Keep calm and buy a cat
- Laura Moore: Housebroken
- July 15, 2020
- 750
Our house is fitted with a very shy doorbell. It makes a soft, little “peep” when activated, which only our dogs are able to hear. As a result we are startled and our visitors are greeted by a wild cacophony of excited barking.
Our dogs love company, and though they sound threatening, their barks are welcoming. First-time visitors are rather intimidated by that noisy greeting. Delivery folks have been known to drop our packages and run. The advantage here is that no one enters our house without being welcomed.
We had only been married just a few days when we adopted a puppy. He was a good, little guy until he learned to bark. He barked when visitors arrived, when they left, when we arrived home, when we left, when the neighbors came and went. He always greeted the mailperson with great enthusiasm. On Sundays when the mail isn’t delivered, that pup barked anyway.
We tried constantly to train that pet to be a silent greeter, to absolutely no avail. Finally, our landlord gave us the ultimatum: quiet the dog or move. Thankfully, a friend with a large, fenced yard rescued our dog, and we adopted two kittens. Kittens don’t train easily, if at all, but thankfully, they don’t bark.
Eventually, we were able to buy a house with a fenced rear yard. That house and rear yard made it known they wanted a dog to keep them company. So we got a dog and a dog house and set them up in that lovely, fenced yard.
Everyone seemed happy at first, but then problems began to appear. Our new dog preferred sleeping inside with us, abandoning his dog house at night. The dog house was lonely and invited a couple of raccoons to move in. Rarely are dogs and raccoons compatible. Every morning began with our canine pawing and barking at the rear door, begging to go outside and evict the raccoons. The raccoons would anticipate the dog’s arrival and leap out of the dog house, making a beeline for the nearest tree, hissing, yelling, growling at the top of their lungs. Happened every morning. Our neighbors were not happy.
Our neighbors were not thrilled with us, our house was embarrassed and the rear yard was a mess due to dog and raccoons using parts of it as a potty. So we did what we had to do: We got a cat. Though the raccoons and our dog were bigger, the cat took command, chased off the raccoons, calmed the dog, and brought order and peace to us, our house and the yard. Our neighbors were ecstatic.