Fences

    We moved here to Rogersville in November 2011. It seemed at the time like an awesome move for us. Janit would be back in North Alabama closer to her children and grandchildren, especially when her daughter and husband returned to North Alabama after serving in the US Marine Corp.
    We found us a nice house and we have put a lot of work into it. On top of that we have tried hard to be good neighbors. There are 4 homes in row on our side of the street and all 4 homes have dogs. The dogs in three of the homes are inside dogs but roam freely when it is time for them to go out. Our dogs have always rushed to the back of our property in the woods and they make their way behind the neighbors house just making a big circle. No one has ever complained and no one has ever been bothered, that we knew of, by each others dogs.
    Last week I was in my yard and I heard a loud gunshot. Immediately I yelled for my dogs that were making their rounds and at the same time I noticed my neighbor's son walking back onto their porch. My dogs came running from the direction of his home and I put them in the house. I walked up the yards and asked the son if my dogs had bothered him or if he had had a problem with them. He said one of the dogs barked and growled at him so he went into his house, got his gun and fired in the air to scare the dog. Now this seemed a little odd to me, as Lucy has visited that home more than any of my dogs and though she is a little skiddish she has never been aggressive towards anyone beyond barking. I also found it unsettling since I was standing outside. If he was having a problem, why not yell to me to come get my dogs? I just don't understand people sometimes.
    I have decided now that the only thing I can do to protect my dogs is put up a fence. I hate to do it as fences seem to separate neighbors even more but my dogs mean as much to me if not more than most humans. I can tell you that I am not a violent man, but hurting one of my dogs could definitely cause me to become extremely violent. It is my responsibility to take care of my dogs and to control my dogs. The neighbor was well within his right to defend himself especially on his property from any aggressive animal. I only wish he had made the effort to be as friendly of a neighbor as I have tried to be towards him and his family.