Wordless Wednesday Explained

We are cat people stuck in a dog neighborhood. I swear; EVERYONE in our neighborhood has a dog, or multiple dogs, as demonstrated by the howling that precedes the sounds of sirens and the constant barrage of barking that ensues if we dare play in our backyard. While growing up in the country, I didn’t mind dogs, I actually liked them, but I fear town living has forever damaged my relationship with dogs. They drive me crazy (for proof, read this)!


It’s only fitting, that as the only family on our street without a dog or two, we are the only people with a concrete dog perched on our mailbox. Yes, that’s right; a statue of a bird dog with a DEAD PHEASANT in its mouth greets our visitors. Isn’t that lovely? We welcome people to our house with death. Mwah Haa Haa Haa (that’s supposed to be an evil laugh).


The man that lived in our house before us obviously was a dog person. The shed in our backyard was used as a dog house for the man’s bird dog. A whole shed! The man put a window air conditioner in the shed and a glass door, so the dog could sit in the cool air conditioning and look outside! A glass door in a shed! I guess his wife was a cat person because one would think he would just let the dog in the house instead of going to the trouble to put a cooling system into a shed. The woman wouldn’t let her husband’s dog in the house, but she didn’t mind having the dog immortalized on the mailbox. At some point, the couple put the statue of a hunting dog on the brick mailbox, and then they moved and left the mailbox for the next owners to enjoy (us).


When we bought our house over five years ago, I thought we would get rid of the dog. After buying a house though, trivial purchases like new mailboxes seemed unnecessary, and the dog statue actually proved to be a little handy when visitors are trying to find our house. I mean, who else has a concrete dog in front of their house? Some of the little kids on our street really like the dog, too. Now though, the dog’s paint is chipping off, and it’s starting to get more and more unrecognizable as a dog all the time. It’s starting to look pretty tacky. :) This spring, we have to either paint the dumb dog or get a new mailbox! Preferably, one without a dog statue.


I find it amusing that as the only people without dogs on our street, we’re the only ones that appear oddly infatuated with canines. We don’t even own a dog! We’re cat people! Aren’t life’s little ironies grand?

Down with Dogs!

WARNING: This post is full of complaining. If you have no desire to read my ranting and raving about how the neighborhood dogs are driving me crazy, come back tomorrow for Favorite Foto Friday! Let the complaining begin!

Apparently, my family lives in a neighborhood of dog-lovers. Either that or a neighborhood of deaf people. Almost everyone on our street has a howling, barking, yipping, dog (or three) in their backyard except for us. When the weather warms up each spring, the barking is even more annoying for awhile because our windows are open, and we are outside more. It would be nice to hear the breeze blowing through the trees and the sounds of birds chirping through our open windows, but instead of those nice springtime sounds, we get to listen to howls, yips, and woofs of the neighborhood barking chain. When we go outside to do yard work, or just enjoy the warm weather, we get barked at as if we are intruders. The dogs all come to the fence and start growling, snarling, barking, etc. like a gang of Cujos. I wonder what it would be like to be able to enjoy our own backyard without needing earplugs?

I am SICK of the barking dogs! I am tired of waking up at four o'clock in the morning to canines serenading one another. I am frustrated that I can't take my baby to MY OWN garden without my neighbor's German Shepherds and black lab scaring him! Are my darling husband and I the only people in the world who think it is rude and inconsiderate to allow one's dogs to bark ALL the time (specifically at night)? Dogs CAN be taught not to bark. Water hoses work wonders. I'm sure that dog whisperer guy could take care of it in no time.

Really, I think most of the dogs would be relatively well-behaved, but the black lab behind out house just can't keep her big mouth shut. She's like the Rosie O'Donnell of the dog world. When she barks, all the rest of the dogs in the neighborhood answer. She's the ring-leader. Or bark-leader I should say. I'm excited about something though. She's dug a hole under the fence from her yard to ours. I'm not sure if you can see it or not from the picture, but it's getting bigger! She can fit her whole head through now.
I don't think the lab's owners have noticed this hole. Is it wrong of me not to tell them? Is it wrong to hope she escapes and moves into another neighborhood? Or finds her way to the highway? That's awful! I don't really mean it! Really...

Anyway, I don't know why the dogs are bothering me so much this spring. Maybe I sleep lighter because of my new mommy radar. Maybe it's because I'm home during the day now, and I never knew how much they bark ALL DAY LONG. The howling dogs have always kept John up a lot though--he's a really light sleeper. He's had dreams of going on a rampage with a shot-gun, but since we only have a BB gun, I think the dogs are safe.

It's not that I don't like dogs--I do--or at least I used to. It's inevitable that I will have a dog someday too, since practically every little kid ends up wanting their own pooch for their parents to take care of. I just don't think this country's forefathers meant for the first amendment to apply to canines, and I wish my neighbors would be considerate enough to make their dogs BE QUIET in the middle of the night. All you dog lovers out there don't need to worry. I'm not going to go crazy and hire a hit man to oust any puppies. I'm not going to sneak out in the middle of the night and remove any vocal cords. I'm not even going to let all the dogs out of their fences and hope they get sent to the pound. I might buy seventeen roosters and an elephant to make noise in my back yard to see how the neighbors like that! Not really. I'm just going to complain on my blog. I'm done now though. Have a nice day!