Last night for the third time in two days— twice in one evening!—our gate was opened. And an open gate is a wholesale invitation to Gabriel and Maxim. In the year we have lived here the gate has been left open once or maybe twice— by negligent service men reading the utility meters or doing lawn treatment. Now in only a couple weeks or ten days they’ve been open five times!
One evening I was sitting here waiting for them to finish their business outside when the neighbor guy knocked on my window. He had one of the little dogs in his arms! He had come out to go to class and the dogs met him! The gate was open! A couple days later Rachael put the dogs out the back, then stepped outside the garage door to do something in front. And here came Maxim to meet her! And Mica was coming around the corner! Now we had these three events in the last two days.
Someone has to be opening the gates.
This last incident, the twice in one day and once the day before, coincided with a strange happening. I was sitting here all quiet and busy when I heard someone rapping on the front window. Mica barked fiercely and of course there was a regular chorus in here. It happened twice, once a rather long series, then a shorter couple of raps. I couldn’t figure out what was going on but I did get up to go see what it was. Nothing. By the time I got up and moving the dogs had settled down and all was quiet. I puzzled about it for a few minutes then dismissed it.
Now in conjunction with the open gates I’ve given the incident a little more weight. Those who keep track of this sort of things say this is a prime time of year for burglaries. People are busy and rushed. Most houses are brim full of gifts under trees, in closets, sitting on the table to be wrapped. Owners are hurrying to do this and that so locking doors is frequently overlooked or they are consciously left open while people are carrying stuff in and out or running across the yard to the neighbors. Garage doors are left open. A little drive through a high-end neighborhood every couple days quickly makes it apparent where people are home and when. In times of absence it is no problem to make and entrance to load up on small transportable items. If you were ‘casing a joint’ (lol too much Mike Hammer!), if you are casing a joint and you go up to the window to look in a seemingly empty house with a huge tree in the front window the best way to tell if there is a dog is to rap on the glass. If a huge black dog, or even a tiny cute one, comes barking you know the dog will have to be dealt with if you are going in to lift some expensive items. How better to deal with a dog than by leaving a gate open on the side of the house where it would seem that no one would notice until too late! No dog, no bar to breaking in. I think the incidents are all related! Okay. Now I’m paranoid.
At any rate, R & M have tied the gate shut. Not any great deterrent to opening, but at least it will take a bit longer to loosen, or even cut, than simply flipping a latch. And if that happens we will know it wasn’t an accident.
The worst part is that when the dogs were out at 10:00 the other night, Maxim evidently got hit by a car. He came hurrying home to Michael with his tail tucked in. Michael has never had pets so he isn’t real good at reading dog body language, but as soon as he brought him in to me I knew something had happened. He hurried over to the corner beside the cat tower and laid down kind of scared looking. I thought maybe Michael had gotten after him, but then he cried a bit and began licking his leg. Sure enough when Rach examined him he had a cut leg and still has a swollen and hurting shoulder!
Gabriel got a personalized trip home in the arms of the guy down the street. Thank the Lord for ID tags!
If we get robbed it won’t be the dogs’ fault
Someone has to be opening the gates.
This last incident, the twice in one day and once the day before, coincided with a strange happening. I was sitting here all quiet and busy when I heard someone rapping on the front window. Mica barked fiercely and of course there was a regular chorus in here. It happened twice, once a rather long series, then a shorter couple of raps. I couldn’t figure out what was going on but I did get up to go see what it was. Nothing. By the time I got up and moving the dogs had settled down and all was quiet. I puzzled about it for a few minutes then dismissed it.
Now in conjunction with the open gates I’ve given the incident a little more weight. Those who keep track of this sort of things say this is a prime time of year for burglaries. People are busy and rushed. Most houses are brim full of gifts under trees, in closets, sitting on the table to be wrapped. Owners are hurrying to do this and that so locking doors is frequently overlooked or they are consciously left open while people are carrying stuff in and out or running across the yard to the neighbors. Garage doors are left open. A little drive through a high-end neighborhood every couple days quickly makes it apparent where people are home and when. In times of absence it is no problem to make and entrance to load up on small transportable items. If you were ‘casing a joint’ (lol too much Mike Hammer!), if you are casing a joint and you go up to the window to look in a seemingly empty house with a huge tree in the front window the best way to tell if there is a dog is to rap on the glass. If a huge black dog, or even a tiny cute one, comes barking you know the dog will have to be dealt with if you are going in to lift some expensive items. How better to deal with a dog than by leaving a gate open on the side of the house where it would seem that no one would notice until too late! No dog, no bar to breaking in. I think the incidents are all related! Okay. Now I’m paranoid.
At any rate, R & M have tied the gate shut. Not any great deterrent to opening, but at least it will take a bit longer to loosen, or even cut, than simply flipping a latch. And if that happens we will know it wasn’t an accident.
The worst part is that when the dogs were out at 10:00 the other night, Maxim evidently got hit by a car. He came hurrying home to Michael with his tail tucked in. Michael has never had pets so he isn’t real good at reading dog body language, but as soon as he brought him in to me I knew something had happened. He hurried over to the corner beside the cat tower and laid down kind of scared looking. I thought maybe Michael had gotten after him, but then he cried a bit and began licking his leg. Sure enough when Rach examined him he had a cut leg and still has a swollen and hurting shoulder!
Gabriel got a personalized trip home in the arms of the guy down the street. Thank the Lord for ID tags!
If we get robbed it won’t be the dogs’ fault
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