They stay outside all the time, and they've destroyed everything within their reach. There is almost no grass left in their yard and splinters of wood are littered about from where the dogs have chewed up pieces of the porch and fence. I should feel bad for those dogs because they get no attention from their owners, but it's hard to sympathize when they're such a nuisance.

Yesterday, the escape artist dog was out as usual. When we came home from an errand we found she had dumped some trash cans and drug garbage all over our front lawn. She was sitting in her own front yard in another pile of garbage.

This was the last straw for Misty. She picked up the wads of paper towels, the large section of mesh screening (which I assume the dog tore off of its porch), and the potato that were occupying our front yard (none of which really added to our home's curb appeal) and threw them over the fence into the neighbors' yard. While this obviously wasn't the most mature course of action, I heartily supported it.

Today she's been talking to one of the vets about the possibility of lacing our garbage with tranquilizing drugs. I'm not sure how serious she is.