Arlo and Janis by Jimmy Johnson for June 02, 2015

I don’t like barking dogs….Unless they’re the kind that can bark a couple times, just to sound an alarm, and then shut up when told to….

The fragility of courage . . .

Invisible fence?

why does the dog look like Meg?

Typical ‘yap-dog’ Napoleon syndrome – All bluff.

That would be my dog. She wouldn’t hurt a fly , or leave the yard unless she thought she was going to get pet (Black Lab) but she’s got to bark at people in the alley.

Back when I use to power walk every day there was a small yappy dog on my route who would always run out toward the sidewalk to try and catch me, but his chain always pulled him up short of reaching me. One day his owners had moved his chain but I didn’t realize it until he came yapping up behind me and I caught him under his chin with my heel (I didn’t mean to, it was an accident) suddenly his yap changed to one of pain and he ran as far as his chain let him away from the sidewalk. From then on, whenever I walked by he’d run to the back corner of his yard and whimper.

No latch on a gate that opens onto the sidewalk?

Most dogs that size and smaller would run through the gate and ask for a pet and belly rub.

This ‘cowardly’ dog only barks when he knows there is a fence to protect him.

Like most internet trolls…

it’s called MY territory, and don’t you encroach.

That’s interesting, the dog barks when there’s a wall between them, but not when there’s an open gate allowing easy access.

I had a little white do who guarded our yard against the killer postman. I didn’t realize what was going on with their interaction until one day, I saw her tear across the yard, slip between the gate and fence (didn’t know she could do that), and stand barking with her tail wagging in front of the postman. He then opened the gate, let her back in the yard, and said “OK dummy, back where you belong so you don’t get hurt!” I called out the door to thank him and he told me that this was an everyday ritual between the two of them.

That looks like Nancy’s dog…

My stepson’s dachshund will yap and yap and yap at you when you come into his house and no amount of yelling at him will make him stop barking at you. But come in and sit down and suddenly he’s your best friend.

It struck me that this comic is a perfect metaphor for our social media including the comment section of Go Comics. Protected by our anonymity. We bark

Come on out here and say that, I often say as I ride past fenced yappers.

This situation is straight out of “King Soliman’s Ring” by the animal behaviorist, Kronrad Lorenz. For the dog, the psychological distance suddenly became much shorter.