Thursday, October 29, 2009

Pros and Cons of Cameras

My husband Fred and I were traveling last week, and our younger son stayed at our house to watch the dogs.

Fred is a handy sort, and he had installed a security camera in the kitchen, where Lexie and Mystie hang out when no one is home, or when they just feel like vegging out. There are two-way microphones in the camera, although the one where we could talk directly to the dogs wasn’t working. We could hear them, though, when we tuned in to watch them on our computer.

One evening, as it was getting dark, we started watching... and didn’t see our younger pup, Mystie. We aimed the camera around the room, and were able to see that the gate closing the pups into the kitchen was latched. That meant she should be there. Lexie heard the camera moving and began to bark. Mystie’s usually the vocal one, but we neither saw nor heard her.

Panicked, I called our son. He was at the grocery store grabbing dinner, and he was certain that he had locked Mystie into the kitchen when he left. But Mystie is what I call our elusive puppy--she has slipped out doors behind me before I’ve noticed, so I was afraid that’s what she had done. And gone into the garage, with its door right off the kitchen. And run out onto the street when our son backed the car out of the garage.

Fortunately, our son was understanding. He left his groceries and hurried home to check. We kept watching on the camera. Still, no Mystie... until the garage door opened! Then both dogs ran toward the kitchen door to wait for our son.

Mystie had apparently been sound asleep behind the crate we leave open as a bed for the pups in the kitchen. In the growing dimness, we somehow couldn’t see her.

The moral of the story? I guess it’s that you can’t always believe what you think you see, or don’t see, on your security camera!

Have you ever thought something was wrong that turned out just fine?

6 comments:

Janie Emaus said...

Linda,
Many times. I can so relate to this story. I'm glad it all turned out okay.

Betty Hechtman said...

I can certainly imagine your panic at not seeing Mystie. I'm glad it turned out okay.

Linda O. Johnston said...

If Mystie weren't such a nutty, elusive pup, I wouldn't have been so concerned. Thanks for your good wishes!

Camille Minichino said...

What did we all do without cameras??

We have one to check on the mail and also to determine which of our neighbors' pets use our lawn for a litter box!

caryn said...

Oh how funny! Did your son feel put upon having the cameras in the kitchen? I don't think our son who dogsits for us would, but the younger one would for sure.
Caryn in St.Louis

Linda O. Johnston said...

Love those other uses, Camille.

I don't think our son minds, Caryn, since he doesn't spend a lot of time in the kitchen. He knows we just want to make sure the pups are okay. Our regular dog sitter who comes in when our son's not around even waves at the camera!