How A Neighbor's Barking Dog Changed A Man's Life: Author Q&A

WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA — Our dogs are our best friends, but what happens when your neighbors pups just won't shut up?

Richard Lucas, an award-winning writer and comedian from West Hollywood, tells the story of how his neighbor’s yapping Yorkie drove him into, and pulled him out of, a miserable phase of his life.

In his new book, The Dog Log: An Accidental Memoir of Yapping Yorkies, Quarreling Neighbors, and the Unlikely Friendships That Saved My Life, Lucas talks about how he was tortured in his own home by barking dogs that belonged to his elderly neighbor Irene. Irene ignored his pleads to quiet them, so he decided to maintain a log of each individual bark for a period of six months — only then would the West Hollywood Sheriff's Department (and Irene) take him seriously.

Before long, his Dog Log becomes a vehicle for self-reflection and transformation.

Lucas will be doing a book signing event at Tailwaggers West Hollywood (801 N Fairfax Ave) this Sunday, September 29 from noon to 3 p.m.

Here's a Q&A with author Richard Lucas:

Emily Holland: How did The Dog Log change your life?

Richard Lucas: I’ll try not to give anything away here, but for one thing, I’ve learned that I have more patience than I’d been utilizing before all this happened with my neighbor and her dogs — both with other people and with myself. It made me realize that many small, seemingly insignificant things can actually accumulate like one stone at a time laid out on a path that we don’t realize we’re on. What I was doing as described in the book — the cleaning and helping with the dogs — was not a long term idea or plan. I thought it would be over any moment at any day; I was just putting a bandaid on a situation, so I thought. But in the end, the days strung together and created a life-altering experience.

Plus, becoming a published author has been a dream come true. Since the book came out, I’ve had incredible conversations with people who have related to the book in all kinds of ways, anywhere from their own dog/dog rescue experiences, to the very personal things or parental issues which I wrote about my childhood that might be similar to theirs. It feels good that sharing those things brought them into other people’s lives and encouraged them to think about their own experiences. When they share their stories with me, it’s very moving and very gratifying. This is the best part of the writing process — the sharing. It’s the scariest as well, but when it pays off it’s gives one a reason to keep on.

EH: How has your relationship with the yorkies changed over time?

RL: I was not a dog person before all this. I didn’t mind dogs, per se, well — well-behaved dogs. I didn’t mind seeing a dog once in a while, or across the street, or in other people’s homes, but I had absolutely no thoughts of having a dog in my own life, let alone caring for one, or, worse yet, developing “feelings” for one. And yet, here I am with little Lauren snoring on the sofa next to me right now.

EH: How hard was it to track the barking every day for six months?

RL: Writing a barking dog log to keep track of a neighbor’s dog barking is maddening, frustrating, and engenders a feeling of helplessness that, for me, turned the process into something that made me ask myself: Why am I so angry about this barking? Why does my life feel so out of control? Might there be other issues inside of me, underneath all of this? When I started writing about those, the log became something of a self-exploration, maybe a confessional of sorts about my life and how I felt about things I’d fumbled and lost.

EH: What inspired you to write a book about this experience? I love the format, by the way!

RL: When I first had the barking issue and had to keep a log, I was also performing standup and storytelling around town. I began talking about my plight and reading from the log at live shows. That turned into a solo show some years ago that was both funny and, I think, touching. It had an extended run at The Fake and played at The Comedy Central Stage. As life moved on with my neighbor and her dogs and all of my involvement, and as I continued to talk about it in storytelling shows, it seems that people enjoyed to following along, and from that I felt I had a story to tell that might be worth the work of writing a book and the risk of sharing it with book-reading strangers.

EH: Sometimes it can be difficult to change your perspective from a negative one to a positive one. What advice do you have for someone looking to think more positively?

RL: Anyhow who knows me would get quite a kick out of that question because in my circle of friends, I’m not the go-to guy on how to find a positive outlook on things. I do now, however, at least try to find some light and am getting a little better at it every day. So there’s a voice now on the other side of the seesaw whispering, “Something positive could be lurking around here somewhere,” and so before entirely dismissing the idea as I used to, I now take a moment and search it out.

EH: Has this experience changed your thoughts on pets?

RL: Lauren, from the book, has been in my care for most of the last few years because her owner, Irene, has spent a lot of time in convalescent homes. It’s a difficult and complicated situation, and I’m still trying to help out. I do love the heck out of little Lauren though. She’s an angel, not just for her owner, but she has been so much for me as well. She’s a blessing. She’s also a little bossy behind closed doors, but she’s a blessing. Caring for a pet certainly takes a whole life commitment in time, expense, and even worry. But they’re so worth it.

EH: Anything else you'd like to mention?

RL: I just want to acknowledge and thank my publisher, Chicago Review Press, because as I got into the process of attempting to get my manuscript out there, I saw that I was really up against it: I didn’t have a big enough “platform” by any current social media measure, I wasn’t a previously published writer, and I am as far from being a celebrity as I am an astronaut. So as a publisher they really did take a chance purely on the content of the book, and I’m very grateful to be able to share the story through them.

You can find Richard Lucas online at RichardLucasComedy.com, on Instagram @RLucaspics, Twitter @Richard_Lucas, and on Facebook at RichardLucas.LA. Find The Dog Log on Amazon.