The Neighbor's Dog

The neighbors across the street have a little bark monster. Or so he used to be. I was just walking by and he was standing in the garage looking at me and didn't make a sound. I forgot the little mutt mix had on one of those collars that shock you when you bark. I suppose I should be thankful since he used to bark at anything and everything, and when he started, he didn't stop. If there was a delivery truck next door, he'd bark until the truck left. God forbid there were landscapers around. Then a new neighbor moved in, complained, and the collar went on.

The neighbors, very nice people, would leave the dog in the yard when they were at work. It's a bit distracting for a writer to have a bark monster right across the street, but he's an "outside" dog. Not that that makes it right. As many times as I'd wish that dog would be quiet, I never went over to complain, and after one night last summer, I figured he could bark as much as he wanted to.

It was about ten o'clock at night and the little guy just wouldn't stop barking. Not wouldn't, but wouldn't. I was waiting for him to go hoarse. It was crazy. I looked out the window and there was fire department truck in the street. Not a fire truck, but a department pick up. The neighbor works for the city, so I thought maybe it was work related. After an eternity, the barking finally stopped.

In Arizona in the summer, you have to watch out for rattlesnakes, especially out on the edge of the city where we live. I almost met this one the hard way when I was weeding one day. The picture is a little blurry, but I figured just getting any picture would be enough!

The firemen that came to take him away said he was pretty young, only about a foot long. Only. However, they said these are the most dangerous because they haven't learned to bite quickly without releasing all of their venom.

Well, as it turned out the neighbor's dog was barking at a rattlesnake. I guess it was okay, venom-wise, that the snake was older, since that meant that if anyone (including the dog) got bit, the snake wouldn't have injected all of its venom. However, this rattlesnake was six feet long and five inches in diameter. Six feet long! He wouldn't have bitten the dog; he would have eaten him.

All I have to say, besides "snakes, I hate snakes," is take the shock collar off!