Tag Archives: guard

Working dog…

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I’ve read countless times that dogs behave better when they have a job. Some are trained to sniff out bombs or drugs, others pull carts, a few, the happiest probably, carry drums of liquor to skiers stranded somewhere on an Alp.

My Maggie never trained to do any of those things. She’s the definitive house pet… mostly well behaved, but possessed of a few bad habits that I’ve simply allowed to develop over time because they didn’t bother me enough to correct.

This chocolate lab of mine has always taken her patrol duties in the yard seriously – birds, squirrels, and cats have all felt her wrath at one time or another. Interlopers are less welcome by her than they are by me. That’s saying something. Since we moved, though, she’s taken on a whole new role.

The front windows aren’t quite floor to ceiling but they’re big enough to give her an unobstructed view of the front yard and the street beyond. Her domain is all she surveys. My working dog has appointed herself protector of the cul-de-sac. Every living thing that moves upon it is fair game for her hell-hound-like bark and ferocious snarl. Children on small motorized scooters are particularly hated enemies. The barking for them is the loudest and most long lived.

Technically I should probably be correcting her at every opportunity… but if I’m really dead honest about it, I’m not sure I hate the idea of everyone who drives, walks, or otherwise wanders past having a thought that herein lives one of the most vicious dogs on the face of the earth. It’s not a job for your typical working dog, but it fits in just fine around here.

Life with dogs…

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Aside from the occasional inconvenience, I like life with dogs. Fiercely loyal, always happy to see you, undemanding, and absolutely non-presumptuous, dogs never pretend to be anything other than what they are. To me that feels like a big part of their charm. Say what you want about dogs, but unlike most of the people you’ll run into, a dog will never disappoint you. Oh they’ll break your heart sure enough, but they’ll never disappoint you.

Now as much as I’m a fan of life with dogs, that doesn’t mean it’s without it’s occasional quirky unpleasantness. Early in their lives, I set the precedent of going out myself whenever they needed to go out. The result, five or six years later, is that even though I no longer need to go outside every hour or two, they’ll sit on the other side of the door and wait for me to come out before heading off the deck. While I’m writing this, they want to be outside but they’re making due by laying in front of the door watching the coming and going of the neighborhood. This, in turn, leads to its own issues.

Winston is mercifully happy just keeping an eye on what passes by. Maggie on the other hand sees it, barks at it, and wants to chase it. It doesn’t matter if its a neighbor, someone riding a bike, a car turning, a bird, a leaf blowing past, the flag catching the breeze, or absolutely nothing at all. She likes her presence to be known even by things that aren’t actually there. It’s well and good. She’s being a dog and I love her for that. Still, it would be nice if we could go more than 45 seconds without her letting out a howl that makes me jump out of my skin.