Guard dog (or lotto) wanted; Apply within

Learning to get dressed

I'm one of those people who believe what you think about you bring about. Lately I've been wondering about the soundness of Toad's protection gene. He's so much softer then any other dog I've lived with. He a super sensitive creature really.

About a three weeks age, we were snuggled in bed, all the lights off and it would be a daunting task for anyone to come to the door in the dark. Yet at 9:30 (yes I typically go to bed early and watch tv for a bit) I heard a distinct knocking at the door. Toad never budged. With the past boys, I always looked to them to see if I needed to worry about a noise. They alerted me. Yet with this knocking, Toad had zero reaction. ZERO! I was more then a little freaked out by the sudden visitor (I'm a by appointment only kinda gal), so when a friend texted me 10 minutes later and asked what I was doing, my reply was "coming to your house for the night"

Then... it dawned on me... he doesn't even get up when I get home. He doesn't look at who's coming through the door. He doesn't bark, he doesn't greet, he does nothing.

Dapper in Plaid

All of which got me to musing about his protective gene. He seemed to show it when I first brought him home. He barks to get back inside when he's done peeing/pooping. He will bark if he's outside and the neighbors are making noise or if he sees them. He will answer Opi's bark (or start it... Opi is the awesome dog next door). So I know he sees and hears just fine.

So there I've been, wondering what his reaction would actually be if something was amiss.

Last night, well the wee hours (or this morning)... my fish tank broke. Truly, more like cracked. The sound of water leaking/dripping/running woke Toad, who came awake growling and barking. The second I was awake, he stopped making any noise at all. I heard the water... went to investigate and Toad promptly went back to sleep.

Belly bands to curtail marking

Buffer would have led the charge, ready, willing and able to take on whatever demons dared enter unannounced. Bosun, I used to joke, would have to make sure they didn't smell prior to biting. Toad though.... nada. Apparently his job is merely to alert the human. He didn't even walk down the hall with me.

Other then to come out to pee about 15 minutes into working though the mess, he left me to my business of mopping up water, re-homing fish and sorting it all out.

45 minutes later he somewhat grudgingly allowed me back in bed.

Funny how he's gone from living in a shed to hogging the creature comforts of living in a home.

Mental Note to Self;  Instead of wondering how Toad would react to an intruder... perhaps I should be wondering how Toad would react to becoming wealthy.