I live on a short, one-block long street. I also go for a lot of walks. This means that I frequently find myself walking by the dog pictured above. Coming or going, and no matter what side of the street I'm walking on, if that dog is outside (which the dog usually is), the dog will immediately and vociferously begin barking at full volume as I pass by, jumping around and lunging at the fence, making me think that the dog would like to tear my throat out. Luckily, that fence shown in the picture is pretty strong, and pretty high. I am not really in any significant danger.
You might think I would be prepared, by now, for these auditory assaults. I should be, but I am almost always surprised and unnerved by the dog's clamor to get free and kill me - which is the way I think of this dog's full-volume barking assaults. That worst case scenario is what comes into my mind, every time.
Or, at least, that was true until several weeks ago.
Several weeks ago, instead of pretending not to be bothered and quickly walking on by, I actually stopped, and turned to face this demonstrative dog. I expected to see evidences of blood lust in the dog's face, because, as noted, that is definitely how I have interpreted the meaning behind that high-velocity barking with which I am always assaulted.
But wait! When I stopped (the dog didn't stop barking and jumping around as if it would like to break free and attack me), I noticed that the dog's tail was wagging, too. I hadn't ever noticed that before!
Could it be that the dog was just starved for attention, and was trying to get some from me?
I have started entertaining that idea upon my subsequent forays, up and down my block, which I am hoping might help me lower my heart rate and sense of imminent peril every time I am subjected to one of those incredibly high-volume barking attacks, which I have just described.
As I have thought about it, it has also struck me that human beings have been known to engage in tactics similar to those utilized by this irritatingly demonstrative dog. A lot of times, I have observed people who engage in verbally assaultive behavior, in print, or even in real life, usually expressing their reaction to some sort of disagreement with me, or with somebody else, near by, and I have found that they are not really interested in killing me, and eating my heart and liver (though that is, sometimes, my immediate impression, based on the way they are acting). People, like this demonstrative dog, are sometimes just trying to get some attention. They may even be friendly, underneath all the clamor.
No excuse for the bad manners, in either case - dog or human - but it is helpful to keep in mind that even vociferous and ugly verbal attacks do not, necessarily, and always, indicate that those engaging in such attacks really want to see you dead in order to feast on your carcass.
With dogs and humans, that's a good lesson to remember.
Excellent observation. It really is impossible to know where someone else, dog or person, is actually coming from.
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