Izzy is on guard keeping the neighborhood safe for democracy!

Very cute!

I have a guard dog who looks out of the window in the back and makes up stories. She gets all excited with hackles up and tail up, then barks, encouraging her "sister" to break out into howl mode (even though she wasn't even looking), but there's nothing there. I guess it's lots of fun to have a sing song .

Linda

One of the moments that I love is coming to my window on a summer night and eavesdropping on the dogs in the area when they're having a long distance chat. It seems to me that I understand them, and I find them really funny. You get the odd boaster who tells everyone his master is the best and his food is the best and so on. Or he might be telling them "I'm the biggest dog". With such authority, they really believe it. They are really into their everyday lives, the food, the human company, and overall they are optimists and feel good about it. So it seems.
It's a different story when somebody spots or smells an intruder!

Izzy is a Schipperke, a breed I'd never heard of until we got her. Schipperkes were bred to be guard dogs and were often used on canal barges. They are also ratters. She is affectionate when she want to be and standoffish when she wants to be. The "wants to be" defines her attitude. If she gets loose outside our fence, it does no good to call her. She'll come back when she wants to. She also seems to have a photographic memory as anything that is the slightest bit different sets her off. I took a plant from a hanging planter and threw it on the garden. When she noticed it, she spent several minutes circling it, barking and then backing off, I guess to assess its danger to her or us.