Sick Day
Photo Credit: Randy Son of Robert (Flickr.com)
I never realized how much my dogs must annoy my neighbors.
My husband and I got a beagle puppy for my birthday last year. He was cute and cuddly and completely dependent on me, which I loved. But then Sam got bigger, and more independent. And he also got lonely. It was sad to leave him behind in the morning and hear his yelping cries. I knew I wouldn’t want to be left alone all day, and I was sure that he didn’t either.
As it happened, a friend of ours had to find a home for Missy, his West Highland Terrier. She was a cute little dog, about five years old, but spirited, and friendly. Sam and Missy had played together at the dog park, and they got along well. And since both of them were fixed, we wouldn’t have to worry about puppies. Sam seemed less lonely now that Missy was around, and once she got over missing her old master, she seemed happy with the new arrangement.
Our condo is pet-friendly, and a lot of people have dogs or cats. But I don’t know if anyone has dogs who bark quite as much as mine. As I’ve stayed home sick today, I’ve been woken up every hour by Sam or Missy getting all upset about something. First, it was the guy upstairs walking very heavily across the floor. Next, it was the squirrel outside the window. After that, it was the mailman dropping off a package. They seem to go crazy at least once an hour. I’m wondering if they do this every day when I’m gone. It’s never occurred to me before that my dogs might be, well, you know, bad, and that our neighbors might despise us for letting them bark all the time.
It’s strange to think that other people might judge us by our pets. There might even be people in our condo who think of us as “the owners of that annoying beagle and yappy westie” but who have no idea who we are or what we do. It’s sort of like when I go to the dog park, and I get to know people by their dogs. It’s a frame of reference that’s easier, I suppose, than making a personal connection.
I wish I knew how to make my dogs be quiet and behave. I always thought that we were nice and quiet neighbors. But taking a sick day has made me think twice.
Writing Scraps | SeanJJordan | 
January 6, 2010 12:09 am
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