My dog, a pug named Mac, is about as menacing as a little teddy bear. However, at just under 20 pounds, Mac has appointed himself protector of our house.
He’s not particularly good at it. If he’s taking a nap – he’s a pug, so he does it frequently – just about anyone could walk into our house without a hitch.
Some of the biggest threats to our home that Mac has determined include anyone ringing the doorbell, birds in the yard, and sometimes falling leaves.
Earlier this summer, we had severe weather overnight that knocked out the electricity in our home, toppled several trees in our neighborhood, and caused a large branch to noisily fall on our porch. I woke up from the sound. Mac, however, did not.
So, as you can see, Mac’s watchdog skills aren’t what you would call “superior”. Strangers will be walking down the street a few yards from our backyard while Mac looks behind his fence and he doesn’t care, but when the neighbor, who Mac has met several times, is working in his backyard, Mac barks without cease.
The biggest threat to our home, as determined by Mac, is a squirrel that likes to frequent our backyard.
It may not be the same squirrel, but it likely is. While Mac will be defending her yard against the squirrel all afternoon, the squirrel finds the whole scenario hilarious. In fact, not only is the squirrel not afraid of Mac at all, but he will frequently tease Mac and encourage him to give chase.
I recently spent several hours in the garden with Mac, lying on a folding chair on my back porch. I watched the squirrel arrive. He watched Mac closely, then slowly descended into the grass in the yard.
I see no reason why the squirrel would leave the trees other than to play with my dog. He doesn’t seem to be looking for anything on the ground. Instead, he looks at Mac and slowly moves further and further away from his tree and his safety. Meanwhile, Mac was staring next to me in the chair, until finally…
BAM! Off Mac would go, tearing across the yard as fast as a one-year-old pug could run. The squirrel would sit just long enough for it to appear it couldn’t escape, then sprint to the nearest tree and run just out of reach.
The squirrel would then turn around and chat with Mac, almost as if laughing. “Ha, ha, ha, you stupid dog. You can’t catch me no matter how hard you try.”
It lasted over an hour. Mac would relax, and slowly the squirrel would come back into the lawn until finally Mac ran after him, resulting in the squirrel coming back to safety.
After a while, Mac got tired of this game. Either he realized he wasn’t going to catch the squirrel, or sleep became more important than protecting his home.
Oh, but that’s not where this story ends. Because the squirrel had not finished playing. Eventually he found his way to a tree just above where we were sitting, and he stood over Mac, chirping.
“Come get me dummy,” I imagine the squirrel was saying. “Don’t fall asleep. Let’s play! »
I don’t know if Mac and the squirrel are sworn enemies or best friends. Either way, they’ve found a way to keep themselves entertained throughout the summer.
Eric Young is the editor of the Huron Daily Tribune. He can be reached at [email protected].