Our Guard Dog

One day, an old mutt that appeared nice and not stray came into our garden.
We never found out where he came from, but the kids named him Rum since we fed and brushed him.

Now that dogs are considered family members, we put Rum on guard duty in our yard next door. Rum is alert and watchful both during the day and at night, but I'm sorry to say that he isn't much of a guard dog.

Where did he fall short? He barked at the horses, the cattle outside on the road, the cats, and he would even bark at a toad.
Rum simply wagged his tail because he thought people were nice.

He found the yard workers to be a pleasant group.
They fed remnants from their lunch to our dog.
Rum gulped it all down, but to our dismay, He appeared to gain weight over time.

Then, one night when Rum was at his ease, a burglar entered in complete silence.
There were no sirens visible or audible, and there was no guard dog, who would have been growling and barking.

However, Rum was awake and had seen him just fine.
He flew through the yard to welcome his new friend, delighted to have company at this hour of the night, and his weight bowled the burglar off his feet.

The intruder stood up and bolted away while yelling, and Rum followed closely behind, tail still wagging.
He left the yard he had entered to burglarize it like a world-class athlete overcoming a challenge.

Unfortunately, Rum was unable to jump gates, so He scooped up the thief's wallet and went back to bed.
The following morning, when Rum presented the proof to us (just a little bit chewed).

The police successfully apprehended the burglar after being given the wallet and imprisoned him.
His admission that a large, dangerous guard dog had knocked the robber to the ground quickly went around the village.

When we heard the story, we all burst out laughing, and Rum was our hero, soaking up the limelight.
Since then, nobody has tried to break into our yard because everyone is aware that Rum is on watch.