One day I was called to a farm which had reported
their dog howling in distress every time the phone
rang. ...

The farmer had secured his dog with a new steel chain
fastened by an eyebolt to a flat steel bar spiked into the
farmhouse wall. In doing so he had broken the earth
wire for the telephone. ...

In the usual version of this story, the dog barks *before*
the phone rings, because the phone doesn't get enough ringing
current until the urine completes the circuit.

Not that I believe it.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto "I'd opt for Oz, myself."
--Buck Henry