The joyous dog days of spring.

I was asked by a Sir Nathan to give my canine thoughts on the happy subject of our neighbor's moving. I am afraid I do not indulge in silly poetry. That is for my silly mistress. What I do indulge in, though, is the occasional bark, a friendly "hello" to the neighbors-canine and human-and a warning to neighbors of the feline, skunk, opposum and rat persuasion. All I know and understand of this irritating neighbor is that Jen yells at me for my friendly barks. She yells only out of fear of getting another letter from the Homeowners' Group about me. I also recall the relaxing and rainy day when my mistress and I were sitting cozily on the couch, watching "Meet Me In St. Louis." (Judy Garland was a phenomenal singer and actress!) Suddenly, there came a ring at our doorbell. Without saying a word, I accompanied my mistress to the door, only to see an Animal Control cheif. I knew my duty. I stood there cutely and absolutely silently while the cheif gave Jen the rules about noisy animals. Boy did I show her! I'll bet she went back to work and said, "If this guy ever calls again, just ignore it; I was there, and that dog didn't even flinch." So, the bottom line is that once this guy moves, I will again have the freedom to bark a little, without fear of poor Jen getting a letter from the HOA, a visit from Animal Control, or an anonymous letter addressed to the "resident dog owner" with photocopies of ads for a shock collar.