Wow! And I thought I had a dog- and cat-hater next door! Luckily, when we moved into our house 5 years ago, there was a privacy fence all around the back yard, which is a double lot, and that helps a lot. We did have a neighbor who was a real "control freak," and he wanted the dogs (two, then later, three) to obey his every command. They would look at him through the fence slats and walk away. He would get very ticked off and start yelling at my dogs, then they'd bark at him (my dogs have all been abused, so they don't take raised voices and violent language very well -- then again, what animal does??) I finally told him, "Look, Einstein, these are MY dogs, not yours, so they will not obey you! Try leaving them alone." His son, aged 7, got the great idea of cursing my dogs and thrwing stuff at them over the fence and from the top of his swingset. What a fine example his father set for him! This man and his son moved out and the current neighbor, a single lady, doesn't like animals of any kind -- she even hates squirrels and birds -- but the dogs have never barked without reason so she doesn't have a problem with them. On the other side, there lived an elderly man who was a good neighbor, but he was always upset because Fluffy, my cat, would sit on the roof extension of our garage and look into his yard. Maybe he thought Fluffy was casing his house or something. At any rate, reasoning with your neighbors doesn't always work. Also, I would check with your local ordinances, but in general it takes a lot more than a complaining neighbor in order for your fur-kids to be taken away from you. You might get fined for the dogs barking, but in our town, it has to be proven that the animals were just making noise, and not provoked.