It takes a village to raise a child. We hear this often, but don't always know how we contribute to this "village."

My husband and I don't have children yet, but we wonder what kind of village we have chosen for our future children here in Walnut Grove.

Recently, one of our neighbours left an angry, threatening note, taped with three strips of packing tape, across our front door, saying that if we didn't take care of our dog's barking, they "would."

We were shocked and surprised to receive the note in this fashion.

Like us, our dog has been through many changes in the past six months, due to our move, wedding, and honeymoon. We absolutely validate their concern that our dog may bark when we are not home, and now that we know about it, we have started to work with a trainer on changing his behaviour. After all, nobody wants to listen to a barking dog.

However, we feel disheartened and disappointed by the neighbour's approach in dealing with this. They could have left a polite note in our mailbox or simply called the Township to deal with it.

The tape from the angry sign took the paint off our front door, and we are now afraid of what this person may do to our dog or to our future children, say, should a soccer ball happen to roll into their yard.

We now have video camera/ security system to monitor our property.

Sadly, this is not the image we had of Walnut Grove before moving here. Therefore, this is just a reminder that our "village" contains people going through many walks of life. Perhaps we can all be a bit more compassionate about our neighbours and make the effort to be helpful and friendly, rather than angry and threatening.

Our future children will learn from your example.

Joanna Martinello, Walnut Grove