Man's best friend

The neighbor family behind us has a dog, a small black dog with a very annoying bark. Most of the time, the dog is tied up on their back deck. The dog barks at the drop of a hat, so the mere opening of our back door and walking out on our deck started him going and he would keep barking pretty much the whole time you were outside. I was getting to the point of not wanting to go walk out the door.

That is, until about a week ago. I was on the cell phone in our basement and stepped outside to get better reception. A few moments later when I ended the call, I looked over to see our neighbor standing on his deck--with his dog. I hadn't hardly seen, let alone spoken with this neighbor, so I shouted a greeting to him and waved, to which he responded in kind. Just a quick interchange--but it changed the dog. He no longer barks at me when I go outside.

It's as if seeing me interact cordially with his master was enough to allay his insecurity toward me. At first I thought maybe he simply wasn't noticing my emergence into his domain; however, the last several times I've gone outside, I walked around the deck making noises, and he just went about his business seemingly unaware of me. A few times I heard him bark and thought, "oh no, hear we go again", only to look at him and realize he was barking at a bird or some noise in the distance. Then he was quiet again, and glanced at me as if to tell me I'm in his fave five now.

I'm definitely happy about this new development. I'm enjoying my new found friendship--and the peace and quiet.