Perhaps there is more in a name than Shakespeare allows?

Even if pet owners are willing to subject their own pets to these risks, they should have the slightest courtesy and not subejct innocent bystanders to them.

Our property is not permanently fenced. But my mother’s is and I still have trouble leaving Bella out alone in that yard more for fear of what she’d get up to on her own than fear of someone stealing her – ha, good luck with that, they’d have to catch her first. 😉

Sometimes I think it’s just me over-reacting but then I remember that the world was a little different 18, 20, 30 years ago. I’m not one who believes everything was rosy ‘back in the day’ but the world *has* changed, and as we age, so do we: we know more and we have a right to fear a little more, mortality becomes tangible.

I have been trying to gain some balance and perspective and, while I might not let Bella go for a walk with a stranger any time soon, I am trying to let her play in mom’s backyard without checking up on her every 10-15 seconds. It’s good for both of us.

Perhaps you could help Mike remember to keep Honey inside by putting a note on the door that he uses to leave the house after his lunch break asking, “Did you close the back door?”

Well duh that should have been you’re!

I swear your my twin, living in a different time zone.

I too worry about poisoning the dogs, but know for a fact that Delilah ate a couple of squares of Baker’s chocolate and still lived to tell the tale.

Losing your dog or having someone take them is more of my idea of worry. I have heard of people’s dogs being taken right out of their yards. I’m very grateful that our current house sits far back from the road in a pretty rural area. It’s not a farm (darn it!) but the houses have decent distance between them.

I did vote for your city Pamela, I hope you make it!!

So, to that in end – in my house, we’re super paranoid about the front door. We mostly enter and exit through the garage, where we can enter through the laundry room – we call it the airlock. No two doors open at the same time means no access to the outside. We had a double gate installed in our backyard, like a dog park. We have a sign on the inside of our door above the handle, telling guests to stop and make sure someone is holding Bella before they open it.

No, I’m not overly paranoid… 🙂