# Yard Guard



## midnightpoet (Jun 27, 2014)

Yard Guard


Butch was a boxer mix, with hair the color of butter, a slobbery jaw and a bowlegged, ungainly walk.  He had appeared at our back gate one day and we took him in, despite already having other dogs and two cats.  We had recently sold our house in a suburb and moved into the inner city, where my wife’s parents lived.  Her mother, Leatrice, had a heart condition, and my wife, who had her own health problems, needed to take care of her. We converted the garage into an apartment for them. They had recently lost their own dog, a beloved poodle.  When Butch showed up looking sad and bedraggled, she couldn’t help herself. 


Leatrice, realizing our financial straights, managed to find a neighbor who was willing to take the dog in; however, a few months later, they left town, leaving Butch in their backyard.  It was a good thing she didn’t catch them, she would have told them a thing or two.  At five-foot-two, weighing little more than Butch himself, she would have been a formidable foe.  Of course, we took him in.  We would just have to make do.


Surprisingly, he fit in with the rest of our brood, although at first we believe he thought our dachshund, Gretchen, was some kind of large rat.   He eventually got used to her.  Our backyard was full of  forty-foot tall native pecans, and squirrels abounded.  Butch kept them on the run.  He was really the yard guard. Night and day he patrolled the yard, and woe to the person who got too close to the fence.  He got along with the whole family, including my ten year old son, who like most boys was into trouble and rarely still.


Butch adjusted the next few weeks, getting regular meals and lots of attention. We kept him outside except on the coldest days, and he made the yard his own.  The main house was separated from the garage by a open breezeway, and he would often lay there, keeping an eye on neighborhood happenings. One time my wife was in the backyard when a meter reader, apparently unable to read the meter with her little spyglass, jumped the fence.  She didn’t stay long.  Butch ran across the yard in a couple of bounds, nipping at her heels as she escaped.


My father-in-law, Jud, liked the dog, and therefore he stayed in the apartment a lot.  When they had dinner Leatrice would catch him feeding Butch a bite, then he would take a bite.  Confronted, he insisted that Butch’s mouth was probably cleaner than hers.  Jud was over six feet, and he and Butch had the same bow-legged walk.

One cold night they kept Butch inside, and he wouldn’t stop barking.  We discovered our storage barn had been broken into.  Not much was missing, so we guessed Butch’s barking scared them off.  We lived in an old, mixed neighborhood, and we had heard gangs were in the area, so we felt safe with Butch on guard.

Another time a UPS man came to the door, but hesitated when Butch growled at him.  My wife put him on the back porch and told him to stay,  It was one of the few times he disobeyed her.  He wouldn’t stay on the porch.  Finally she was able to calm him, but he stood at the door so he could get a good look at  the proceedings.  The man was not a threat, but my wife was protected whether she wanted to be or not.


Butch jumped the fence one New Years Eve.  We figured it was because the noise of firecrackers (or in some cases, gunshots). Frantic, we searched the neighborhood and nearby fields.  After several days we were afraid we wouldn’t see him again.  Luckily he was wearing tags, and some people found him and brought him home,  He had a few cuts and scratches and looked like he’d been in a fight, but otherwise seemed to be his old self. After Leatrice passed away, Butch stayed in the house, keeping Jud company.


When Butch died a few years later, It broke Jud’s heart.  We had other dogs after that, including a German Shepherd and a Chow, but none equaled Butch in guarding the yard.  Inside our fence was his little kingdom, and  no one was going to take his crown.


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## Pandora (Jun 28, 2014)

Love your stories midnight, tug at my heart, you have a big heart. Butch sounds wonderful, I have a yard guard too, two of them but Miss Lucy is the watchful one. I am protected whether I need to be or not too. I love that feeling. I'm glad Jud had Butch after Leatrice passed, it was a plan. Dogs have made my life, truly each one. Thanks for the warm feeling this morning and the thoughts of my doggies passed. They are not here but are.


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## qwertyportne (Jun 28, 2014)

Thanks for posting Yard Guard. We sure love our pets, don't we? Great first line. Drew me in right away. And then later you took my breath away when he jumped the fence. One of my dogs, (the one who wouldn't eat my Texas Hash) was always frightened by the fire crackers on the 4th of July. We didn't shoot any off because of him, but the neighborhood was always full of noise and fire in the sky days before and after the 4th.


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## midnightpoet (Jun 29, 2014)

Thanks, guys.  I pulled this out of one of my old files (I wrote it some 30-odd years ago) and thought I'd give it a re-write.  I sent it off at the time but got no takers.


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## garza (Jun 29, 2014)

A good story, but several times I had to stop, back up, and figure out who was who. I'm probably overly critical about misplaced references because it's such a critical factor in radio and TV news writing. It's important in newspaper as well, but the newspaper reader has the option of going back and reading again anything he might be confused about. 

Here's an example:
_Her mother,  Leatrice, had a heart condition, and my wife, who had her own health  problems, needed to take care of her. We converted the garage into an  apartment for them._
This took a second reading to figure out the 'them' referred to your in-laws and not to your wife and her mother. Pronouns can be deceptive, and it's worth rewriting a sentence to avoid confusion. There are a couple of other, similar, potential confusion points.

Otherwise, well told.


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## midnightpoet (Jun 29, 2014)

Thanks, Garza.  I'll take your comments into consideration in the re-write.


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## zenor (Jul 1, 2014)

Liked reading this. But i have to agree with garza. Got confused at some parts.


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## Misty Mirrors (Jul 1, 2014)

Great story.
I can learn from the descriptions.
That adds to the atmosphere.


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