A couple of years ago after a blizzard day, our boss sent us home a little early. I let my Brandi out to do her business and was getting ready to feed her, and she began to bark at the front window. She's not much of a barker, but I went to the window ready to tell her that those people out there (walking or getting their mail) were allowed to be out there. I saw a man with a cell phone plastered to his ear making his way up the neighbor's unplowed driveway. His car was in the street and we had about 12" with drifts. I watched him has my girl softly growled. Very unusual for her to actually growl. He peered in windows and knocked at the front door. Those neighbors are snow birds and hadn't been home for a few months. We watched him trudge through the snow to the driveway and around back. I hestitated calling the police, because just that summer I called this same neighbor to report that it looked like some strange guy was near her garage and acting strangely. She laughed and said her husband was out there! It did not look like her husband from where I was, and I was extremely embarrassed, but laughed it off. So I tried to tell myself it was someone checking their house because of the snow storm, etc. When Brandi would not go off high alert even with my telling her to quiet, I called the police and asked them to check it out. They arrived quickly and actually caught the guy with a crowbar in their back slider. Turns out he was from a burglary ring from a nearby large city and had done time for the same thing. He had a stolen gun in the trunk and told police that they take a pillow case in and any cash, jewelry, weapons or small electronics that fit in that case gets taken. They are out within 60 seconds of going in. Police told me that he actually took them around the neighborhood to show them what other houses he had robbed to show cooperation for sentencing. He said the MO was to case the house and be sure there were no children or dogs. If so, they skipped that one. I am from a small town and I was shocked. What if the children or dog were upstairs?? Because of my girl, my neighbor's house did not get robbed and I would like to believe that she may have saved other houses or people as well.
I also had one other experience, but was too young to appreciate it at the time. Twenty years ago as a young mother, I had a boxer. A dryer repairman came to the house and I let him in without thought to the boxer as he loved everyone. I was young and naive. As I walked the repairman to the laundry room, I heard a very strange noise. I stopped and looked around and saw that my boxer was between me and the repairman and his hackles were up and he was growling! I had never heard him growl before. I was immediately embarrassed that my dog would act so badly and rudely. I yelled at him and grabbed his collar. The repairman went into the laundry room, but my boxer continued to stand at stiff attention, staring down the man and quietly growling. I was appalled at the menacing feeling I received from his growling. I leashed him to the dining room table but could not get him to relax while that poor man was fixing the dryer. I told my husband later how he had acted and that I was so embarrassed. My husband told me that something must have been wrong with that guy and that maybe, just maybe, our lovebug of a boxer knew something I did not. Then he teased me about being so trusting. That's when I began to realize that dogs have an instinct that we suppress because we do not want to offend. They are real and we are conditioned. I learned so much from that experience. I am grateful. And I have learned to trust my dog's instincts.
Do you have any stories to share?
I also had one other experience, but was too young to appreciate it at the time. Twenty years ago as a young mother, I had a boxer. A dryer repairman came to the house and I let him in without thought to the boxer as he loved everyone. I was young and naive. As I walked the repairman to the laundry room, I heard a very strange noise. I stopped and looked around and saw that my boxer was between me and the repairman and his hackles were up and he was growling! I had never heard him growl before. I was immediately embarrassed that my dog would act so badly and rudely. I yelled at him and grabbed his collar. The repairman went into the laundry room, but my boxer continued to stand at stiff attention, staring down the man and quietly growling. I was appalled at the menacing feeling I received from his growling. I leashed him to the dining room table but could not get him to relax while that poor man was fixing the dryer. I told my husband later how he had acted and that I was so embarrassed. My husband told me that something must have been wrong with that guy and that maybe, just maybe, our lovebug of a boxer knew something I did not. Then he teased me about being so trusting. That's when I began to realize that dogs have an instinct that we suppress because we do not want to offend. They are real and we are conditioned. I learned so much from that experience. I am grateful. And I have learned to trust my dog's instincts.
Do you have any stories to share?
I don't have a Dobie story, but our pit bull (RIP) wouldn't let a strange dude in the park anywhere near me--happened about 15 years ago. He was leaning against his car, but made a bee-line for me when he saw me turn the corner. When she noticed him walking towards us, she growled and did the stand-really-still-and-watch thing. He said "Uhh, nice dog," and walked off. Nice dog indeed!! I didn't even care what his motivation was, she did the right thing.
