Shocking I know!
But after reading tamandkota's post about her fire and how Dakota woke her up.
I'm very sorry for the loss of your house, but very happy ya'll are ok!! It made me think...would Boo and/or Gracie realize a danger and then act to protect me or my DH?
I'd like to think they would. Gracie is very aware of noises in the house and alerts us to the slightest thing. She will not hesitate to run asap to investigate. She's even 'charged' into the living room barking and growling if she hears DH come home and I didn't say, "Daddy's home!" As though because I didn't say it, it must not be Daddy - it must be an intruder. So I think she would probably do as Dakota did and would try to wake me if she heard fire and smelled smoke.
Boo is much quieter about things, but his actions say he understands he needs to be on guard and protect his pack. When someone comes in he doesn't bark, but will quietly wait off to the side, (letting the sister do all the barking and making a fool of herself
) out of sight and then come up behind to investigate if they are friend or foe. I have come home late at night from scrapbooking and it must have startled him to hear someone coming into the house. I was met with a very low, deep, serious growl from the shadows - it raised the hair on the back of my neck
and I knew who was doing it. I can't imagine how it would sound to someone who didn't know it was only a 10 lb dog. He has even gone so far as to consciously put himself between me or Gracie and a perceived threat. Oh he does the whole big, bad, ferocious barking stay off my property thing when someone walks by the backyard. But it's totally different when someone actually comes into the house or he thinks it is an actual threat. To me this says he understands the difference and would do whatever he needs to to protect us. Having been on the receiving end of that growl from the shadows, I would not want to be the recipient of what would follow if you ignored the warning.
So tell me, what do you think your furbabies would do.