Crazy Dog Lady Strikes Again

We had another run-in with the Crazy Dog Lady today. This time she brought a friend, another neighbor (In fact, the wife of the neighbor who was so friendly with us and told us to not worry about the dogs, etc.). We had left the house for exactly one hour to do our weekly grocery shopping. When we returned, the two women were chatting out front. As soon as they saw us walk up, they began to talk about us in German. The Crazy Dog Lady then said, "You must care for your dogs!" to which Gerard responded, "We DO care for our dogs." There was some further exchange that involved Gerard mentioning that her dog barked as well, which she of course denied. Also, she and the other gal said that our dogs barked for an hour straight. Maybe I'm crazy, but I find it difficult to believe that our dogs barked the ENTIRE time we were gone. I know our dogs bark when they hear other dogs bark or people pass by. They do not continue to bark. They bark and then stop. She then said that it was midday (just turning 1pm) and that our dogs are not allowed to bark during midday. She also threatened to call the police again.

Apparently, there is some law (actually I don't know if it's an actual law or just generally accepted rule) that you have quiet time between 12 or 1 and 3pm everyday. This means no loud noises- kids can not play outside in the playgrounds during this time, and I guess you must be expected to completely muzzle your dogs during this time. I tried to put Gerrit to sleep today during this "quiet time" but he was crying, which I'm sure isn't acceptable either... as if I really want to listen to him cry, myself. There are some other bizarre laws I really don't understand. No mowing the lawn or washing or hanging your clothes out on Sunday.... must be quiet, after all. I don't know if this is still connected with the church, since technically there is no separation of church and state here. This also means there is a "Church Tax" here. This is where your employer asks you what church you belong to and then automatically deducts 8% or more out of your paycheck to give to that denomination. It's kind of an automatic tithing of sorts. The idea is that it's voluntary because you're saying you are a church member already, so I guess as a member you're supposed to be giving to the church. It's different than what I'm used to, though, so it seems a bit odd.

I sort of get the whole stores are closed on Sundays thing, although it's a bit inconvenient. Then again, that's just because I'm used to being able to do shopping whenever I want and not really having to plan ahead. That part I'm sure I'll get used to. Some other laws, however, I doubt I will ever become accustomed to.

Earlier today while walking the dogs.

At this point, we've set up a web cam to monitor the dogs while we're away and get some evidence. We have also decided that perhaps we should crate them while we're gone (although I hate doing that) just in case they have been playing/wrestling with each other a bit while we're gone.

Okay, so we went out for a few hours... to IKEA and then to dinner at a nice little indian restaurant in Neufahrn.
We just got back and checked out the web cam. No dogs barking whatsoever. Granted, we crated the dogs, but still not a peep. We also have quite a bit of video/audio now where Crazy Dog Lady's dog and another neighbor's dog is barking, but our dogs are completely silent. The whole thing really irks me. I know our dogs bark when people go by. I've been here for several hours during the day and when people go by, they run to the door and bark... no more than say two minutes at most. Unless the amount of people walking by dramatically increases every time we leave or the dogs go crazy everytime we leave, I just don't see how they can bark incessantly. Honestly, it sounds like this woman has been feuding with Francoise for quite some time over various other little things she doesn't like. I'm sure our dogs just add one more thing to her list... and it really torques her that we don't speak German and have dogs that are three times the size of hers. I guess the thing that seems to irritate me the most is that she seems completely intolerant to the fact that we are new here and getting settled as quickly as possible to be able to MOVE OUT OF HERE as QUICKLY as possible. This means we have to leave throughout the day to run errands while our dogs stay inside. Even if our dogs are causing her more inconvenience than she is used to (and I'm sure they are), this is only temporary. I really REALLY hope that when we move to Neufahrn our dogs are more accepted because I honestly feel very unwelcome right now. It doesn't contribute to one feeling comfortable in their new surroundings.