Living in the country means a lot of animal sounds and strange noises especially dogs barking.  Our dogs were pretty good at barking at strangers  walking down our road , stray cats, and sometimes they just barked as if talking to other dogs in the neighborhood.  One morning I woke up as I normally did by stumbling to the kitchen and to the coffee pot.  I heard barking sounds in the background , but I didn’t think anything about it.  After I finally had my first cup of coffee,  the barking became more noticeable .  I knew that my neighbor walked up and down the street every morning so I just figured that the dog was barking at her .  I was really tired and just wanted to enjoy my delicious hot cup of coffee.  The barking continued.  Finally I thought, “ I should at least  check on the dogs just in case my goats or pigs got out of their fence”.  I stumbled to the front door and looked outside.  I didn’t see anything except our very large lab mix dog named “ Shiro” barking.  I went back inside and finished drinking my coffee.  I just thought he was barking at a stray cat or chicken that wandered close by.  

All of a sudden I could hear my thoughts . I wondered where Max was .  Max is a very little dog that is Shiro’s best friend and they are always together.   My thoughts were very subtle but they continued.   I remembered that Max was the “ barker” not Shiro.  It had to be something very unusual for Shiro to bark.  My thoughts or “ gut feelings “ kicked in.  I felt a strong urge to go see where Max was .  I was still trying to “ wake up” .  Everything was still “ blurry” .  As I sat there drinking my coffee , I began to really listen to Shiro’s barking.  It actually sounded frantic.  It was then that I realized that maybe something might really be wrong.  I jumped up and raced to put on my rubber boots and headed out the front door!  I saw Shiro barking and pacing back and forth.  Max was nowhere to be found. I went through the gate and into their fenced area.  Shiro continued to bark and started walking  towards the back of the fence.  I started walking behind Shiro and I asked, “ Where is Max?”. Another thought came to me.  “ Could he be in our 5000 gallon water catchment tank? No way!  How could he get in there?”. Max was still nowhere .   I knew it had been raining so much recently that the tank should be full to overflowing.  This tank is filled through our rain gutters and it provides all the water for our house.  Now I had to really look inside.  The “ promptings “ or “ gut feelings”  were overwhelming.  What I saw next was utterly shocking to say the least !  Poor little Max was definitely inside the water tank!  He was “ soaked to the bone” and shivering while clinging to the canvas tank cover.  Besides the shock of him being in there , I was surprised that there was only two feet of water inside the tank!  My mind began to race!  I had to get him out!  The tank was at least 5 feet in height but at least 7 feet deep as it is partially buried into the ground .  How was I going to get in there I wondered ?  Right at that very moment my son came driving up .  As soon as I yelled for help he came running and jumped right  into the tank , grabbed poor little Max , handed me this little quivering puppy dog , and jumped right back out of the tank so effortlessly.  He was just as surprised as I was that he was inside there .  I explained that Shiro’s barking has saved Max.  Then my son said “ Well mom ,  do you see that the water is very low ?  There is a big hole in the water tank !  We have a big problem with our water supply !  It seems that Shiro saved Max ,but Max saved us by letting us know that we are losing water!”.  I hadn’t even thought of that .   

How did he get in there ? What if I hadn’t paid attention to Shiro’s barking?  What if we hadn’t found out about the hole in our water tank?  Shiro had saved Max !  Shiro had been barking and barking and barking !  He was trying so hard to get help for his best little friend Max ! I felt so bad that I hadn’t realized what Shiro was trying to tell me , but I was so thankful that I finally did  listen to the “ promptings”  or my “ gut feelings “  . As I sat with Max in my lap wrapped in a big warm towel , I told him that I loved him so much and that everything would be OK.  His shivering began to slow down and he finally fell asleep in my arms.  Shiro came up to him and licked his face.

I sat there in such “ awe” .  I had witnessed something truly miraculous. I had seen the love of a true friendship between two dogs as one dog saved the other dog’s life.   Shiro knew that Max was in danger and he wasn’t going to stop barking until someone saved his little friend.  My heart was so full of emotion that day.  I could have so easily missed this and this time if I had not “ listened” to the “ promptings  or my  “ gut feelings “ Max would have probably drowned .  This adventure gave me a lot to think  about and especially to be thankful for.