Wolfie just got a new companion...another Westie. She's a 2 1/2 year old fiesty female named "Bella". We've had her 3 days now. Both dogs get along pretty well. It's an adjustment for both. The other day she stole Wolfie's chewy toy and they had a fight. Wolfie weighs 25 lbs; Bella weighs 15 lbs. She got a bite to the leg during the skirmish which caused her to limp for a couple of minutes. Her fault. She will learn the rules. She's not the alpha dog even though she thinks so. I instigated a tug-of-war with an old towel and I thought the dogs were going to kill each other. Never again. They were shaking afterwards. So was I. They both seem to be vying for my attention since I'm the true alpha dog. They even fight over it. Wolfie is used to having me to his own. Oh, I can't wait till the wife gets home!

She's a barker (Bella that is). I know this new home is strange to her. But I noticed that most of her barking is purely defense oriented. In other words, noises from the surrounding environment set her off. Both neighbors on either side of us are having remodeling work done to their homes. The workers make more noise than the dogs barking. To the dogs they are intruders. They are intruders...they're noise polluters! Humans are the noisiest animals on the planet. No wonder dogs bark. Yet I'm compelled to "quiet" the dogs because I don't want any complaints. The hell with it. I'm ranting. I know. I don't complain about the gardeners and their leaf blowers going at 7:30 in the morning. Constant drone of lawn mowers. Camp Pendleton and their cannon practice. The other neighbor reving up his Baja dune buggy. The kid screeching around the corner in his hot-rod. Or the kids jumping on and off the curbs with their skateboards. Or that little kid in the tot lot with the highest, piercing scream I've ever heard.

Heck, what's a little barking? As long as it's not right next to my ear.