What About a Guard Dog?
There was a home invasion across the street from us this week. Scary stuff. Screaming, squealing tires, cops, ambulance - the whole nine yards.
Inevitably it got me thinking about dogs. Until then, I believed that if you live in a neighborhood, you should have a friendly, goofy type of dog — a beagle, a bulldog, a Welsh terrier, you get the pic. There's kids running around all over the place — shooting hoops, catching grasshoppers, playing video games on cell phones while skateboarding, (their glorious manes of hair flowing in the wind) — a power breed is an incident waiting to happen.
Or so I thought.
Whenever I’d encounter one of the neighborhood muscle dogs — Fang the black German shepherd, Meatloaf the growling Rottweiler, or Clifford the big red Doberman, I’d mutter insults under my breath. Not because I have anything against those dogs, just that none of those owners had full control over their beast.
Consequently, I’ve had a radical shift in thinking: a goofy neighborhood dog will not be able to protect you in a crisis, but a guard dog will. Enough said. That's why we domesticated the canine thousands of years ago, to ward off wild animals, invading tribes and unscrupulous Neanderthal tax collectors.
And while modern life may be a lot different from the good ole cavemen days of yore, not just because of Uber Eats — the threat of danger is ever present.
So now I’m considering adding a guard dog to the family; maybe a black Giant schnauzer, a burly Bouvier or a whip-smart Belgian shepherd. Love those breeds but understand that having one is a huge huge commitment. You gotta train them to perfection, (ideally with professional mentoring) and that’s a tall task. There are also vigorous exercise requirements, hefty vet bills, not to mention heftier poop bags.
But if you do it right, if you invest the time, make the sacrifice, the rewards are great.
And it might just save your life.
