I have great neighbors. They are friendly, I trust them, and they are helpful. What more could I ask for in a neighborhood? As a friendly neighbor myself, I do what I can to keep my relationship with the people next door to me a positive one. The neighbor to my left recently got married to a lady who loves animals, infact, she used to have a farm. When she moved in she had goats, a pony, chickens, and she bred dogs. Gradually, to please her husband, she has sold some of the animals. That is actually a good thing because the smell of goat manure was becoming a bit overpowering. The neighbor to my right is a busy father of two, who goes to work early in the morning, and only has a cat. He is lively and amusing. He is also honest. He has always made it clear that he hates dogs. He thinks that they are noisy, messy, and silly. Cats, he thinks, are intelligent and sophisticated, and of course, much easier to take care of. Well, I happen to have two dogs, both of whom are still puppies. These dogs live in our back yard which is fenced in. They have a warm, insulated dog house, and plenty of space to run around and play in. But, they are dogs, and they bark. Not very much, mind you. But if they sense a deer is nearby, or if they smell a racoon, they will certainly bark. I think that they can also sense when people don't like them, because when Don, our neighbor who hates dogs, goes to work at six o'clock in the morning, they run up to the fence where they can see his car, and they start barking. They bark as if they have spotted an enemy. So, in order to stay friends with Don, I bought some 'shock collars' for the dogs that 'encourage' them to stay quiet. When they bark, they get a little vibration on the neck that they don't like. And you know, it works, but not enough to give Don a quiet morning. Now, when he gets into his car, the dogs still run up and bark once, "woof!" But then they howl slightly because of the collars, "argh!" After a couple of seconds they do the same thing. After about three times, they give up, and by then, Don has gone. I have to wake up at six, so it's actually an alarm clock for me, an amusing one. But poor Don must think I'm a terrible neighbor.

Grammar notes.

Related vocabulary: to breed, overpowering, racoon, to sense.

1. The farmer near us breeds work horses.

2. I think you put too much garlic in that sauce; it's overpowering. I can't taste the fish at all.

3. There is a family of racoons in the neighborhood. Sometimes you can see their black and white bodies running into a bush to hide.

4. I could sense that he was angry. I knew that he would start shouting.