Why Cody is my hero
A couple of weeks ago I was on my back porch, working on a wood project (I spend a lot of time cutting, shaping, and sanding wood). My dog Cody, an 11 year-old Humane Society mixed breed (mostly lab, shepherd, and chow) who’s been with me for almost ten years, was out with me. Needing an electrical outlet, I worked at the end opposite where the door is. Cody appeared by the door and started barking at me.
Now, Cody never asks to go inside. He loves to be out, and if I’m out, too he is very happy. Yet there he was fussing by the door. I figured he wanted some water – I’d forgotten to bring a spare bowl out with me – so glanced up and told him I’d let him in in a minute or two. I guess that wasn’t good enough.
Cody trotted over to where I was working and got his face about two inches from mine, then barked, urgently, twice. Very unusual behavior for the old guy, so I decided I’d better take care of him. As I stood he raced back over by the door, and then began barking and fussing again, an air of fury now in his behavior. And then I saw why.
Next to the door there was an electrical junction box. A wire came from the exterior house wall and into the box. This wire was throwing out huge sparks and had a blue-orange flame burning along it. It had been shorted by the day’s rain. The flame was inches from the wood, and the wood itself was already beginning to scorch. Cody wanted me to take care of this! I ran into the house and shut off the circuit, which took care of the problem, but had Cody not made such an effort to alert me I wouldn’t have noticed anything until my house was on fire. It would have gone fast once it caught.
A few days ago the medal I ordered for him arrived, along with a special plaque. Granted he doesn’t know what they mean, but my family does. Cody, of course, has been given many special treats. The electrician told me that whomever wired in the junction box used interior wire outside, and the wire dry-rotted.
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