The first day I opened the door to the backyard, the dog next door kicked up an inferno of barks to scare me. I was showing the tree cutting chap what needed to be done. The hedges near my bedroom had to be trimmed. There was a large grapefruit tree protruding into our space over the fence from our rear neighbor. Another large bush was hanging out into our yard from our left neighbor. The grass had grown sky high that had to be cut.
After showing the chap out, I was locking the door in the fence, (which is on the left side) when the dog started barking at me. He was jumping up trying to clear the fence to get to me. The barking sounded extremely ferocious. I called to calm him down but the sound of my voice made him more agitated. I hurriedly locked the door, and entered the safety of my home through the back door.
I dreaded every time I had to open the door to someone. I feared being bitten by the dog. At any slight noise he would appear alongside the fence, and bark, and growl his head off. It truly was frightening. I kept wondering at what I should do to appease him.
I had hardly seen my left sided neighbor. Most ladies in the neighborhood are working, and I was never at the right time to meet any of them. Son had apparently met nearly all the neighbors, except for our right neighbor which to this day both of us have never seen. Son parks his car in the driveway during daytime. Coming, and going he got to know the neighbors.
One day Son called me, “Come here Mama, meet Rachel.” After meeting her I learnt that the dog I dreaded was a she, and not a he, and her name was Lady. Rachel leaves her in the backyard to scare off any potential burglar wanting to enter the house from the back. That was another thing I came to know recently. Most burglars enter homes from the backsides. They know that someone may be watching on the front, so they enter from the back.
Lady has tampered down her barking at me, as I potter around at the back. She does a mild woof, and then she goes off to chase squirrels 🐿,🐿,🐿, or birds. But now Son bears the brunt of her ferocious barks. As soon as she glimpses Son, she goes into a frenzy of barks driving Son mad at her.
Flowers and Breezes 