I just received an email that sparked this memory. It was about a local shopping mall being infused with muggers that target young moms. Whether or not it was true, I'm not sure and so with most forwarded emails, I checked it out on snopes.com - it's one of my favorite websites. There I found numerous stories about would be criminals and their deceitful tactics to victimize innocent folks. It reminded me of an incident that occurred almost 10 years ago.
It was a sunny but cold morning in March of 1999. Aslan was barely 9 weeks old and we lived in a rented home in a very quiet neighborhood outside of Pittsburgh. We owned a dog, her name was Lucy. That seems like such a benign name for a dog of her stature. She was half lab, half St. Bernard. One of the most beautiful dogs I've ever seen. She was fawn colored with a black mask and four perfect white "socks". She had a lab snout and she didn't slobber like a St. Bernard, but she was extremely tall. She was exceptionally bright and very, very intuitive. She knew I was pregnant before I did! She never jumped on people, but I would stand and command her "up, up!" as I patted my chest. We would "hug" at she met my height at the shoulders. One day, she mysteriously disobeyed the command. I didn't know why. For several days, she refused to do this, and later that week, I found out I was expecting our first child. I seriously believe that she knew. Lucy was our first 'baby' and she took Aslan's addition to our family in stride. She was such a good dog.
I had trained her not to take food from anyone unless commanded "okay". I could remove anything from her mouth, even a soup bone, with a "give" command. {This was obviously before I had children!} Like I said, she was very well trained.
Never did I suspect that the time and effort put into her training would pay off in such a way. Forrest left for work late that morning. He worked second shift and had a bit of a commute. Within less than two minutes of Forrest leaving, the door bell rang. It was a municipal water authority worker. He needed to read the meter which was in the house. He had a navy blue uniform and a badge, but his white van was unmarked. This made me a bit suspicious. The timing of his visit made me suspicious, as if he knew Forrest had just left. Usually my landlord gave me a heads up when the utility companies needed to read meters. I called him, but got no answer. The white, middle-aged, balding man asked to come in the house. I refused. I said that my baby was sleeping and I would allow him in through the cellar door where the meter was. He seemed slightly annoyed. I made sure Aslan was safe in his crib and took Lucy down to the basement with me. I opened the cellar door and showed him the meter right next to it. Usually utility men work in one area and get in and out as quickly as possible. This guy, conveniently, had a dog biscuit in his shirt pocket. That's when I internally started to freak out. He leaned over to give it to Lucy and she looked at me. I said "NO" and she stoically stood by my side, lunging her head forward a bit, narrowing her eyes, as if to say "We don't like you!" The conversation continued:
Him: "You don't let her have treats?"
Me: "No, I just don't let her take food from strangers"
Him: "And she listens?!"
Me: "Yes! And she will do whatever I tell her to!
At this point, Lucy is staring this guy down, her ridge is spiked and she is more like a large cat than dog, ready to pounce. He glances at the meter and scurries out. I lock the door behind him and race upstairs to the baby. He drives away. Later that night I get a call from my landlord telling me that he didn't think the meter was due to be read. Three weeks later, another utility man knocks on my door, this time he is in a marked van, same uniform and has a manifest with him. He informed me that our property had not been scheduled for a meter read at any time that month. Needless to say, I learned my lesson to go with my gut. But I will be forever grateful to Lucy for saving me from harm.
