Wet an' Wild.....

Wow, did we have rain yesterday. It was like a tropical storm, it rained so hard...in fact it flooded our street (never up near the house). But the backyard was like a swamp! Mom went out to close the greenhouse durin' a lull an' stepped off into the grass an' got water up to her ankles, an' the inside of the greenhouse had about 6 inches of standin' water in it. She wasn't concerned about that, figurin' the big pots would soak some of it up and the rest would soak into the ground.

It actually stopped rainin' late last nite. Mom put off lettin' us out for "last call" as long as she could, hopin, some of the standin' water would be gone. So, with her "come right back!" she let us out about 11:30pm.

Now, we had good intentions of comin' right back. We really did...an' were on our way back to the house, when somethin' ran off into the bushes by the pond.

Decisions, decisions....not really, we kinda live for this sort of situation....think about it...it's in our dna....somethin's in our yard, an' it runs from us....it's like havin' a switch clicked...of course we have to give chase!

We chased it clear to the other side of the pond into that garden area. Me on one side an' Lexie...on the other side. Oh, we heard mom an' dad callin' us...but we were in chase an' catch mode, naturally turnin' that toggle switch off in our ears.

Finally dad came out w/mom's lite an' our leads an' his big rubber boots. Mom had her jammies on an' that part of the yard she knew still had standin' water an' she didn't want to wade in it....as you can imagine..that wasn't a concern to us.

We saw dad...an' heard mom telllin' us to get in the house...that it was "gone". How she knew...I don't know...but w/dad trompin' over there in his boots an' w/her lite...yep, it was. Dang it.

We raced into the house, all excited like, to tell mom how much fun we had.

Mom didn't share our excitement. In fact, it didn't take her a second to grab Lexie's collar. Then lead her into the bathroom. To be honest, it wasn't Lexie's fault that the only thing tan on her was her head an' tail. There was a lot of standin' water out there, an' in the gardens it was like standin' mud. Dad thought she just needed to get her legs rinsed off...but that didn't do it. There was mom at midnite in the shower w/Lexie an' soapin' up Lexie's legs. Neither one of 'em looked happy. Then it was my turn, while dad started tryin' to dry Lexie off. Mom just shook her head at me in wonder...you really couldn't even tell I had been out there, but I went to get my feet rinsed off, anyway. I could feel a lil' mud between my toes. I can't help it if I'm like teflon...it just don't stick to me.

We both got toweled off an' even blow dried. We were feelin' really good by then. Mom an' dad not so much. They cleaned everythin' all up. Mom had to change her jammies. She had stayed inside, 'cause she didn't want to get wet an' muddy...but that didn't work out, lol.

Dad locked the doors an' turned off the back lites. Lexie followed him around an' was demandin' to go outside. Dad told her, NO!". (I knew better, mom had already declared, "outside was closed till further notice". Lexie wasn't happy w/dad...so, she went back into the bathroom where mom was changin' clothes, an' gave her a big complain'in bark. Then ran back to the back door. Mom came out an' asked dad what that was about...he told her that he had told Lexie she couldn't go back outside. She was just tryin' to see if it'd work w/mom.....it didn't. Mom went an' told her, "NO"...an' to go to bed...that's she'll be lucky to get to go out tomorrow.

Today's another day....the sun's shinin'...almost all the water has drained off or soaked into the ground. Lexie an' I have been out several times an' .....stayed clean, which mom appreciates. But we're s'posed to have more big rains tomorrow...so, who knows....

Thru the Doggy Door

Well....it finally happened!   Yep, the biggest fear of doggy doors everywhere.....all windows and doors locked, but an intruder comes inside thru the doggy door!

Lexie an' I had been instructed to guard the house while the folks an' our french aussie friends went off to have some kind of fun w/out us.  We're kinda used to that an' try our best to make 'em feel guilty enough to bring us back somethin'.  Meanwhile we enjoy the freedom of doin' whatever we want while they're gone.  Imagine our surprise when we hear somethin' messin' w/our doggy door.   Naturally, we both first look out the big door an' then go out there to confront the intruder.

He backed out an' we gave him a thorough goin' over, then we came back inside.   He was still out there, so we went out again to recheck him.  This time, he kinda pushed ahead of us an' crawled right thru our door into the house w/us right behind him.

We thought this was great fun, not sure why dad was doin' all this.  We've never seen him do it before, but it seemed to be great fun.  Seemed he locked himself outa the house an' didn't have the keys to the car either.   Mom thought he was just going around to the backdoor to get inside, 'cause she never locks the backdoor...but seems dad decided to lock up the house like a vault.  
Mom said she still wishes there had been a camera of dad an' us, it woulda' been a real classic!


Everyone was waitin' in the front yard when he finally came out w/the car keys, an' they all  laughed an' agreed that since he was security checked before bein' let into the house, we were still doin' a great job. (Well, duh..it is AHS Headquarters).  An' that they were sure that if it had been someone up to no good.....well, let's just say he wouldn't have made it very far thru our door.
  

Dad Trainin'

Well, I'm filin' this lil' tidbit in my memory bank for future use.

I was up in my tower an' ...OMD...what did i see? I let out a hollar an' Lexie heard what I was sayin' an' she pretty much answered in kind. Then I ran downstairs an' told dad. He looked at me an' said, "what?". Mom told him that he had to stand up an tell me, "show me". (this is all kinda new, since he's usually at work when stuff happens). He gave mom a "look", but did what she suggested.

As soon as he said it...I took off back upstairs. Dad told mom that it looked like he was bein' led to "the tower". Then off he went followin' me.

I showed him, alright......there was Ginger w/her brite green LED collar (actually all you could see was that green glowin' collar, lol) goin' on a walk w/her daddy...after dark, too! I just felt that was wrong...on so many levels. All kinds of stuff could happen.

Back down the stairs we went. Lexie had followed us up there, so she knew what was goin' on, too. We were both beside ourselves an' expected results from mom an' dad....an' immediately.

Mom an' dad were kinda tired...they'd been busy all day movin' furniture, shoppin' (mom), breakin' lamps (dad), rollin' up a thousand pound rug (that's what dad said)...just all kinds of stuff. But dad came down an' told mom the situation. Lexie an' I got on either side of her waitin' in anticipation an' excitement....for those words....

.

"looks like we're all goin' for a nite walk".

YES!! (I tell you....I have to brag a lil'...we've got 'em pretty well trained)

We left the house an' then dragged mom an' dad about half a block...before mom dug her heels in (literally) an' told us to slow down...that we weren't gonna be able to catch up to Ginger...that she was fine w/her glowin' collar an' daddy, an' to enjoy the cool nite air.

The rest of the walk was great....I managed to leave a p-note about every other bush...Lexie picked a few yards as well. There was one rude dog across one street that was doin' some trash talkin'...an' you wouldn't believe it, but Lexie ignored him. Me on the other paw...I had to tell him to "shut it".

Thinkin' back on this.....I may have to change my tactics on warnin' off dog walkers...this worked so well....I guess I just have to tell dad an' then get out an' track 'em in person.

10 foot Pole

AHS Report--

<ahem>..
.I'm gonna have to compose myself from laughin' so hard.   When mom announced, "that "possum is gone"...an' then, "good job, let's go to the house for cookies!"....Lexie an' I were already half way there.  No sense in stayin' out there, 'cause that 'possum was gone for sure...now.....w/mom's help....again.

It all started when Lexie an' I had that possum cornered in the lil' loquat tree way out back.  Of course, we may have been a lil' noisy, and that's what woke dad up.  He came outa the bedroom an' told mom what we were up to.  Well, he told her what we were soundin' like.  Since he's not as willin' to go traipsin' about in the dark in his jammies....mom grabbed her big lite an' headed out to see what was goin' on.  

She found us at that tree.  One of us on each side.  We waited while she got under it an' shined her lite.  Naturally, she wasn't in the right spot an' didn't see anythin'.   So, we had to coach her to look in the right spot.  She got under that tree an' still didn't see anythin'. She shined that lite this way an' that way, lookin' this way an' that.  Finally, she just grabbed that tree an' shook it a couple of times really hard.  Usin' the theory that if you shake a tree hard enough, somethin's bound to fall out.   It worked.
I had to alert her to come around to my side.  There that possum was...hangin' onto the end of a limb that was hangin' over our fence an' the field.  Mom figured that's where he needed to go....in that field.  She grabbed her trusty 10 foot pole (she says that's a necessary piece of AHS equipment an' won't let dad throw it away).  Then she proceeded to push/knock/prod that possum off the end of that limb.  She thought she had succeeded.  That branch bent way down then popped up sans possum.
This is where Lexie an' I were torn between yellin' at that possum, yellin' at mom...yellin' in surprise an' alarm...heck...it was an excitin' moment...I tell you.   At one point...mom was yellin'.

All of a sudden...her pole was way too heavy to hang onto while holdin' it an' her big lite.  She had to drop that lite to keep from losin' her pole.  "Cause just before droppin' her lite, she could see that big possum pullin' himself up on her pole an' startin' to move pretty fast toward her end of the pole.  <at this point..we were all yellin'>

Mom started backin' up...still holdin' her pole..tryin' to scrape him off her pole on the top of the fence.  He wasn't lettin' go...she tried whackin' the pole on the fence to knock him off...but he weighed too much an' he was still kinda on the other end.

I had to step in to save mom....I started jumpin' up on the fence under that possum...Lexie was yellin' encouragement an' ready to intervene if any one of us managed to knock him to the ground.  At this point...I think a lite bulb of sense came to that possum...an' he decided that fence may just be his salvation.   The next time mom was able to get him close to it, he grabbed the top of the fence an' took off down it towards Ginger's house (she was inside an' clueless to what was happenin').  All three of us were after him.....me an' Lexie jumpin' an hollarin' ...mom w/her stick (still no lite)...but he got away.  Last I could tell...he was about midway on the fence in Ginger's yard.  

This is when mom told us it was gone (duh)...an' we went to the house for a reward of a job well done.  We were successful in eliminating a poacher...an' we saved mom.  Hopefully, he's learned his lesson.  Probably not...but that's ok...we'll be here...an' ready.  Not sure about mom's "help", though....for some reason...they seem to escape more often when she "helps".  But Lexie an' I wouldn't have it any other way....it's always lots more excitin' when she does.

Winner winner Chicken Dinner.....NOT

Don't know what she was thinkin'. At least when I make a move on somethin'.....I eat it right then an' there. Not Lexie...oh, nooo. It's like she's askin' to get caught.

Mom fixed a roasted chicken for supper. It did smell delicious. Bein' older an' wiser...I know sometimes it pays to be patient. I, also, know that when mom tells us, "when we're finished you can have some.", well...you can take to the bank. She hasn't let us down, yet. After all, how could she put their plates in the dishwasher w/out our prewash cycle? So, I know to just settle down an' wait for mom an' dad to finish their dinner. Easy peasy.

Lexie decided to go rogue, instead. She came strollin' thru the livin' room, past dad...then in front of mom....almost thru her lil' door when mom jumped up, opened the big door an' (usin' "that" voice) tells Lexie to, "stop right there!!".

Lexie made it past her porch an' was chowin' down as fast as she could when mom grabbed half that chicken hangin' outa Lexie's mouth. Then stuck her whole hand inside Lexie's mouth an' dragged some more out. Lexie still was tryin' to hide some way back in the back, but mom's kinda ruthless an' knows that trick. (sidenote...can't tell you how many times it's felt like mom's had her whole arm down my mouth. She says we're like gators...all mouth.). Anyway, mom got it all.

Now all this only took like a minute...mom can move fast when she wants to. As she came back inside, holdin' two handfuls of grassy, dirty, partially chewed, mutilated roasted chicken, dad asked what was goin' on. Mom showed him the remains of half a roasted chicken that had been left on a plate. Dad was shocked...he said he made sure he pushed that plate all the way back on the counter. Mom looked at him an' reminded him of Lexie's penchant for never ever lettin' somethin' stop her in her quest for somethin'. Not to mention, she probably stood on her tippytoes, turned sideways, an' snagged the edge of the plate to get it close enough to get that chicken. The fact she grabbed the biggest piece, is just a testament to her abilities.

Lexie an' I both followed mom back to the kitchen hopin' she'd go ahead an' give us that chicken. It was obvious to us that mom an' dad weren't gonna eat it. But, no...mom threw it away. Dad noticed that there was almost a whole breast sittin' off the plate on the counter. Mom told him we could have it...but not now. We had to "wait". (This is where guilt by association comes in...I didn't do anythin'. In fact I was actin' support for mom....an' I did double check to make sure all the chicken got picked up in the grass. Not sure why I had to wait some more...I'd been waitin'. But, again, ...the good have to suffer 'cause of the bad.)

Mom an' dad finished dinner. Then dessert. Then they were watchin' a show. Lexie climbed up next to mom for some cuddles. She said to say she was sorry. I say she was suckin' up. Anyway, dad went to the kitchen for somethin'....an' mom told us to go in the kitchen to dad.....he was gonna give us some chicken.

SCORE...finally!! She didn't have to tell us twice. We were in there in nothin' flat. Dad turned around to find us sittin' nice an' proper like. He laughed an' gave us some chicken an' some of the brown n' wild rice w/chicken broth. As we cleaned our plates, I have to say all's well that ends well....an' it was worth waitin' for.

AHS, not just all alarms.....

Lots of people have the idea that security services are all reactionary.  Respondin' to "alarm" type situations.  That's not necessarily true.  Here at AHS headquarters, we do that an' more.

For instance, this mornin'...I was up in my tower watchin' the neighborhood, while mom was movin' (confiscatin') that big tub of pecans off the stairs. She's tired of Lexie stealin' 'em an' leavin' shells all over my bed (they are a bit uncomfortable to lay on) an' the livin' room.   Anyway, I saw somthin' across the street that just wasn't right, an' yelled out an' alarm.

It didn't really help....I had to do it again.  Then I went an' gave mom a bark then went an' jumped back up on my bedcentral, an' let out another alarm.  Mom got the message an' went to see what was goin' on.   She looked across the street where I was lookin'...an' saw that the neighbor's lil' yorky was on their front porch.  There wasn't any sign of the neighbors, an' that lil' yorky is never out alone.  Not only that, but that lil' pup was yellin' at her front door, spinnin' an' tryin' to get someone to let her in the house.  (She's not built for knockin' or bangin' on doors like us airedales are...an' that lil' bark of hers...well, let's just say it don't penetrate like ours do, either).

Mom watched for a minute, then asked me if she should go take care of it.  I gave her a nosepoke an' went back to watchin'.  I knew mom got the message an' waited.

Sure 'nuff,  I spied mom goin' out across the front yard an' then across the street.  That lil' yorky was torn b'tween wantin' to stay by her front door an' tryin' to hid from mom.  (Smart pup, she don't just go up to strangers).   Mom rang the doorbell an' told them their lil' yorky was loose an' had been tryin' to get back in the house.  They thanked her an' went outside, an' their lil' yorky raced to them from out from under their trucks.

After watchin' to make sure all was well, the yorky back in her house an' mom back across to our house, I raced downstairs an' greeted mom at the front door for a job well done.   Mom said I had really done a good job an' me an' Lexie got a bonus bacon strip.  '

So, you see....security is more then just protection an' warnin' off the bad guys.....it's also helpin' when you see somethin' that just isn't right an' doin' somethin' about it before somethin' bad happens.  Bein' proactive is just as important as bein' reactive.

Bailey, CEO of AHS

Rainy Nite Meetin'....

Well...Lexie an' I slept in this mornin'. We didn't even go in an' wake mom at our usual time. When she got up, she spied Lexie sprawled up next to dad an' just snoozin' away. Then she rounded the big chair to find me sound asleep (or pretendin' to be) on my bed by the c'mputer. Then w/a "humphhh"...she went to make her first of several cups of coffee.

Dad waited until she had her coffee in hand an' came back into the livin' room to ask what was up? He said that he noticed that Lexie an' I seemed to be a lil' sleepy this mornin'. Mom gave another, "humphh", took another big slurp of her coffee an' gave Lexie a "look".

About that time, Lexie decided to go patrol outback an' I took the hint an' went outside, too. Then mom proceeded to tell dad about "our nite".

It had been rainin' all day an' had finally let up at nitetime to the occassional lightin' (no booms) an' scattered showers. After about the third time we insisted on goin' outside, mom called a meetin'.....it was only about 1 am. We thought it was about somethin' good.

She wasn't smilin'......Lexie hadn't realized she wasn't holdin' any cookies, either. Ok...so, we didn't come inside "right away" like she said to. An' she didn't come outside w/her big lite like we wanted her to. Just 'cause it had started rainin' again. An' yes, I was out in the rain w/Lexie. We were on the trail of somethin' by the pond an' we couldn't stop till we evicted it from our yard. (At AHS, we have a code, ya know). Mom wasn't impressed.

Mom proceeded to inform us that "outside was closed!!" That I was banned from my tower for the nite. All lites inside an' out were off....an' we were both on "her list". (Not sure what that meant...Lexie was hopin' it was the cookie list) An' she wasn't happy w/ the "condition we were in". (It's not our fault that the backyard looks like a swamp......three days of constant rain...hello!)

Ok...so, maybe we were both a lil' wet (from the rain), muddy (from the rains), an' had sticky weeds stuck to us (mostly Lexie, it's like she's velcro for that stuff)

In any case, , it's not rainin', mom's back to bein' normal, & Lexie an' I caught up on our rest. Already, I got to warn off them thievin' trash mens....an' mom even let me back in my tower. Lexie warned off a squirrel in dad's pecan tree an' one outa mom's lil' orange tree. We're not even layin' low or nothin'.....we've trained mom that everyday is like a blank page in a book..... an' who knows what's gonna be happenin' next.