In fact, just last month, our house was broken into by thieves while all of us were at work and what did our great little guard dog did? She had an amazing time running and playing around the thieves! How did we knew that? Well, for one, my next door neighbours swears that they never heard any barking sound from Jade, which is also the reason why they never knew our house was broken into til we informed them. Secondly, we found her fur in all our mattresses, a testimony that she was indeed playing around because the mattresses are the first place she jumps about whenever she sneaks into the house. Thirdly, her toys were inside the living room and makes us assume that probably the thieves were using them to bait her to play quietly inside the house. Poor guys didn't know that they needn't have to go through all the trouble at all. Jade is always a willing party whenever it comes to playing.
Anyway the point is, she doesn't seem to have the basic instinct that a normal dog should have...that is to bark when intruders are entering your owner's house. Instead, here she was, having a gala time running around the house while the thieves looted the whole house before her eyes. Which is why she could be termed as a man's best friend. One look at the man who looted our home and she was probably drooling at his feet!
Now I would rather trust the electronic alarm system than a self-confessed guard dog like Jade. Which is why we've since installed the alarm system to guard our home. Ok, so the self confessed guard dog is a bit of an exaggeration. Jade of course doesn't say it in words but she does it in action. How? Well, she would keep barking at all the cretaures that passed through our house, be it a human, a cat, a dog, or even a bird. She would keep barking until they disappear from her sight. Most dogs do that, of course, but Jade has a different mentality. She would only bark whenever we are at home. It's basically her way of telling us, "Look, I am guarding the house, so don't complain, ok". And she does all these in her own menacing way. She doesn't simply waste her breath barking if she knows that we are not looking. But the moment she notices one of us looking through the window, she would start her duty of barking at the passer bys, all the time looking back to see if we are still watching.
My sister says that she's a wonderful dog, but she's not. The fact is, you don't know what you're facing til' you actually live with Jade. And Jade is a hell to live with. We have to make sure she eats on time or else she would go on whinning. She's also picky with her food, so we have to get her favorites, and her favorites doesn't come cheap. She can't stand the rain, so whenever there's a heavy downpour, she would insist that she's let into the house, so that not even a raindrop falls upon her. And this she does religiously, whether it's 3 in the afternoon or 3 in the wee hours of the morning. She scared of crowd, so whenever she sees a group of people coming to the house, she would go on barking while taking steps backward. In fact, more than once, my guests have complained that they have no idea where Jade is though they can hear her barking. And that's how Jade is, she would find a secluded place around the house where she's pretty sure no one can see her, let alone catch her and starts her barking from there. And we end up smiling sheepishly at our guests while saying, "She's just shy, you know". Maybe the next time I see them, I should add the following as well..."But she'll come to you if you're nice to her, say, why don't you play with her while looting our house? She would definitely love that, wouldn't you Jade?"
