Careful, Or Fido Will Learn How To Summon New Friends At Will!

Our house has an alarm system. My dog — a lab mix a little on the bigger side — sleeps inside. One morning, I get up to feed him and let him out. He’s very excited (as is normal because, you know, he’s a dog) and as I’m half-asleep trying to turn off the alarm, he leans against me and knocks me off-balance. As I am in the process of keying in the code, my finger misses the key I am aiming for and instead hits the fire alarm.

Even though I cancel it fairly quickly, it still sends the alert to the alarm company. They try to call my dad, but between the fact that he is up making sure the house is safe and not on fire and the fact that his phone is on silent, he misses the call. So, of course, they dispatch firefighters because they’re doing their job.

I answer the door when they arrive because I am closest.

Me: “Um, hi?”

Firefighter: “Hello. [Alarm Company] alerted us to a possible fire at this house.”

Me: “Oh, um…”

I’m completely embarrassed even though it was an accident. To be fair, I am a teenage girl with messed-up hair and wearing old pajamas, and these are cute firefighters.

Me: “Yeah, that was me. I was trying to turn off the alarm to let him—” *indicates the dog, who is excitedly trying to make friends with the firefighters* “—out, and he bumped me, and I fell against the button.”

By this point, my dad has come down the stairs, having just finished calling back the alarm company.

Dad: “I missed the alarm company’s call to cancel the alert. We’re sorry for any issues this caused.”

Firefighter: “It’s no worry. We understand that things happen, but we do need to check the alarm really fast.”

Dad: “Please do.”

I managed to get the dog away from all his new friends and send him to the backyard while they tested the alarm. After that, I made sure to be steadier on my feet or occupy the dog with one of his toys before trying to turn the alarm off.