It starts the same way every time.
I’m sitting on the couch, my throne, really perhaps sipping lukewarm coffee or pretending I don’t hear the email pings stacking up. And then it happens:
The Barkening.
One dog starts. The others join in. It’s a synchronized scream session worthy of its own opera: La Barkiata. Their barks rise like smoke signals to the wild kingdom beyond the fence.
Because, you see, in my backyard lives an ecosystem of drama. Raccoons with attitude. Deer with deadpan stares. Groundhogs built like linebacker potatoes. Sometimes a hawk swoops in just to spice things up. And naturally, my dogs, small but mighty (especially the ten-pound one with the soul of a street fighter)—lose their entire minds when these uninvited guests appear.
They bark like they’re laying down the law. They bark like there’s a turf war unfolding and they’re the lead negotiators. They bark as if yelling, “YOU SHALL NOT PASS” has ever actually worked on a raccoon.
But then, then, we open the back door.
And what happens? Barking turns to sniffing. To pacing. To cautious, quiet diplomacy.
The vibe is suddenly less West Side Story rumble and more therapy dog trying gentle confrontation.
I imagine the conversation goes something like this:
> “Hey, man. Yeah. You probably shouldn’t be here. Not tryna be rude, just… this is our turf, ya know?”
> “You’ve been eating the hostas again. That’s not cool.”
> “Also, stop leaving poop. You’re making me look bad in front of the humans.”
There’s a deep truth in all this.
On the couch, behind the glass, safe in our bubbles, it’s easy to go loud. Easy to bark and bluster.
But once we’re face-to-face with the problem. Once we actually step outside, we simmer down. We observe. We reframe. We negotiate.
My dogs are, dare I say it, backyard diplomats. Bellowing from behind the curtain, but offering a calm (if not begrudging) handshake when the situation calls for it.
And honestly? Aren’t we all a little like that?
Big energy behind the scenes. Big feelings in our group chats. But when we step into the real world; whether it’s with coworkers, raccoons, or random Tuesday crises, we find our footing. We sniff things out. We say, “Alright. You do you. But don’t eat my plants and don’t leave a mess.”
So here’s your life truth from the dog couch: Bark if you must. But when it’s time to go outside, show up with curiosity, not chaos. Save face. Be firm. Sniff things through.
And maybe , just maybe, don’t let the raccoons get in your head.
Categories: Culture, identity, Leadership, Management, mental health, politics, Psychology, society
psychologistmimi 
Fierce Protectors
of the Humanity That
Feeds them Dogs are
Yet True Not too Far Removed
Away From Wild Feral and Free
MaKinG THeiR Own Way as my Wife’s
Sister Who Lives on a small Farm found
A Pit Bull Part of a Pack of Only Two Yes with
A Small Mutt Hound Dog Mix Wandering the Road
By Her Farm Home
Her Pit Bull was soon
to Pass So She Took Him
And His Mutt Mix Hound Friend in
Yes to Home School them for awhile
And Of Course Provide a forever home too
A Lot of Difference
Between a Pack of
Two or Three in the Wild Making
THeir Way in the Great Unknown
Than Some Domesticated Ones
Protecting and Yes Protected by
A Fence From the Wild and Unknown too
Yet These Two Dogs Named Jack and Jill
Spotted a Deer on the Horizon Took after the
Deer and Ripped the Dear’s Throat Out for the Kill
That Once Meant
Basic Subsistence
in the Wild to Those two
And a Black Lab in Our Neighborhood
Innocently Playing With Yes Protecting
Two Children with their Parents too and
A Close to 80 Year Old Man Strolling the Neighborhood
Block seen as Potential Predator by the Black Lab Endangering
Those Who He Would Give His Life to Protect suddenly Charged after
the Old Man Knocking Him down in a Ditch Commencing Biting Him
On His Side
By the time
distance space
it took for the Owners
to take Him away one of the
Last Days on Earth for that Dog
to Be Put Down Next By The Law
Yet Just Doing His Job Protecting His
Family Yet Still Potentially Wild Feral and
Free With the Potential to Kill along with
Wag His
Tail and
Lick the
Children’s
Faces with Love
Truly Mammalian And Warm
Dear Miriam With SMIles Hmm
At the Military Gym Last Night
i Was the Only One in that Huge
Millions of Dollars Gym so i Let Out
my Primal Roars Fueling a Max Potential
Effort for the Night More than ever before
A Lone Wolf i Was in that Gym Last Night on the 4th
Of July The Call of the Wild the Rush of Wild and Free
So Free Indeed
So True as a child
so domesticated
with Paper and Pencil
Tied to A Desk at School
So Fragile and Weak Only
Lifting Books to Read Jack London’s
Call of the Wild Brought a Tear to my
Eye for What Was Missing Deep Within
Ah Yes the Call of the Wild Echoing Solo
at the Military Gym Last Night and True it
Helps as i’ll Never
Need a Microphone
to Sing Angelically
At Church Yet Usually
i Don’t Mention it Comes
Originally
From a
Feral Roar
Something Like
A Mix of Wild Wolf
Gorilla and Bear With SMiLes
Yet True Hehe Mostly Silver Back Gorilla Hehe…
~K.K.
And
Godzilla
Hybrid i Am…
The Place of the Fourth of July
Fireworks Celebration for the
County Held on the River
Bank Where the Bands
Play Precisely Where
i Was Raised as a
Child Shot-Gun
Home Torn Down
Sold to Celebrations
For Decades More to Come
Didn’t Wanna Deal with these
Pesky Local Gnats i Suppose a Real
Wolf Wouldn’t Have Noticed the Gnats at all
Still Got
Play to Do
to Make it to
Full Hybrid Dog/Wolf/etc…
Howling Solo at the Half
Moon What A Pleasure
it
is
to BREaTHE
Wild and Loving
Free in Balance of Peace..:)
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“Love this! A perfect reminder that behind the bluster, we’re all just trying to negotiate life’s chaos—whether we’re dogs, humans, or raccoons with attitude. Bark less, sniff more. 🐾”
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