Guns and Dogs

We stayed up way too late last Sunday.  It’s hard having fun on the weekends, staying up and watching movies to then suddenly shut your evenings down early and go to bed.  Knowing I had to take the kids to school early Monday morning didn’t help me get sleepy one bit.

I admit it, I stayed up until 1:15 AM watching House reruns.  I finally fell asleep, when at 1:50 AM my phone let off very annoying and loud buzz; one that I had never heard before.

It was an Amber Alert.  “An Ambert Alert has been issued in your local area, please check local media.”  I thought that was pretty cool at first, but then I wondered if a young child had been taken from my city, my town, my community, my neighborhood, or my street.

I got up, and checked the house.  Everyone was accounted for and snoring, including the dogs.  There was one dog at each corner of my house, and that made me feel more secure.  If you’re wondering about China, and if she will bark, the answer is most definitely!  China is our main alarm.  Even though she is deaf, she is quite a remarkable watch dog (go figure!)

Still fresh on my mind was the national gun debate, what a debacle.  I won’t do guns.  I have kids, they scare me, I’m too uncoordinated, my kids are too curious and have no fear; I’m simply allergic!  But I have my dogs.

Only one time in the past 30 years have I been without a dog in my home.  I was in my early twenties when Troubles had to go overnight because of a bladder stones; I couldn’t sleep.  I heard every noise outside of my apartment, I stayed up all night long listening to the sound of cars whisk by.  It was horrible.  Troubles came home the next day, and because of her condition, I made a bed for her in the laundry room where she wouldn’t be disturbed.  I couldn’t believe it when I saw the screen ripped off of the window of the side door, the window had been opened, and someone had unlocked that door from the outside.  I can only assume that Troubles let out a low growl, because there was no entry.  Troubles, being a solid black Border Collie was probably never seen by the potential guest.

Years later, Troubles passed away, and I had Reckless when recently moved to Deltona.  Hearing that crime was on the rise everywhere, and learning that children were being kidnapped from their bedrooms while they slept, I was concerned, and asked my then boss, Mark Reisig, what he thought about me getting a gun.  He just happened to have completed a study that showed dogs were more effective at deterring crime than any kind of weapon or security system; especially the little dogs!

So what did I do?  I made sure that Reckless slept with my then baby, Ryan every single night; she she did without being asked.  Problem solved!

Tinsel Town later joined our family, and the dogs took turns on which kid they wanted to sleep with!  Either way, I was covered!

Yes, my dogs patrol the house every night.  Lady Di did jump out of my living room window last month (thank you Trixie Belle for teaching my dogs that trick which they have not forgotten) and she was barking at a possum in my yard.  That was not cool!  But it showed me that they are on duty!

Today, on my personal profile page, a comment was left for me.  I enjoyed reading every word, and thought maybe you would too!

 

“Do you know what I find truly horrible….? 

There was no question on my homeowners insurance application asking if I owned any guns but it did ask if I had dogs and if so, what breed. 

There is no exclusion language on my policy for claims being denied due to shooting someone…. but there is both a breed exclusion AND an animal liability exclusion on my policy…. if I shoot someone, the company will pay but if my dog bites someone, they will not.

I have no experience with a firearm at all – I have always practiced my right NOT to bear arms…. but I can obtain a license to carry a gun and actually buy one relatively quickly. If I set my mind to it, I could be armed and completely untrained in about 30 days, allowing for delayed paperwork due to the sudden spike in permit applications. Feel safe yet? Imagine ME with a gun!

The saddest part of all is my inexperienced self can point that gun at the inspector from the insurance company and tell him to get off my property if he does not identify himself quickly enough and if he does not, I can shoot him. I will not have broken the law and my insurance policy will not be cancelled. BUT if I shoot, I had BETTER shoot to kill because if he sees my dog, I will not have homeowners insurance anymore  THAT is an outrage!

People are killed by guns daily… dogs do not kill daily. I Googled it but could not find even one instance of a dog of any breed that was able to pull off a mass killing in a school, mall or movie theater….I couldn’t find where even a pack of dogs killed more than 1 person. PRIORITIES PEOPLE!!!!

~Anonymous Friend”

 

While I do not have guns in the home, I do have various goodies that would leave someone wishing they picked another house!  In all honesty, the odds of my kids being injured by a gun (if I owned one) would be far greater than being hurt by a dog… and I’m a rescuer!  While all of this is truly an outrage, and I don’t want to be dragged into this debacle… I mean debate, I’m more concerned that dogs and dog owners are being discriminated against, aren’t you?  We do need to review our priorities, the bottom line is  ADOPT!

And by the way, remember Ziggy?  One thing I can guarantee is as handsome and gorgeous, friendly and loving, playful and puppy-like as he is, he will NOT allow strangers into his house!