Why people domesticated wolves in the 1st place...

Hi All, Will here:

Our friends, James & Amanda Kleinau asked us (and paid u$!) to house their 2 Labradors while they are going on their annual fishing trip to Minnesota for a week.

We looked at this as an opportunity to: help some friends save over $200, make $150, and socialize Rommel with other dogs early-on. Everybody wins. But we got an extra bonus this morning.

On the night of the 4th, the back door jammed and our blinds broke. I was unable to get the door back on the track, and I was able to rig up the blinds temporarily with tape. A serviceman arrived (on the 4th! - take that Union Labor!) and was able to get the door back on the track, but was unable to fully close and secure the lock and door. Because of the holiday, he promised to return Monday morning to fix the locking problem.

I put a stick in the track, and didn't worry too much about the vertical blinds not closing completely, or the door being so close to the lock that only flies get in. I didn't expect trouble over the weekend. Add this to the long list of things I was wrong about.

This morning, an unknown man came to our window, and apparently looked through the blinds and could have easily seen our laptops sitting on the kitchen table. Probably sensing easy money at a pawn shop, he tried his luck. It was his turn to be "wrong" about something. The dogs charged the door from the other room (the Labs do not tolerate "strangers", which is why we were watching them in the first place). Amber, being in the next room while I was upstairs, arrived just in time to get a basic description of the man. I asked which way he went, and Amber was stifling a laugh as she told me how she last saw the jackass running over the top of the hill at full-speed.

Realizing that it was probably the duo of 100lb Labs and not the 30lb Rommel that inspired the fear; I asked Amber what Rommel's performance was like. I never saw the guy...he must have been running pretty fast. Amber beamed as she said that Rommel was right at the door, and after the threat was gone, he returned to Amber in the front room, sat between Amber and the backdoor, and continued to bark.

Good dogs!