Dumb Dog

Today they are tearing up all the pavement in front of my house. They have already taken up pavement for about 6 blocks south of me and my street has been closed for 3 weeks to through traffic. Now don't get me wrong, I llive on a very busy street, one of only a few North/South streets that go completely across town, and I enjoy not having as much traffic going past the house at super sonic speeds, trying to pass one another before they get to the stop sign 200 feet from my front door. But they work so slowly, are they going to tear up this street for a distance of about 3 miles before they pave it again? Is it going to be closed all that way before they pave it? Meantime, the street is down to the dirt, and even though they run this big water truck up and down spraying water every 2-3 hours, the dust still is a problem. But then, I live in the desert and dust is always a problem, pavement or not. The worst thing about having them out there in the street is the stupid dog next door. He barks every time someone walks by the house, and with all these nice people fixing the road walking back and forth most of the day, the stupid dog barks most of the day. He has been next door for about a year, and still barks at us every time we go out into our yard. He barks when our goat gets close to the fence, when the cats walk down the driveway, when birds fly over into his yard. You would think that after a year of these things happening all day everyday the stupid dog would learn wouldn't you? Does it seem unreasonable that he should get to the point where he recognizes at least the humans and not bark? We even toss him left overs over the fence and he still acts like we are breaking in, even when we are in our own driveway. I think maybe he suffers from some sort of brain damage, he must, I have never known a dog that never got to the point that he recognized at least the humans in the yard next door. Maybe he just likes the sound of his own voice, likes to hear his brain rattle, or maybe he is just a stupid dog that likes to irritate the neighbors. This particular dog is a Pit Bull, a nice looking one too. I have known many Pits in my life and not one of them have been as stupid as Rocky. Most are very intelligent and loving (except around other dogs), and soon learn to recognize people who are not their enemies. There is a Rottweiler in the same yard, Pogey, who rarely barks at anything, so "when he barks we listen". But poor Pogey is old, and Rocky has taken over as top dog, so we have to listen to the stupid one bark all the time. Pogey at least recognizes his own name and if you tell him to be quiet when he barks he will do so immediatey, Rocky doesn't seem to know his own name, if you tell him to be quiet he just gets louder and more raunchy. Just goes to show, dogs are as different as people, different personalities, different degrees of intelligence, just different. Pogey even recognizes the fact that the cats are trying to rile him up and will just lie down and watch them until they get close enough to bark at or chase back over the fence. Rocky is just a dummy who still rises to the bait no matter how many times it is tossed in his direction. Dumb, Dumb, Dumb! Oh well, Rocky has to have a place to live too, so I guess I will just continue to put up with his stupidity and barking. He spends his days locked in the back yard (probably a good thing for everybody), and he has a very large back yard to wander around in, and his masters seem to love him, he is well fed, and healthy looking, guess I'll just hope he gets old enough that he doesn't bark at every fly or leaf that comes his way. Rocky, Be Quiet!