Be A Good Neighbor

The topic for today is dogs.  Thing is, I don't have a problem with dogs, per se.  I mean I always wanted a dog as a kid but all I could ever squeeze out of my dad was a cat - and they had to live outside.  What that meant was that my dad's allergies didn't act up, I got a pet, and the local communities were kept in check. (i.e. gopher, rat, mouse, pigeon, occasional crow...)

Anyway, we're talking about dogs because it seems that currently we are the only house on our block that doesn't have a dog and after last night's "concert" I felt this article was appropriate.  See, we have 2 dogs to our right, about 5 dogs behind the house, and depending on the time of day (and if she's watching her sister's dogs) another 6 dogs to our left.  That's about 13 dogs all around our place and the couple dozen, or so, cats, squirrels, raccoons, and other wildlife absolutely love it.  LOVE IT!  Thing is, when we were in the process of buying our house we never heard any dogs barking.  Not a one.  I drove by the house during the day, at night, on weekends and one holiday - not a single barking dog.  The day after we closed on the house, every #!@^@@&!)(!@&)%$&_#*_* dog in the neighborhood started barking Handel's Hallelujah Chorus! 

Anyway, the point to all this is if you have a dog, please have some consideration for those that don't.  Put an anti-bark collar on it.  Get one of those high-frequency sirens that sound off when a dog barks.  Send your dog to obedience school.  Keep Rover indoors.  Go to your local county law library and take a gander at Every Dog's Legal Guide: A Must Have For Your Owner (Nolo Press).  I don't care what you have to do, but just please, please, PLEASE keep your dog quiet(er) for the sake of your neighbors who don't enjoy the nightly canine serenades.