Really need some help from the wisdom of MN anonymous please?!
I live in an old Victorian terraced property. On Saturday we rehomed a little nearly 3 year old dog. He had only ever lived with other dogs previously but due to his previous owners split he had to be rehomed.
Anyway, the dog is lovely, really really lovely.
But he has separation anxiety. At bed time on his first night in our house he barked solidly for 30 minutes. They say to just leave them but I was all too aware if my own dd and neighbours so brought said pooch upstairs and he happily slept in his bed on the floor of our bedroom (and has done since).
The following morning I knocked on neighbours door to see if they had gears and to apologise if they did. The woman did but her dp and dd didn't (their dd is 2.5 years, a year younger than mine). She said that she woke up because she is light sleeper and because her dd has just moved into a bed from a cot they were having night time troubles with her. I assured her we had resolved night time problems.
Today dog was left on his own for the first time. I returned home 3 hours later and as I was walking up the road towards the house I could hear him barking.
I thought "shit" but we'd had a stressful day as my dd had a dr's appointment who just so happened to ask us to take her straight to the local hospital (I think this is relevant btw).
We had just shut the door when the knocker went and the female neighbour was there (we hadn't removed our coats yet). She told us that dog had been barking since we left.
I said I was really sorry, I thanked her for telling me and that I will contact a behaviourist immediately (I work in a vets and have a resident one) to remedy this ASAP, although nothing will happen for a few days because she is on a weeks holiday. I also explained about having to take dd the the hospital (in the hope that she might just leave it for now and let us at least get her coat off and into her pjs). She still wasn't too happy though and said "Before we completed the purchase of this house I asked the previous owners if any neighbours had dogs. They said no. Had they have said yes, I wouldn't have bought the house."
I resisted the temptation to tell her she was ridiculous and instead apologised for the annoyance once again and assured her I will do everything in my power to get the dog settled and quiet ASAP and he certainly won't be making noise in the evenings until he can stop barking in the day.
I also corrected her with regards to the previous owners, they did know of our intention to one day get a dog but whether or not it was hardly relevant.
She then went on to say that she was a very tolerant person but her absolute pet hate was barking and she will NOT tolerate it.
I'm at a loss as to what to do for the best? I can rehome dog but I don't think it's fair, unless it's in the best interest of dog?
Also, do I just ignore the neighbour now. I'm actively putting measures into place to help dog but I don't want the council knocking at my door either. Similarly my dd will be very upset, as will I and DH of course.
Oh God, I feel stuck between the devil and the deep blue 