Separation Anxiety

 Some nights, not all nights, there is a dog barking at a place nearby. It is a loud bark, and an insistant bark. A bark which goes on into the night.

The dog doesn't live in our block. It appears to reside in one of the townhouses nearby. 

It doesn't happen every night, just some nights. 

A neighbour and I had a chat about this the other day. He has a dog himself - the inimitable Wally - a flightly Cavalier King Charles spaniel who I'll have the occasional game with in the car park. Wally's a good boy. My neighbour asked me if I'd heard this dog in the night. 

I had. 

Separation anxiety, we agreed. 

Did the owners know what this dog gets up to when they're out? 

You wouldn't let the animal go on as long as it does (often hours) if you were home. 

Do they realise that their dog is keeping half the neighbourhood awake with it's barking?

Do they care?

It's one of the downsides of this going back to work and being allowed out now - our animals have gotten used to us being around the house. 

Okay, I'm the person who will sit near the dogs waiting at the front of supermarkets, talking to them  to keep calm. And yes, I say hello to every dog I pass in the streets - I'll normally get a nod of the head and a tail wag off of them. 

This mutt's persistent barking into the night breaks my heart as much as it annoys me. 

I'm rather glad I have a cat who really doesn't give a stuff about anything and will take himself off to bed when he's home alone. 

Then again, he greets met when I come back home, regardless if it's a quick trip to the shops or a day at work, by jumping on my chest, snuggling down and purring for a couple of minutes. He only does this to show that he's just a little bit fond of me. 

I'll take any affection I can get. 

Today's song: