My Memorial Day weekend edition of ‘Remembering Roxy‘ catches me scrambling after an incredibly chaotic week at work. I usually aim to publish these posts a few minutes past midnight on Fridays (thanks to automatic scheduling from WordPress). Not only did work leave me exhausted, but I spent many evenings this week either visiting with my daughter or standing for hours outside on a sidewalk photographing the moon (during the solar eclipse and playing tag with Venus). I woke up this morning and realized I neglected to finish writing about Roxy and door bells.
When someone rang the door bell at our house, before we rescued Roxy or Apollo, most of the time we couldn’t hear it. The physical bell is located in the basement in the area where the water heater and furnace reside, directly under the coat closet and the front entryway. Visitors could find themselves stranded on the front porch and may have resorted to calling our cell phones to get our attention. All this changed when Roxy arrived.
Roxy could hear the screen door opening. She would charge the door, growling softly but insistently. If someone knocked, she might bark, once, sharply. If the doorbell rang, without someone opening the screen door first, she would bark quickly, once, maybe twice, and then charge the door. I never worried about intruders with Roxy on patrol.
When Apollo joined the family, we noticed a marked difference in his attitude towards the door bell and visitors. Roxy continued to charge the door, and usually made it there first. Apollo barked loudly and frequently, but did not attempt to rush in front of Roxy. Rather, he would hang back and wait to see who came through the door, opting to circle behind them in his stealthy sneak attack mode. Roxy and Apollo made a great team. She charged in where angels, and Apollo, feared to tread.
Terry discovered that a door bell sounded during a commercial, television show or movie could cause both dogs to jump up and start barking. The first time this happened, they both ran to the door expectantly. One day, he teased them relentlessly, hitting the ‘instant replay’ button on the satellite DVR remote, replaying a commercial with a particularly authentic sounding doorbell. Eventually, both dogs gave him ‘the eye’ and grumpily went back to napping.
Knock Knock!
Who’s there?
Howl
Howl who?
Howl you know unless you open the door?