Puppy power

Lovey (aka LoveBug, aka LoveThug) is nearly five months old now and she has recently begun learning the art of Watchdoggery.

Unfortunately, she is learning it from Puddin', she who thinks anything that moves...or might move is worthy of warning the household about. And while Puddin' pretty much ignores sounds other than the doorbell, neighbourhood barking dogs and people at the gate, Lovey has not yet learned such discrimination. As a result, she has taken to giving the alert at any...and every...unexpected sound--which includes the crowd of birds we host daily.

South African birds are a bit different from American (and I suppose European birds). Where in the US I listened to what can be described as "birdsong," here it is more like the background noises in the old Tarzan films. "Whoot whoot whoot," and "Twee-eep Twee-eep" and noises that cause birds to be named things like "Hoopoe" for their calls fill my back garden. Add the neighbours who have not yet figured out the road in front of the house is NOT an extension of Kyalami (a nearby racetrack), the sound of the local maids and gardeners walking past the house and chatting to each other as they walk to public transport, and, of course, Puddin's rantings about latest leaf that has fallen into the pool (or her attempts to coax the local kitties to come out), and it makes for a multitude of noisy episodes in the house.

One thing's for certain, though...these two are more proactive than an alarm...if someone unauthorized happened to walk into the house, not only would I know about it, so would the entire neighbourhood!!