The Barking Dog

The dog’s presence is known tremendously throughout the world.  There are 400 million dogs.  Can you imagine that?  What if they all started barking at the same time?  That would truly be something out of the science fiction.  It brings about my story this week.

As a child growing up in the country back in the sixties, I have a vivid memory of lots and lots of dogs.  There were dogs and dogs, everywhere!  And everywhere they seemed to be at many of our neighbor’s houses.  It does seem like I am running out of topics when I write a story like this.  But it becomes a memory from childhood.  It was when growing up on a farm; there was that dog.  We never exceeded a limit of more than two or three at one time.  But some neighbors had lots of them.  And what better time to realize it was when we went to visit them.

In visiting that certain neighbor with my Mother, there came the barking dogs.  In fact, several came barking at the same time.  My Mother had to maneuver the car so as not to hit one.  They seemed to be everywhere.  We were not allowed out of the car until the neighbor came to the front door of the house yelling, “They don’t bite!”  It didn’t always stop the barking. When there’s a pack of them, the noise boggles the mind.  We generally did not stay long at the neighbor’s house.

Dogs bark!  It is especially annoying if one barks all night keeping you up.  The owner is apparently immune to the noise.  But just how many have had a sleepless night from a barking dog?  I know I have.  I was so happy when the neighbor next door decided to give her daughter back the dog she gave her.  I guess the daughter felt mom living at home alone needed a companion.  But mom never showed the dog any attention.  It was her pet and required that love.  But apparently she never gave it.  If she had, perhaps there would not have been all that barking.  The dog moved to the other side of town.

I am a dog lover.  But I was still glad to see that dog move.  Once a dog starts barking, there seems to be no stopping it.  A barking dog goes on and on forever….

As I type this piece, my son gets up from his chair and goes to the front door.

“What did you see?”  I asked.

“I didn’t see anything.  I heard dogs barking.”

It never fails.  The dog can be a warning to us all that something is not right outside.  Whether it an intruder, another dog, cat or other animal, he is letting us know.  I think if known, everyone looks.  I guess it can be said, "Sometimes barking is a good thing!"