Good dog!

We're lucky in that we live in a nice area, and aside from a few crackpots that occasionally cross our paths, nothing untoward has happened. Still, Dieter is a nice security system to have. When the doorbell rings, he barks excitedly; sometimes the bark even has a twinge of a bay to it. And it's very clear that it isn't some little yappy dog living behind our door; his bark clearly sounds like it belongs to a large guy. I also have an "I Love My German Shepherd" magnet on my car and an "I Love My Dog" decoration on the front porch. Just a little heads up to who lives inside.

I have jokingly commented that as long as someone with evil in their heart rings our doorbell before attempting anything bad, we're on solid ground. "But would Dieter actually go after someone who was trying to do us harm?" I asked Lloyd. "He seems to love everyone so much, it's hard to believe he'd go into defense mode."  Lloyd always assures me Dieter would know when he needed to switch over to Big Bad Bitey Machine Dog and protect his humans.

We tried to bribe a friend and neighbor to sneak into our backyard and walk on our deck--with the assurance that Dieter would be locked up, of course. We wanted to see if he'd bark to alert us of someone's presence on the deck. He seems indifferent to raccoons or 'possums that show up at night. Although the neighbor's cat was a source of delight. However, we never were able to coordinate the clandestine neighbor stealth caper.

Today, though, we learned that he is protective of his house and yard. We'd been told a worker would show up either yesterday or today to finish off a repair job. Dieter was frolicking about in the back yard when all of a sudden we heard the "alert" bark/baying sound. Lloyd and I looked at each other and ran out to investigate.

You has permission to be back here?

Dieter showed up on the deck with his fur standing on end. He was attempting to convey to us that something was amiss; then the doorbell rang. We corralled Dieter in his kennel and went to investigate.

There was the worker, looking a tad worried. I think this might qualify as irony, too--the man was German, and he was quite clear that he did not want the barking German Shepherd to remove any body parts. "Dog is not back there any more? He can't get me?" he kept asking. I think this turned into a learning experience for the worker: it's a good idea to check in with the homeowners first before heading into uncharted territory.

We told Dieter he was a good boy and that he had shown great presence of mind to alert us to someone outside. We also stressed that it was good he didn't try to disembowel first and ask questions later.