Miss Understood

Miss Understood

Written by Nicole Chavez

Growing up Candy was an extremely talkative chihuahua. She was almost 10 years old and the only time that she wasn't trying to communicate with her owners was when she was sleeping. If anyone passed by her yard she would bark for minutes to make sure everyone in her house knew someone was walking by. Her owners grew tired of hearing her bark all day long. So they got used to ignoring Candy. They eventually stopped going to see who was outside when she would alert the house. It was usually one of her neighbors and their dogs, or squirrels.

Candy grew tired of being ignored so she decided she wouldn't bark when people passed by her house from here on out. Her owners were a bit concerned with her abrupt change in personality, especially with the neighborhood speaking of an increase in robberies in the area, but they appreciated the newfound silence.
It was nighttime and Candy was trying to sleep on her bed in the living room bay window. Her owners were sound asleep in their rooms. It was around 3AM when she awoke to the sound of someone approaching. She got up, looked around, and spotted a stranger trying to get into her owner's car. She was conflicted about barking to warn her owners because they would ignore her anyway. But she knew that she had the ability to stop the stranger from getting away if at least one of her owners woke up.

She decided that she HAD to say something and that's what she did. She barked the loudest she had ever barked before, and the longest she had ever barked before! Her owners woke up and were debating whether or not they'd get up to check on Candy. They hoped that she'd just stop barking, but when she didn't one of them got up to check on her. As they walked up to Candy at the window they noticed that she was looking at something near the driveway. Alarmed her owner ran up to the window to look where Candy was looking and they saw someone had gotten into their car. Out of fear for their safety her owner called 9-1-1. Just as that was happening inside the burglar noticed that someone was watching them and started to run away. Just as the burglar got to the corner of the street a cop car arrived. The burglar attempted to outrun the cop, but the cop ended up catching him.

Candy's owner walked out to the cop car once the burglar was handcuffed and put in the backseat. The cop talked to Candy's owner while writing the police report and he handed them a bag of their belongings the burglar was trying to get away with. Candy's owner thanked the officer and walked back toward the house. Candy was happy to have used her voice to help her owner. Her owner walked in looking completely exhausted and put the bag on the couch. They walked up to Candy and pet her in appreciation for being such a good guard dog even if she could be too vocal at times.

Candy realized that her voice was very important even if certain people found it to be too much at times. She had just helped protect her owners and their belongings. After several belly rubs, she was able to lay back and relax.