An Accidental Hero

[CT Appa]

Appa here! Sunday I needed to go relieve myself really bad, but dad wasn't listening to me....he took his time putting his jacket and winter clothes to take me out. He opens the door and I notice something out of the ordinary. I sprint out the house and dad yells at me to stop, but I don't pay him any attention. I'm barking and sprinting to the back fence where I usually go, but dad doesn't run with me. I keep barking at the fence area...A woman comes out of her house which is right next to the area where I go and she comes out to talk to my dad. My dad apologizes for me running on her portion of the yard, but she tells my dad it was ok because I just scared off a guy that trying to break into her house, while she was upstairs. Dad came by and said "Good Appa" and took me away from the fence...we made sure not to romp on the would be burglars footprints that were left in the yummy snow. Then we waited outside until the police came...


Last nite I was sleeping in my crate and I heard a noise that startled me. I tried to wake mom and dad up, but they were sleeping quite soundly. So I got louder, and then daddy came down and he was telling me to be quiet. Dad said that it was 330am and that I should go to sleep. As he let me out of the crate he saw what I was barking at and found some people moving stuff out of a garage across from us. Dad called the police, but of course by the time they got there, the people were gone. Mom and dad were already planning on getting a security system to protect me, but now they know that I'm a big boy. I still want them to get the system though, so I dont have to be on alert all the time.

[Auddymay]

Tell Daddy he labelled this post wrong. You are a PURPOSEFUL hero! It sounds like you are a very brave boy! When you are acting out of character, I bet your bipeds pay attention from now on!

[chowkidz]

Great Job Appa! Sometimes us parents are a little slow on the draw but we catch up with you wise chow chows sooner or later. Hope you get an extra treat tonight. Jade and Nanook are saying "see, we aren't the only ones who wake their mommy and daddy in the early AM"

[TJordan]

WAHOOO Way to go Appa. I agree it was not accident that you were a hero. You are awsome!! They should get that alarm system though, you are much too important to be left unguarded!!

[CT Appa]

Yes it seems that I tend to think that the good things Appa does are accidents haha. I'll take it into consideration when I get home tonight. He did get a new peanut butter bone so he was happy. We're trying to schedule when the security company can come over...right now I'm sitting at work with a lot of anxiety having Appa at home by himself. Later today, as an added treat he gets to go hang out with my fiancee's parents' sharpei and labrador, so he'll have a good time.

[puddinglove]

Wow, Appa! Good job!! I do agree that Appa know exactly what he was doing and that us humans are slow to get it sometimes...

[Laura]

Yeaaaaaaaaa Appa! Well done!

[jacqui]

Good Boy Appa now mom and dad will pay attention when you speak.

[Jeff&Peks]

See Appa Knows his Job and knows he should be out on the streets guarding the neighborhood not hanging out at pet-smart being told to sit for treats.

Put a notch on Appa's collar for a job well done.

[Rowlee]

What a brave clever boy Appa . You are a hero. Us humans should pay more attention to our barking chows. I am glad the humans are getting a security system to protect the house, so you can have time off from doing it.

[CoraP.]

Great job, Appa!! You are very brave!!

[janet]

way to go appa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dogdad]

Appa you are the man

Yoshi and Maxwell

[Chow Chow Mama]

What a good boy!

And THAT is precisely the reason that I like for Holden to bark at strangers. DH thinks that Holden needs to be more like Hannah - Hannah the "I love everyone, every dog, and everything" puppy...

[IliamnasQuest]

Atta boy, Appa! Excellent job!

I find that all three of my chows (well, not so much Kylee now that she's mostly deaf) have been excellent "alert to danger" dogs. In fact, they're so good at their job that my shepherds learned to kick back and relax and NOT be on guard because they knew the chows would let them know if something came around! So I have the little chows who are always watching for problems (strange cars in the driveway, moose, bears, etc.) and once they sound the alarm the big shepherds run out with their tough-sounding barks. Between the two breeds I always feel safe!

I praise my dogs for alerting to something and then give them the "that's enough" to get them to stop barking. I always want them to think that letting me know there's something out there is a GOOD thing.

Melanie and the gang in Alaska

[chowfrnd88]

Yeah Appa! That is wonderful!!!!!! What a good (and awfully cute) chow you are!

[kingalls]

Way ta go, Appa! Our Chow parents always check it out when we bark but my bro, Mr. N, barks too much and at everything so they don't jump when he barks ...me? I like to only bark at real things, so they always pay attention when I bark .
Keep up the good work!

Shiloh (and barking boy, Mr. N)

[Laura]

Melanie brings up a good point. My two will sometimes bark in the middle of the night which annoys hubby and he will get out of bed to scold them. I told him not to scold them for barking because when it is a burglar we want them to bark! We are working on the 'enough, I've got this' training though.

[vicster605]

Awsome job Appa!!! When Kearra barks late at night the dh has been known to go out looking with the gun, she has and still only barks at humans and she is very dependable. Kyra will bark at other things......but when Kearra barks Kyra runs to get us to come and see.....its really funny!!! If Kyra barks Kearra will huff unless she is sure its a human and if its not she will just walk away like what the heck are you barking at

[sit_by_the_beach]

Good job Appa, watch your home, watch the driveway and the whole street. I bark at times because I see or hear something, my mom sleeps through everything. The new yapper helps me. His bark is irritating and that wakes up the human.

[chow fancier]

What a good boy you are Appa!! Your humans are so lucky to have found such a good watch chow. The security system is a great idea because you are very valuable and must be guarded when home alone.

By the way, sorry to all chows that us humans are so slow on the uptake sometimes. We just can't perceive everything you can and that makes us seem a little thick to you at times, I'm sure.

[chowfrnd88]

LOL, In my training classes, I actually tell people to always check what their dogs are barking at. I tell them to do just what Melanie says with her gang, reward and then if tehy persist tell them signal them to "quiet."

With Special, he jus does it on his own, he barks a few times on his own and then he stops and looks at us to wait to see if we'll check it out or if he cna go back to sleep. Unless it's something really unusal, then he'll continue to alert until we check it out and make sure all is well.

[CT Appa]

Hey everybody!

Well Appa has been living like the wannabe emperor he is the last few days...lots of treats and he's come to sleep in our room with us for the last couple nights. I figured he needed the rest from guarding the whole house so we lightened his duty to just watch our room. He played with my fiancee's sharpei and labrador, a couple days ago. He seemed to have a lot of fun as he didn't pay us any attention when we left him behind to go meet one of our wedding vendors. I finally got to see him interact with other dogs, and it's weird watching the smaller sharpei manhandle him...Security people should be in Tuesday so that will lessen our worry while we're at work. Appa's new way of getting me to listen to him is to throw a tantrum if he doesn't get his way. I don't know how he learned that, but everyday he finds a new way to express himself.

[Cara&Haley]

Congratulations, for having such a brave and wonderful dog and the upcoming big day. WHEN is the big day?

[CT Appa]

Ah yes the big day seems to be everyday haha, but the ceremony and reception is going to be October 18, 2008.

Security system is in place and I fell that Appa is now safe...he had a little stomach problem over the weekend so we spent a lot of time taking care of him, and he's now figured out a way to make us take him out more....which he is over explotiing...He just got older with his 10th month celebration and now he's throwing more tantrums...he was better after he took a bath yesterday. Maybe his smellyness causes him to be a bad toddler.