Secret Service Dogs

Many people out there have fur babies before they have baby babies.  Our oldest pup is 13 years old!  She has had a long history of being loving and protective.  Before I met my wife, Micca enjoyed the comforts of my bed as she ensured my feet were well protected.  We were two peas in a pod and went everywhere together.  I love that girl!

The old lady adjusted to having someone else around and having to actually use her dog bed again for something other than TV time.  When my wife and I were dating, Micca took on the role of protector at the dog park when I wasn’t there.  Granted, she was reluctant in this role at first.  Getting out of the car, she would soak in her surroundings and assess the “risks.”. She was like a salty old body guard in charge of a young rock star. She couldn’t understand why it was necessary for my new girlfriend to take her for walks in such public areas while I was not there to take on the protector role.  You see, I was the alpha, therefore if I was there, Micca could focus on the important things, like ducks and her Kong.  But if I was slacking, and doing things like work… then she had no choice but to step up.  There were Shepard’s, some labs and then occasionally, she had to be on high alert as the most volatile breed showed its face.  The Chihuahua!  You see, Micca would play it cool and blend in like any good bodyguard, but the moment another dog got anywhere near my future wife, it was on.

After a while, the pup relaxed and realized my wife was reliable enough to hold her own.  Then my wife got pregnant… needless to say Micca would roll her eyes and go back into bodyguard mode.  Why do we make her work so hard?  Baby came soon enough and Micca was like “Finally!!!”. When we had to head back to the hospital a couple of days later, she was so pissed, she jumped on the bed, yelled “this is crap” and peed on our bed.  She slowly crawled off while giving me an evil glare before mumbling “next time it will be crap.”. I got it, she was a little stressed.  Thank goodness the newborn gave her a little break to relax because then there was a toddler…

Fast forward a few years, and Micca has been planning on enjoying her retirement.  We have a new, younger dog to herd the youngster so that all she had to do now was hang out.  Or so she thought.

Two times in the past few months, Micca has been stuck in a car for hours and then left at her friend’s house for weeks on end.  When we picked her up this last time, something was different.  She spent the majority of the time staring at me suspiciously through the corner of her eye, as if I was trying to sneak something by her but she was watching.  As each day passed, her focus narrowed like she was a hound after a fox.  That’s right!  Probably the only time I will be referenced as a fox, but I’ll take it ;).

The gig was up, and her spidey senses had caught on and she was not impressed.  How dare I take her out of retirement and make her work.  Further to that, I made myself vulnerable which means it’s twice the amount of work for her to cover me.  She looks at our younger dog and scoffs.  “She gets so excited she doesn’t even drop the Kong you know!  The KONG! And I’m supposed to let her take lead on this?”. To be fair Micca had a point, she was the better listener, but Charlie is very protective.  She scares the crap out of anyone that knocks on our door!

Micca wasn’t having any of it.  She started stalking me like the secret service stalks the President Elect.  She laid out the game plan, advising me of my security detail regardless of my personal thoughts on the matter.  When I’m making breakfast, she is right there, usually getting ready to trip me from behind.  When I think I have a minute to myself to pee, I open the door to find her there.  I was wondering what that noise was outside, but just figured it was the toddler stalking me again.  Nope!

Even when I think it is relax time and we can chill and watch some TV, I can feel eyes watching me.  Then I see it…Even when she is chilling on the dog bed, she is watching me to make sure that I’m okay.  Apparently after 13 years, she kind of likes me and wants to make sure that I am well protected with baby in my tummy.  Not sure what 7 more months is going to be like, but one things for sure, I have a pretty good dog.