The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time

Have you stopped by to check out the newest member of the Bad Example Bunch?  It's Bitterroot, also known as =HC=, husband of my blog sis Mrs_Who.

And he's got a great story to tell about their Golden Retriever.....

"...Mothers can tell what every different nuance in a baby's cry means.  I've never understood that.  But I can understand my dog. 

I can tell the difference between a cat in the parkbark, a strange dogs are in my yard!  bark, and even a neighbor girl and her boyfriend are talking/making-out in her driveway bark.  There's also the strangers walking past the yard bark, and of course the usual bored reply to the other barking dog down the street bark.

But at about 2:30 this morning, she was barking something different.  It definitely wasn't a bored or cat bark - it was more insistent.  She almost sounded scared.  As I listened, her barking intensified - whatever it was was really unnerving her - she was already up to DefCon 2.  I got up and went to the family room at the other end of the house and peered out the windows.  I saw nothing.  By this time, Dog is going positively ape-shit out there.  Something or someone is in the yard, and it's definitely a stranger bark!  I moved as quickly as I dared through the darkened house to secure my gun and flashlight.  (I know, I know)   They should have been in my hands before I went to investigate.)  Damn!  Mrs. Who or the kids - okay, maybe even *I* left the MagLite somewhere other than where it was supposed to be.  Too late, I can't turn-on lights to search for it.  There's no time, and I'll only handicap my own night-adjusted eyes - blinding myself and possibly even making a silhouette of myself!...."