I taught my neighbor a lesson after I caught him spying on my apartment after we met on the street. He wanted to know what I was hiding at home.
My name is Carol, and I love dogs. Because of this, I live in a pet-friendly apartment building that puts no restrictions on how many dogs or pets a tenant can house.
I live on the third floor and don’t share a landing with any of my neighbors, so anyone going to that floor is most likely there for me
The building itself is located in a place with a moderate crime rate, and we do not have a secure gate or front door to the building, which meant anyone could simply waltz into the building without getting questioned.
I have a dog named Roxie, who I’ve also come to rely on for security. She is not an aggressive dog; she does not have leash aggression and does not attempt to bite strangers, provided they don’t act funny.
The only time Roxie ever flares up is when we are indoors, and she senses someone outside my apartment. When this happens, she usually barks very loudly in warning. She makes a lot of noise whenever this happens, but because I live alone, I foster the behavior.
My neighbor from the second floor, Gary Jackson, has been up on my landing several times. He is well aware of my dog and has seen me walking her multiple times
Even though she can be menacing when we are indoors, Roxie is very friendly outside. She allows people to approach her and even lets them pet her, something Gary had witnessed first hand.
The two opposing characters of my dog seem to baffle my neighbor, which has made him ask me several times about my “other aggressive” dog. The day he first asked me the question, I was confused.
I’d just returned from a yoga session and was on my way up to my floor when he caught sight of me and hurried to meet me. “Miss Carol,” he called breathlessly, having spent himself rushing to meet me. “If you could spare me a bit of your time.”
But of course Gary, what do you need?” I asked.
“I just have a question,” he answered
Well shoot,” I told him because I was in a hurry.
“How many dogs do you house in your apartment?
The question threw me, but I replied that I only had one. He scoffed in annoyance and left me staring after him in confusion. I simply couldn’t figure out what the problem was.
Since that day, he has made more attempts to find out about the “other” dog I kept cooped up all day in my apartment even though I often told him Roxie was the only dog I was raising.
One day, I got tired of Gary’s constant attempts to meet my alleged second dog, so I decided I would show him there was only one. I heard my dog barking in the evening and automatically knew that my neighbor must have come again.
I watched the dog’s barks grow more menacing and knew Gary must have been standing close to the door trying to listen to the barking so he could determine how many dogs I really had.
I put the fear of God in his heart when I abruptly opened the door ajar. The sudden action shocked him so much he fell backward on his rear, putting him face to face with my big dog, who had stopped barking as soon as she set eyes on him.
When he saw it was just Roxie standing next to me, his eyes widened in shock, which proved he was wrong to believe I had another dog. I told him I had no idea what he wanted on my landing and that I would call 911 if he didn’t stop spying on me.
Feeling embarrassed, he stood up and decided to lash out at me for causing him to fall while simultaneously walking hurriedly away. Some hours later, my dog started barking again, then I heard a knock on the door.
I opened it to see Gary’s wife holding freshly baked pie while her husband stood behind her, looking very guilty. “I’ve come to apologize for his rude behavior,” she said. “He should not have tried to spy on you, it’s just that his curiosity gets the best of him at times.”
She sounded sincere, so I told her everything was fine, and I had simply wanted to prove that I only had one dog. So I invited them in and made them tea we downed alongside the pie they brought. While his wife and I talked, Gary played with Roxie.
What did we learn from this story?
- Mind your business. Gary should have accepted Carol’s explanation when she initially gave it, but instead, he doubted it, which made her decide to prove her honesty.
- When a dog flares up out of the blue, it is usually for a good reason. Trust it, take a look around your surroundings to make sure all is well before dismissing it as mere happenstance. You never know what you’re not seeing.
