Proportional response

What is it with these kids?

Another one of Kubota's friends walked into our house without knocking.  He was half way across the living room before the door swung shut.

That is where Zeus lit him up.  Zeus did not take a hunk out of his backside but the kid was not ready for a three second burst of 115dB barking and the show involving lots of teeth.  It happened at 6:00 this morning and it interrupted Mrs ERJ's beauty sleep.

One of my deeper concerns is that the lack of courtesy indicates a certain vagueness about the concept of private property.  Sort of a "Whats yours is mine..." kind of thinking.

I don't know how it is in other areas, but a large number of B&Es around here involve somebody who has already been in the house.  At a practical level the perp knows the layout of the house and where any good stuff is kept.  At an emotional level the perp can rationalize it with "Billy would not mind." or "Billy never gave me money for gas." or in the case of ex-boyfriends/girlfriends, "Billy needs to get kicked in the teeth."  Knowing somebody in the house provides a plausible excuse when the perp is found poking around the place; "Yeah, Billy sold me a gonkulator and I was picking it up."

I chewed the kid's ass.  I told him that breezing into our house was completely unacceptable and that nobody wanted to see Zeus rip a chunk out of him.  I told him he needed to stop at the door and knock.  Somebody will come and open it.

Zeus is a smart dog.  I verbally chewed-out the kid in front of him.  I wanted Zeus to know that he, the dog, did exactly the right thing. I let him slurp up the milk out of my cereal bowl afterward. 

I am not encouraging Zeus to bite.  I do want him to let us know that we have visitors and, if they are in the house, to pin them down until things get sorted out. 

It does not bother me that a couple of Kubota's friends will spread the word that it is not healthy to enter the ERJ house unannounced and uninvited.