WHAT YOUR BARKING DOG HAS PROTECTED YOU FROM

BY GLORIA FAYE BROWN BATES

Our dogs protect us more than we ever know. We know their different barks for different things.

I hear the sounds of a big truck, then, banging of the trash container next door... our dogs are barking. They have a special bark signaling the trash truck is nearby.

One of our dogs doesn't bark until... he feels he needs to. When 'he' barks.... we go quickly to see what is getting his attention. When our other dog barks... it's already very important. The way his bark changes for different things, we 'know' something is going on outside.

There could be a deer standing just out of sight, or a cat nearby. Our barking dog sees and 'tells' us ... he does this all the time. He will see the little white dog and little brown dog come through our yard... he will bark a special bark meant to let one know 'they' are here. Those little dogs are big buddies, and are brothers. They go to the house nearby to see their other brother, a little black and white dog named Peanuts.

Don't come near our fence... we have signs warning to 'Beware Of Dogs'. One will get bitten if they don't heed the signs. There are very few people who can come into our house.

One night not too long ago, our barking dog began raising Cain... he was going crazy. Skip knew that he was seeing..... somebody. He got up and watched... there was a black car with black windows... driving very slowly in our circular driveway. You can come in one end of the driveway and go out the other end.

Skip watched them drive very slowly until they left. At 3:00 am I woke up to see Skip was already awake and he told me what he saw... I did feel alarmed. Our dog was barking like crazy...again! I'd just seen on the news the night before about home invasions, and on my computer I was reading 'how' they were conducted.

I read that the 'bad' guys would come to a family's front door and ring the doorbell.. or knock. If someone came to answer the door.. that made everything easy for them.... several 'bad' guys would come in overwhelming everyone in the house.

In that first minute or two, after they've come in ... they will commit violence, murder all at once. I was thanking God that our front door is solid... I also, know that I'm not going to the door... and open it. The people we have that come to our home 'know' how to announce their arrival, so, if that doorbell rings........ nobody is home... but, I promise you... someone is ... watching.

Ding-dong. Ding-dong. I felt shock course through my body! I looked at Skip in the dim light of the lamp on the dresser. I'm afraid of the dark, so, I keep a lamp on at night.

Ding-dong. I tiptoed down the hall and I neared the front door ... I heard voices. Men's voices. I 'knew' in my mind we were going to go through a home invasion. Afterall, I'd just heard on the news, and read on the computer how the bad guys operate. I was afraid, but, not to the point that I couldn't react.

I went back into the bedroom and Skip was watching our dog out in the chain-link fence. He was going crazy! I made Skip promise not to open that front door... Skip is a hero, he is the stuff all men wish they were made of... he isn't afraid of anything. He will confront danger and take control. Skip promised he wouldn't open that front door... afterall.. that's how home invasions begin!

Ding-dong. Ding-dong. Oh God.. there goes that doorbell again! Don't they know we aren't going to... just answer that door!? It's so dark in front of the house and... I never thought to turn on the front porch light! I was thinking about calling the sheriff's department ... ding-dong! That did it! I told Skip that I was calling... NOW!

I dialed 911... and I spoke with the dispatcher telling him I could hear those voices outside of the front door, and that they kept ringing our doorbell! I told him I'm afraid because I've just heard and read about 'how' home invasions were conducted! He asked me was I alone and I told him my husband was here, that I'd made him promise not to open the doors.

The voices got louder! I was more alarmed and told the dispatcher to please, please send someone out quickly, that the men's voices are much louder. I was wondering 'why'?

I walked from the bedroom... I didn't remember going back to the bedroom at all! I walked from the bedroom, back up the hall toward the living room and kitchen, dining room. Oh no, I could hear those voices... they were 'too loud' and sounded almost ... as if they were inside!

I still had the dispatcher on the phone and told him I was going to see, that the voices were louder. As I neared the kitchen, I peeped into the dining room and saw... the back door opened! The loud voices were coming from the gate near the back door!

I told the dispatcher 'oh no, my husband has gone out that door to see what those bad guys wanted'! I ran to the back door ready to help Skip!

He turned to me telling me all was alright! These two men were at the wrong house, the house they were looking for was at least 5 miles away, and they had a circular drive and lived in a brick house, too! They were sneaking around to find a new Rolls Royce they had to repossess, they had a tow truck on the way.

These two men, one white and one black... were standing there beside their black car with hoods on as it was so cold... they looked 'scary' to me! Skip had made them show him their identification! I told the dispatcher that they were standing there and were at the wrong house. He said, a deputy would be there in a moment, anyway... he was already on the way!

About that time... all 'hell' broke loose! From one end of the driveway a deputy car flew into our driveway at the back of that black car! At the other end of the driveway, not one, but... two deputy cars came in rapidly to finish surrounding the black car and two men! Their hands went up into the air immediately!

I heard one say 'what the hell!?' I just stood there observing all the fast action that was taking place before my eyes! Oh my God! Skip has come out here and confronted dangerous men, even making them take their identification out for him to see!

The three deputies jumped out of their cars and walked quickly to the two men, demanding to know what is going on here. The two men explained to them that they were just trying to repossess a new Rolls Royce! They weren't here to do any harm!

The deputies began looking at their identification... all the while I'm standing there... slowly realizing that these two men 'were in fact' what they said they were. I slowly began to 'fade away into the background'.... I was embarassed to have caused such a ruckus! I am not the one who wants to 'call the law' on anyone! I faded right back through that dining room door where no one could see me! Yes, I let my hero, Skip handle the matter! :)))

So... the other night was quite an adventure for me! In my mind, I was facing a home invasion where 'bad' guys wanted in the front door...... it was all real! At the back door, the whole thing played out into... just two guys trying to make a living repossessing cars!

I think now.. that job is very dangerous. The point here is... we never know 'everything' our dogs protect us from. I told Skip this morning that dogs see and hear things we never see or hear. We never know how close danger has come to touch us on the shoulder... but, there are our faithful companions, who are fearless and will go out to confront the most dangerous.... preventing things from happening.

I wonder how many times our dogs have stopped something from happening... we'll never know. I'm thankful for our spoiled, special pups... who can be very ferocious if they think we are threatened... on the other hand....... we'd be just as ferocious in... protecting them! We love those babies!