We have had eccentric dogs, which it part of why I like the James Thurber story about them. The current one, acquired from my father-in-law when he went into assisted living, is a nervous sort, barks at everything. At thirteen, that's unlikely to change.
No, I mean everything. Not just other dogs going by, not just the smoke detector going off for toast, not just thunder, or fireworks. This dog freaks when I turn on the sprinkler.
I'm speculating it might be some sort of Terrier, as they are generally known as barky and high-strung.
ReplyDeleteOf my two dogs, I have a Border Collie who can be a little nervous and timid, but he's a rescue I adopted when he was two, and in his case, I blame some of that on neglect early in life. (He came from a shelter in a ranching area, so I speculate that he was a ranch dog who got turned in because he lacked enough of a herding instinct.) He was not a big barker when he was most nervous and timid, though; mainly he'd run out of the area as quickly as he could. Now that he's older, bolder, and more confident, he barks more than he used to, but usually only at the sounds of dogs and other animals in the neighborhood. He also doesn't get spooked quite as easily anymore. He still doesn't like the vacuum cleaner, for instance, but after running away at first, he'll return to the room and just be sure to stay far enough away from it.
Used to be a dog at a house next door that did that. Chained to the house, he reacted like the Warner Brothers dog, when taunted by Foghorn Leghorn, to anything going by.
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