Stubby

So I'm riding my bike in the neighborhood and once again I hear the old familiar bark of the dog that always confronts me when I get to a certain hill.
It doesn't really do anything mean, it just barks, asserting it's territory.

I've been riding through here for weeks now and the dog (I call her stubby) continues to bark at me despite the fact that I've introduced myself, gave it a belly rub and made nice-nice with her owner. Then I noticed that other dogs were watching, so I'm guessing it's more than asserting her territory, it was to save face in front of her peers so she wouldn't appear weak, to the hierarchy, so I guess she's just doing her job.

One thing about this neighborhood I've noticed that is almost everyone has a dog and they let them run around freely in the yard, but they don't run around all over the place like you would expect, the actually STAY in their own yards, never leaving their boundaries. Even if I ride past them they barely pay any attention to me, at most I get a mild "gruff".

Kind of odd if you ask me. Either their owners trained them extremely well or they are Stepford Dogs... diabolical, perfectly behaved doggy clones.
I'm guessing Stubby is the last true dog on the block since she's only one who seems to exhibit doggy behavior, but as soon as she stops barking and chasing me, I'll know that she's become one of THEM.

Poor Stubby.