to keep a dog and bark yourself

9.9

To do work yourself when you hired someone else to do it

idiom

: hacer el trabajo uno mismo

There's no point in hiring an assistant if you keep a dog and bark yourself.

Examples

Why do you keep a dog and bark yourself instead of letting your assistant handle it?
If you trust your staff, you shouldn't keep a dog and bark yourself.
He insists on checking every detail; it's like he wants to keep a dog and bark himself.
Don't keep a dog and bark yourself!
If you trust your staff, you shouldn't keep a dog and bark yourself.
There's no point in hiring an assistant if you keep a dog and bark yourself.
Why do you keep a dog and bark yourself instead of letting your assistant handle it?

Synonyms

to take it upon oneself

vsto keep a dog and bark yourself

28 5.3

Decide to do something and accept responsibility without being asked

involves doing tasks that were assigned to others not just taking initiative

to bark yourself

vsto keep a dog and bark yourself

Informal

1 9.9

To do something yourself instead of asking someone else to do it

is about doing unnecessary tasks even when delegation is possible

to buy a dog and bark

vsto keep a dog and bark yourself

Archaic

9.9

To do a task yourself and take responsibility for what happens

focuses instead on performing tasks one already employed others to handle

to service oneself

vsto keep a dog and bark yourself

7.8

To do things for yourself without help from others

is about doing work one previously hired others to do rather than self care

Antonyms

to delegate

45 3.7

To give a job and authority to someone so they do it for you

How Involved

to apply oneself

10 3.9

to keep a dog and bark yourself

9.9

to help out

Informal

486 1.0

to supervise

189 3.5

to assign

487 2.7

to delegate

45 3.7

Surface Forms

keep a dog and bark yourself infinitive

Morphology

keep + a + dog + and + bark + yourself

The literal parts ('keep' + 'dog' + 'bark' + 'yourself') can be mapped to a metaphorical scenario where one 'keeps' (employs) an agent to 'bark' (do a task) but then does the barking oneself. However, this mapping is figurative and proverb-like; a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words would likely not reliably infer the intended idiomatic meaning without prior exposure or cultural explanation.

Etymology

The proverb keep a dog and bark yourself comes from the picture of someone who keeps a dog to guard the house but then stands there and barks themselves, making the dog useless. So it means 'to do work yourself that you have paid someone else to do'.