Dogsitting Saga

It's day three of the dogsitting marathon.  The kids return and claim their dogs tomorrow. I'm certainly getting my exercise, letting them in and out.  They all park themselves in the big windows at the front of the house, waiting for ANY movement (human or otherwise) anywhere up and down the street.  Seeing such movement, they feel the immediate need to start barking, to protect us from whatever dire danger said objects might hold. It all starts early in the morning, when the newspaper carrier arrives. Our dogs know the routine and ignore the regular carrier. They do let us know if the car or carrier is different, but most mornings they just let it happen. Not so with the guest dogs.  They started barking about 3:30 this morning, which meant I had to get up and let them into the back yard. Then, they decide it's kind of fun to make me get up and go through the routine several times, with no evidence of ANYTHING to prompt repeated outbursts of barking.  Of course, I hate to discourage the barking, just in case there WAS something to warn us about.  So, I spent an hour or so, running up and down the stairs, letting them all in and out.
Then, of course, there are the periodic face-offs between our little old shaggy haired dog and our daughter's frisky little terrier. Both are males and ours feels the need to exert his Alpha status on a fairly regular basis. Usually, he just gets in the other pup's face and stares him down, letting him know he's not going to pass. They have, however, really gotten into it a couple of times, so it's a constant chore to keep an eye on the two of them.
All for the kids.  Good thing they're worth it!
Here's something to give you a weekend chuckle:

Report: Murdoch ‘absolutely despises’ Bill O’Reilly; Ailes ‘loathes him.’

In a forthcoming biography of Rupert Murdoch entitled “The Man Who Owns The News,” author Michael Wolff reports that the Fox News bosses have no fondness for Bill O’Reilly but are willing to tolerate him for his ratings: “It is not just Murdoch (and everybody else at News Corp.’s highest levels) who absolutely despises Bill O’Reilly, [...]