The Paw Force

Hello everyone, welcome to our household. My name is Lobo and today I am here to talk about what my friend Luna and I do for living. We have many jobs but our main one is Chiefs of security. Our number one priority is keeping Mum and our human siblings safe while Dad is away serving our country. Due to our Dad’s job we move across the country all the time and he’s away for a lot of it. Moving all the time means not having relatives nearby so Mum is pretty much alone with the little humans and us. Goodbyes are hard on Mum so we offer our counselling services and make sure to provide all the suppawt she needs. While most families have their Dad coming home every night that’s not our case, this makes our responsibility bigger but we are proud of our role. It goes without saying as Chiefs of security our main office is the front yard.

We are Alaskan Malamutes but while Luna is the real deal, everyone seems to think I must have some husky or wolf in me, mostly because of my blue eyes and rather active personality. I like to talk, play and have a lot of fun. We live in the land down under (Australia) which makes me a tough Doggo. Mate, the stuff we have to deal with here... I mean everything wants to kill you. We guard the place from not only intruders but also from poisonous snakes, deadly spiders, bats bigger than a chook and the list keeps growing (did you know Australia has 7 of the top 10 most venomous snakes in the world?). Unlike Luna, I am more of a manager than a simple worker, so I let her do most of the actual physical work. Come to think of it, I guess I see myself more like a Journalist so I offer my BBS (Broadcasting Barking Services) to inform Mum about anything unusual while my bestie Luna takes care of the problem.

Luna is a very strong female. She is a bit smaller than me but definitely stronger. She’s not to be messed with; she is the "Gladiator of the Dogs", the protector, and has no patience or tolerance for much. She takes her Chief of security position very seriously. But her real talent is to make food disappear. She is a vacuum cleaner when it comes to food. She likes fruits, veggies, raw and cooked meat… anything really, even paper at times. A few times Dad has had to wrestle her like a Croc to get stuff she shouldn’t eat out of her mouth. Me, I am quite the fussy eater, I take my time, I smell my food, taste it… Hmmm… if it is not cooked enough or doesn’t taste right, no thanks… I’d rather pass, and then comes in Luna the duck and swallows it whole! She’s made an art of swallowing food without even chewing it. But Mum knows I have a sweet tooth and I love to eat jam and peanut butter on toast, yes, I am a bit spoilt like that. Mum denies it but I know I am the favourite.

In our free time, we love to do some gardening and landscaping designs. We are all about that Modern Architecture; we make abstract looking caves in the yard. Dad is never impressed by our digging and more times than I can recall we’ve gotten ourselves in trouble for digging up his garden. He doesn’t let us in the house often because we shed a lot and decorate the couches and his uniforms with our fur. But when he goes away Mum lets us in so we watch Netflix together and have fun playing with our little human sister, who loves to pull our tails and run after us.

We are quite the team, when Mum is real busy we step in to help her. She studies online and it’s hard to concentrate having a little one around. So when Mum has online classes Luna babysits while I help her in the office with her studies. The problem is, sometimes Police cars go by while she’s in class and we can’t help but to howl when we hear the sirens so she makes the weirdest faces and has to mute her microphone. We are a bit loud hehe… Sorry Mum, it is just a part of our job to howl back at the sirens too. (Yes we are very "Vocal" like that).

Our oldest Human sibling is a teenager; he loves to play the guitar and we love to listen, he is a bit naughty and forgetful though. He is in charge of our feeds, cleans and walks. I usually get him in trouble because I let Mum know when he forgets to feed us. I mean sorry mate, but we can’t simply miss our meals just because you are too busy on your phone talking to girls. I am always excited to walk; we walk twice a day, morning and evening. I am all into fitness and I like helping my brother with his training for cross country so we do two big laps every time and I always want more. Luna on the other hand, has more than enough with one lap and some days she doesn’t even want to go for a walk, quite the introvert if you ask me.

Even though Luna is a little weird like that, we’ve managed to make some fans around the neighbourhood, Luna thinks it’s silly and makes fun of me but I think it’s important to connect with humans, anyhow, they call us “The wolves of xxxx street” (sorry guys, can’t reveal our street name, I am all about the security stuff, but you get it) and more times than Mum can recall people she doesn’t even know have stopped her to ask about us, well mostly about me honestly. Unlike Luna I don’t mind the spotlight and I make sure to pose for photos and greet everyone from the fence, sometimes they even stop to pat me and tell me how handsome I am.

Even though we spent a lot of time outside we are truly part of the family, we get Christmas, Easter and Birthday presents same as our human siblings and sometimes we even get to dress up for Halloween. Mum always says how happy and lucky they are to have us in their life.

Our favourite thing to do is going to the beach, Dad doesn’t like to take us because, one, we go wild, and two, we fill up his car with sand but Mum always manages to convince him and we end up going and having so much fun. I love running free, burying my paws in the sand and spreading my toes, quite the sensory experience. It’s like it takes me back to someplace I should know very well but I can’t remember. I have never seen the snow but I think it must be something similar. But this is Australia after all, and as dogs we are always on duty, so Luna and I are always on the watch for Crocs (mostly me honestly, Luna tends to get a bit carried away with the waves). More than once I have alerted Mum about suspicious things on the water. I never bark for the sake of barking so if I do, she knows it’s serious. So we pack up our things and leave immediately.

Oh… the cat! Sorry, Mum just reminded me to tell you a bit about the cat, my bad, how I could possibly forget about him (eye rolling). Well his name is Dorian and he is a fluffy white Main Coon that just loves taking fat naps while sun tanning in the front yard. He was the first pet our parents had after they got married, so he is probably as old as the Sphinx... Just kidding, I enjoy pulling his leg about it though. He has jobs as well I guess, like protecting the house from roaches and whatever happens to cross our first ring of security. He is also Mum’s personal massage therapist, couch decorator and since he spends most of his time inside… professional scrap cleaner, not to mention he is an expert escapist that loves to sneak in the neighbour's yard and set his alarms off. Because of this naughty behaviour he is no longer allowed outside at night, so we make fun of him from the sliding door. In his free time he practices Gecko hunting and bird talking. He also gets Christmas presents and gets to dress up for Halloween.

Well, I truly hope you guys have enjoyed our story. I could keep going and tell you so much more but duty calls and I need to get back to my station of vigilance as my shift is about to begin. After all, unlike others who live rent free in the house… We dogs don’t have much time to nap around, we are always on duty. Farewell my friends, may the Paw be with you always.