Farm Fresh Blog

Now I ask you, would you walk past this sign?

Would you read this sign, look in the yard and see a police K9 truck, and STILL open the gate to walk into a GATED COMPOUND?

I'm just askin'.

It happened like this:

I'm getting ready for work. In the shower. Nekkid. I point this out merely so you can understand my predicament. Other Half is in bed. Asleep. Deep sleep.  Now I'm happily scrubbing up with my goat milk soap when I hear the sound of blue heeler peeling out of the bathroom so fast that he broke the sound barrier. Stick my head around shower curtain. See nothing. Hmmmm.... go back to shower. Then hear all hell breaking loose at the front door. Peek around shower curtain. See nothing. Darn. Tip toe nekkid to bathroom door. See power company truck at front gate. Double darn.

Do mental headcount:

Briar - in yard
Oli - in house
Ice - in house
Ranger - in house
Dillon - in house
Lily - in house
Trace - in outside kennel
Cowboy - in outside kennel

I count them on my fingers to make sure I haven't forgotten anyone. (when you have 8 dogs you have to do that!)

Definitely sounds like five dogs raging at the front door. Hear echo of two dogs in kennels raging. They almost drown out the knock at the door.

Yes!  You read that right. A KNOCK AT THE DOOR!

I am standing in my hallway, naked as a jaybird, still wet, with five dogs raging at the front door, and someone at the door. (note: husband has not even rolled over in bed)

Tiptoe back to bedroom and wake up husband. Inform him that someone is AT THE DOOR! Someone has ignored BEWARE OF DOG/CAUTION POLICE WORK DOG signs and walked right through the gate. Other Half jumps out of bed to get door. He lacks social skills on a good day, but I am less than concerned about him hurting anyone's feelings at the moment.

After all, it takes a special kind of person to ignore those signs.

I hear him snarling at dogs. I hear him walk outside. Then I hear muffled talking, but no shouting. Still, I get dressed quickly and head out there myself.

By some miracle they are talking civily. I listen as the man explains that he "reads dogs really well" and wasn't worried about being bitten. I assure him that when a blue heeler is attached to his leg or a malinois is attached to his a@# he might re-think his actions.  He is clearly unconcerned. He tells me that EVERYONE has these signs and he walks past them all the time with no problem.

I then ask, "Everyone has a BEWARE! POLICE SERVICE DOG sign?"

He allows as how not everyone has that particular sign.

"With a POLICE truck in the yard?"

He allows as how he saw that too, and no, not everyone has those either.

Other Half and I are clearly dumbfounded. The man is nice enough, but we cannot get him to understand that it was pure dumb luck that out of eight dogs, (four of those that would probably bite), he happened to walk through the gate when only the most friendly dog was loose. He is still confident that he wouldn't be bitten. Even by the unfriendly dogs.

Even by Blue Heeler The Space Cadet that we have to drag across Texas on every vacation because he's such a freakin' psycho that no one else wants to take care of him.

I emphasize to him that for the safety of THE DOGS he must respect these signs. I explain that the DOGS are the ones who get into trouble when someone ignores all warnings and walks through closed and chained gates, and gets bitten by a dog. Society and insurance companies blame the dog and the homeowner.

He still doesn't get it. He has a job to do. He needs to get in the yard.

I point out that our phone numbers are in his database. He agrees that they are but he didn't call them.

Did he honk the horn?

No, the dog seemed friendly.

I ask myself how many police dogs look like Briar.

After much discussion, we still couldn't convince him that for his safety and the safety of our dogs, and every other dog he encounters, he needs to stay out of the freakin' yard! (And call the phone number provided) Will he do it again? Yes. Yes, I'm sure he will.

(I bang my head in frustration!)

However do we protect ourselves and our dogs from these people?!!