Re: Dogs Barking, Puppies Whining, Back-Up Beepers, Leaf Blowers, Gum Poppers, etc.

January 14, 2011

Hi Katia and welcome. I'm sorry you have suffered for so long but your are now

among people who understand how frustrating it is.

I hope that you will still like me when I tell you that I own dogs... 2 in fact.

But believe me, I am not insensitive. I agree that dogs bark. Its a fact of

life. But, I too get irritated when people allow their dogs to bark out of

control... especially during the night. Its all about respect in my opinion. I

get upset with people who have closed minds. Just because barking 24/7 doesn't

bother them, they wonder why it should bother someone else. I know that if my

dogs barked all day/night, it may bother someone else so I don't allow it. Dog

owners are not out to conspire against you. They are not creating your problem.

This is a problem that is in our brains... we are wired this way. It doesn't

make us crazy nor does it make the people/dogs that make the sounds that bother

us the bad guys. We live in a world where these sounds are going to be there,

like it or not.

What you have to do is find a way to cope with them. I still have this problem,

but I have learned how to cope and deal with my anger/emotions a bit better. I

am much happier. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy combined with anti-anxiety meds

helped me. I'm no longer on the meds now as I feel I don't need them. But, a

big part of this is accepting that it is YOU that has the problem. I'm not

saying this in the way that it probably comes across. But it is US that has

something wrong in our brains. It doesn't mean that we are to blame, nor are

others to blame. It isn't other peoples noise that created this problem, it

just aggravates our problem. But, this is part of who we are... like it or not.

I've accepted that, and now work on learning to cope with the noise that I

CANNOT PREVENT. When you feel like you have no control over things, it makes

things worse. You have to accept that dogs will bark, yard work creates noise,

etc...

I hated the sound of popcorn munching so much that I avoided the movie theater

like the plague. Then, after much practice, I go to the movies all the time

now. I still get irritated, but I can deal with it. I'm living again with less

anger. I hope you can find that too. If you have the means... you may want to

move out into the country like where I live. Its much quieter out here.

>

> I am so happy to find that someone has finally (?) given a name to these

things that have been driving me nuts for so long.

> I've gotten to the point where I am looking for an entire city with no pets

where I can move to next. My neighbors' dogs (always new neighbors, always new

dogs) have been driving me crazy for 15 years.

> Whereas I usually have a very cheerful disposition, the minute I hear a dog

barking, I turn angry, mad, frustrated, despondent, depressed, etc. etc. I've

gotten to the point where I never say hello to anyone who walks by with a dog in

my neighborhood, feeling like all dog owners have been conspiring against me. I

work in my home and must constantly either have my earplugs handy or in my ears

or else walk around with headphones listening to music. I have been buying

Ohropax from Germany now for over 30 years, as I've never heard of better

earplugs. When I was in India recently where they have many dogs without owners

who take over the nights with their barking, I had to try to sleep with TWO

Ohropax earplugs in EACH ear!

> I've started hating people who have dogs as I see THEM as creating my problem

(because if they were not so inept at human companionship, they would not NEED

that dog that yells the whole time they are not home!) I am very cautious

about who I date or befriend as I do not want a dog owner in my life. I feel

anyone who has a dog must be insensitive as so many people HATE the sound of

dogs barking (which is why EVERY small town in EVERY Caucasian city in the USA,

England & Australia has had to enact LAWS against it!) (These " laws " by the way

are worthless as the 3 or 4 people who are suppose to execute the laws

invariably have dogs & " don't see a problem with dogs barking because dogs

bark " .)

> I've never head trouble with gum chewing, but people who " pop/snap " their gum

bothers me a lot. Back-up beepers drive me nuts. They've passed this stupid

law making these machines have it, even when they are in a place with NO PEOPLE

AROUND!! I have excellent hearing so can hear them from miles around.

> I hate hearing puppies whining (which they do all the time when their owners

are not there) and wish people were not so insensitive & ignorant about people

like me who really resent being forced to listen to them with no recourse

whatsoever in MY OWN HOME (even with all the windows and doors SHUT!)

>

> I've lived all over the world and KNOW that having PETS is NOT the norm.

(Most humans really love OTHER HUMANS/their OWN species). I therefore REALLY

resent people moving into MY neighborhood where I'VE been for a long time who

bring a barking, whining animal, without having gotten everyone's consent that

they really WANT to listen to yet another dog yelling.

> I've lost so many potential friends over this issue. Of course, most of my

neighbors think I AM nuts (as they say MOST people have dogs and therefore there

is something wrong with ME). The people in my neighborhood who also HATE

hearing dogs will NEVER tell that to anyone but ME (as they don't want to be

ostracized like I am).

>

> I also hate hearing lawn mowers & leaf blowers. I've suggested to my

neighborhood that everyone pick ONE day for such noise so people like ME can

leave town that day. As it is, all 3 seasons long, almost every day I hear

someone with their machines cutting down grass that they themselves planted

(having no consideration for anyone who might object to this constant, daily

noise).

>

> I hate hearing TV's as well. I have been TV free for many decades. When I go

visit my elderly mother, it is very much a hardship for me as she has the TV on

almost all her waking time. It would be very difficult for me to live with or

even near anyone who has a TV on most or even some of the time. I do not like

the background noise of it, nor of a radio. I LOVE music and love loud music,

but radio and TV with the constant drone of non-stop human voices bothers me a

lot.

>

> My father, as well as my sister, were always sensitive to " noise " (whereas my

mother and brother are not). My father even had me move doves away from a tree

near his bedroom as they were always making dove cooing noise.

> I am happy that people with sound sensitivity are finally finding others such

as themselves. We need to make other people aware of this also.

>

> Thank you for letting me get these things about myself out in the open FINALLY

to an audience some of whom perhaps can understand and commisserate~~

> Katia

>

January 15, 2011

Hey Katia! Welcome, welcome! You have definitely found the place where people

will sympathize and completely understand your points of view! You sound just

like me, people who do my trigger sound I hate immediately - and I feel like

they know it tortures me and that's why they do it! I can rationalize

differently, but in the moment all I want to do are awful things to them!

It sucks that your trigger sound is dogs...it's really hard to control that -

but I agree...while the sound of barking isn't my trigger, people who just let

their dogs bark all day irritate me...it's like parents who don't discipline

their children, and let them scream without doing anything!!!

Anyway, hopefully you'll find solace here, it's nice just to vent sometimes,

plus you might find some helpful tips!

~Meghan