So I Put Raleigh in Charge of Watchin' Da Jeep.

Wellllll, in one scant week, Cappy will finally be home. I should put the word 'finally' in neon. That will make ten, count 'em 10 whole weeks he's been out on that boat. I guess I've mentioned that way too many times, eh? Here in our little town, we are his fambly, doing our best to keep the homefires burning. Just the dawgs and me. Together, I guess, the dogs and I make a pretty good team. We each have our jobs. If you read one of the recent blogs about our little trip to LaPlace, you know what a spectacular job SparkyBear did of protecting me. I'm still in shock, but proud of him and have been pampering him much, since.
They keep me company, and escort me; for a ride, to the post office, to the grocery store, to the refrigerator, to the bathroom, in the shower with me, if I don't stop them, or to the curb in the dark,when I take out the garbage. At night I feel as though I am tightly tucked into the blankets, as each one, on either side, lies next to me, full length, with one ear up, listening. Or snoring. These dogs snore, yeah.
Raleigh's job is sentry duty and he takes it very seriously. He constantly prowls his 'kingdom', watching for invaders. He 'attends to' anyone driving into the driveway and out again. Our son, Dan, says Raleigh reminds him of those guys at the airport who 'direct' the planes in and out on the tarmack. He said all Raleigh needs is a couple of those long orange flashlights. Dan said poor Raleigh seems almost compulsive about it, and he might be right about that. I think it stems from this dog's idea of showing his loyalty, gratitude and respect to us'ns. It is heartwarming tho, to have someone welcome me home, especially to a dark house. He bows down, and and if he's trying to make his 'curtsy' extra special, he crosses one of his front feet over the top of the other, 'hugs' my leg and escorts me to the door. I don't know why, but the neighbors directly in back, just installed a security light, three feet from our property, which illuminates our back yard (and not so much theirs). I don't know what happened to cause them to do it, but I'm actually glad. Our yard dog, of late has been having bouts of 'freaking out' (it's late as I'm writing), barking, and practically screaming toward that direction, but because of the electric fence, he can't actually go behind the trees to put his teeth onto anyone, who might be lurking there. Lord help them if they wander into his territory, tho. Now he has one more item to watch over, 'mark' and protect; that being the Jeep, along with the camper, the SUV and the boat. I have to say, tho, he's doing a pretty good job. If he'd ever agree to go for a ride, I'd gladly take him, but I just know it's never gonna happen. Too bad, when he does go for a ride, it's going to be to the vet, as before, and that only reinforced his dread of getting into any vehicle. Even tho he doesn't go for rides, he counts the vehicles and everything in the yard as being his anyhow, except his new dog house. Go figure.