Smoke Alarm

I always wondered if Zoe was trained as a service dog. She helped me in so many ways.

One thing puppy did in particular was notify me whenever something was burning or boiling on the stove. I had a tendency to start cooking and then start another project that took me away from the kitchen. You know the old adage, "A watched pot never boils." I knew that was true and I could count on a well done meal every time.

If I wasn't watching the food, dog was. She kept an eagle eye on anything that came into the kitchen. The magic white box with cold food was something she was keenly interested in and the stove and microwave came in a close second and third.

If I wanted Zoe to come into the house, I didn't have to whistle, I just had to set the microwave to beep. A long beep would get her running towards me no matter what puppy was doing outside and that included chasing squirrel.

Many was the time dog came up to me and pestered me until I left the computer and followed her into the kitchen. Once there, I would find my pasta boiling or cookies baked to a golden brown.

When I forgot how in tune Zoe was with food preparation I would learn another of her skills - smoke alarm. There were occasions when I would ignore puppy's insistent nudges and continue with my work. That's when the smoke detector would kick in and begin blaring. When dog heard the familiar blast of noise she would run t the smoke detector and sit in front of it - staring at it. She would not budge until I came and removed it from the wall and opened the windows and doors.