Good neighbors make good fences

30 May 2011

We all know the proverb that “Good fences make good neighbors.” In my life, I can switch that proverb around. It’s my great neighbor who’s making a fantastic fence.

When our old shared fence started to come down, our next-door-neighbor, Rick, offered to build a new one. He’s building a lovely cedar fence, a huge step up from the ancient stockade fence that came with our house when we bought it in 1992. The fence has no wrong side, so everybody wins.

Rick and his partner Mark have a lovely Dalmatian, Linus, who’s always had a cordial relationship with our standard poodle. Kirby. They would “talk” through a hole in the fence. But when we’d bring them together in one of our yards, Kirby didn’t usually want to play.

But here’s the thing that makes me so happy about our new fence (besides that it’s beautiful). Rick built a dog gate into it. It’s a section of the fence with wide panes in it for the dogs to interact with one another when it’s closed. (The panes are too small for them to go through.) When a human opens the gate, the dogs have easy access to one another’s yards. They’ve started running around and playing—and hanging out in one another’s houses.

Kirby's looking for his friend Linus.

Kirby’s been a bit lonely, I think, since his sister, Pip, died in October and now he has a new canine companion to hang with. It’s a wonderful thing.

I feel like this is some sort of psychic reward for the poop-scooping habit that I’ve cultivated in 2011. In the past, I’d have worried that the dogs would step in poo. It’s a non-issue now.

I never would have thought a fence and gate could bring me such joy and contentment. Thank you, Rick!

Tagged with: dogs, habits, neighbors