The Dog That Cries Wolf

/ masher

Saber – our 8 year-old German Shepherd dog – has always had incredible hearing and still has so today.

She can hear someone walking past the house.

She can hear someone walking past the house with a dog.

She can hear a cat or a fox in the back garden.

She can hear the postman pull his van into the next road.

She can hear someone trying to break into our garage.

Problem is, all these noises that she hears, causes her to go on a barking rampage. “WUH WUH WUH WUH WUH WUH WOOF!”

And, because she does it all the time, we tend to ignore her or shout at her to shut up. I’ve lost count of the number of times I have gone to the front door because she is standing there barking her head off, only to see someone who’d had the audacity to walk past our house and is now sauntering off into the distance.
“WUH WUH WUH WUH WUH WUH WOOF!”

Which is why when someone tried to break into our garage some years ago, in the middle of the night, I told her to shut up.
“WUH WUH WUH WUH WUH WUH WOOF!”

“SABER! SHUT THE FUCK UP, WILL YA!”

Finding the damage to the garage door the following morning, made me resolve not to ignore her again.

But we do. Because she does it all the time.

This morning at 04:30: “WUH WUH WUH WUH WUH WUH WOOF!”

I dragged myself out of bed and looked out of the bedroom window. Nothing.  I went to the back bedroom and looked out into the garden. And there I saw it: a cat.

A cat, just slowly and silently walking along the top of the garden fence, minding his own business and causing no harm.

“WUH WUH WUH WUH WUH WUH WOOF!”

The downstairs blinds are closed, so she can’t even see the cat.  How does she even know it’s there?

I know German Shepherds are very loyal and very protective, but even so…

Anyway, I suppose we feel a bit safer, knowing that should the postman try to burgle us in the middle of the night, we’ll know all about it, even if he parks in the next road… assuming I can be arsed to get up and look out of the window.

8 thoughts on “The Dog That Cries Wolf”

  1. Yeah, but what if the postman should dare to walk across the top of the garden fence, eh? What would Sabre do then? That’s rhetorical. Whatever Sabre does, Saber is a Good Dog (and deserves a pat, some scratches and a treat or several – it’s the law)

    • Whatever her faults, she’s a good ol’ mutt and we wouldn’t be without her.
      Well, we will one day, but, you know what I mean.

  2. Good girl Saber……keep your family safe!
    6 weeks ago we adopted a small white dog ( probably a Maltichon) having lost our beloved schnauzer to cancer just before Xmas. He only ever barked if the door bell went….however our new little darling yaps at every opportunity, especially in the garden, when husband leaves his chair, when he sees another dog 3 miles away. Etc.Etc. You get the picture? Love him to bits and trying to train him to STFU !!It might take a while!

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