"Dogs don't bark at parked cars"

[ronbutters at AOL.COM]

Dogs DO bark at a number of unpleasant things--loud mouth jerks, for example. I suspect that this silly saying is a product of Mrs. Cheney's weak-minded imagination. If not, it is typical of her mind that she would have thought it clever.

------Original Message------
From: Charles Doyle
Sender: American Dialect Society
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
ReplyTo: American Dialect Society
Sent: Oct 26, 2007 10:36 AM
Subject: [ADS-L] "Dogs don't bark at parked cars"

At least twice recently, Lynne Cheyney has quoted this "saying":

<< It reminds me of a saying we used to have in Wyoming, which is, Dogs don't bark at parked cars. >> (Interview in _Time_, 20 Sept. 2007)

<< And we have a saying in Wyoming, which goes like this, "Dogs don't bark at parked cars." >> (Interview on MSNBC, 11 Oct. 2007)

Of course, she is referring to denunciations of her husband.

Does anyone have any knowledge of the saying as a proverb? There are a few hundred Google hits--some dating from at least as far back as the early 1900s. Is the Wyoming connection just Mrs. Cheney's effort to seem folksy?

Any information will be appreciated!

--Charlie
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