VIEWPOINT

From page A4

Department’s Facebook page. He’d get out, someone in the neighborhood would post about the “vicious” dog running around and I’d go try and find him. It eventually became a bit of a game, once people realized it was my dog, I’d get a message.

“Your dog’s loose again!”

I’d explain to them that I don’t have a dog, but it didn’t help. We eventually got him fixed and that stopped most of the escaping.

But it did not stop the barking.

Nope, the dog will bark at anyone and anything. Pizza delivery guy? “Bark! Bark!

Bark!” Mailman, UPS delivery or Amazon truck?

“Bark! Bark! Bark!”

(which was, I suppose, handy over the Christmas season for keeping my packages safe from porch pirates) Car pulls into the driveway across the street?

“Bark! Bark! Bark!” Kids playing out in the yard several houses away? “Bark!

Bark! Bark!” Squirrel in the backyard? Birds in the tree? Plastic Walmart sack billowing across the lawn on a windy day? “Bark!

Bark!” freakin’ “Bark!”

Oh, and the howling. I didn’t even know these rat terrier- slash-poodle-slashgremlin things could howl.

At least not until one Saturday when they tested the tornado sirens. He started howling along and now he does it almost every weekend. Did I mention we moved a couple of years ago to a house just down the street from the Marion Fire Station? Guess what he does when they fire up those sirens.

Now, I will say, there was one time when he didn’t bark. In fact, there were three dogs in the house the night my truck was stolen right out of my driveway.

On that night, apparently, none of them felt like barking… OK, I guess it’s possible that they did start barking and we told them to shut up, but you know…

But right now, as I type this, there’s a cat that doesn’t live here sitting on the window sill outside.

And he is, of course, losing his mind.