Escape!... Into the House?

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Buddy'smyboy
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Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 7:17 pm

Escape!... Into the House?

Post by Buddy'smyboy »

Um, so apparently last night Buddy was scared senseless about something and tried to get into the house.

My mom went to work this morning and discovered on her way out the door that he had torn apart the screen on the screen door, bent part of the metal frame, broke other parts of the metal frame, scratched the wooden main door behind it, got himself tangled up around the rose bushes in the flower bed (suggesting he was trying to get in the window right above it), and around the big one on the other side of the porch all of this last night.

Only the fact that he did this is extremely bizarre because:

My grandma always has her bathroom window open a little which enables us to hear him in whatever he does. WE DID NOT HEAR ONE THING. There were no booms coming from the military base a few miles away (this scares him, but there were none), there were no fireworks (terrify him), no noisy cars going by, or coyotes from what we could hear; there were no big noises going on outside, and we can easily hear most if not all of the noises going on almost as well as him from where we are in the house. On top of that, HE WAS SILENT. No barking, growling, whining, moving around, teeth... absolutely NOTHING. We also did not hear the clinking, clanging, scratching, or banging of the screen door either, and that SHOULD have been very noisy because it would be the sound of metal against cement and because when the 4th July fireworks were going on he kept on trying to get in that was very loud and he wasn't even dismantling the door then. It was also a hot night so I was up almost to midnight because I couldn't fall asleep and my grandma was awake on and off through the night because she's braking in a new medication.

Can anyone here explain this bizarre occurence and how he managed to pull it off in such a stealthy manner that none of us heard him and why he felt the need to try it in the first place?!
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Nettle
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Re: Escape!... Into the House?

Post by Nettle »

If we could answer that, none of us would be working for a living :lol: we'd do the lottery once and then retire.

Up to you to chat it over with us and the family until you can figure out what had gone on. Check with the neighbours if they heard/saw anything.

Is it possible someone tried to break in and it wasn't Buddy at all? How is he today - any bruises, scratches, sore mouth?
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Buddy'smyboy
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Re: Escape!... Into the House?

Post by Buddy'smyboy »

Nettle wrote:If we could answer that, none of us would be working for a living :lol: we'd do the lottery once and then retire.

Up to you to chat it over with us and the family until you can figure out what had gone on. Check with the neighbours if they heard/saw anything.

Is it possible someone tried to break in and it wasn't Buddy at all? How is he today - any bruises, scratches, sore mouth?
I don't see anything wrong with him and he seems just find today. No, I don't think it was someone trying to break in. They wouldn't have needed to tear up the screen to get to the main door because the screen door isn't locked, and the scratches were really low if it was someone, and the screen was ripped into little pieces so unless he carefully took the time to cut them up into little pieces, it was probably Buddy ripping it up. Besides, why would someone have gone through so much trouble to make it look like the dog? His plan would have been, "If I can't get in the house then I will cover up my mistake by making it look like the dog did it." (My dog ate my homework, in other words :lol: )

Oh, and my uncle just walked in and says the door is shot. I think maybe putting him in his kennel, crate, or in the kitchen at night are all good solutions because he's just fine during the day on the porch, it's only at night that we ever have problems.
Buddy'smyboy
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Re: Escape!... Into the House?

Post by Buddy'smyboy »

Jeez, just tried to get into the house after going to Health Adventures! at the hospital my mom works (4:00p.m.-9:00p.m.) and Buddy was squirming and pulling to get into the house. Grandma said he almost knocked her down trying to get in today and she hasn't heard anything that would make him behave like that today. He wasn't like that this morning before we left! I don't have any idea why he is behaving like this today. What the heck is scaring him? :?
chay
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Re: Escape!... Into the House?

Post by chay »

could it be something actually IN the yard, rather than like a noise or person or something external?

i don't mean to be alarmist and i'm not sure where you live, but in australia my first thought if my dogs were acting like that would be that there was a snake or something similar in the yard they've seen/picked up on and are trying to get away from by barrelling INSIDE away from the creepy.

(unless you were the foxy of my childhood who singlehandedly took down several snakes each season much to the horror and continued amazement of my mother and family!)
PikiPiki
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Re: Escape!... Into the House?

Post by PikiPiki »

I was about to suggest hunting for a snake also. My dogs freaked when they saw some in our yard.
Suzette
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Re: Escape!... Into the House?

Post by Suzette »

I was thinking he's smelling something in the air that's spooking him. I used to live in the country where we had a few black bears wandering around the woods. Only once in the ten years we lived there did a bear come near our property, but when it did, my two dogs went nuts when they went outside the next day and smelled where he had been.

Anyway, I think that's only half the mystery. The other is how Buddy could do so much damage to a metal screen door and yet no one in the house heard a thing. Now that's a puzzle! :?
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Buddy'smyboy
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Re: Escape!... Into the House?

Post by Buddy'smyboy »

Suzette wrote:I was thinking he's smelling something in the air that's spooking him. I used to live in the country where we had a few black bears wandering around the woods. Only once in the ten years we lived there did a bear come near our property, but when it did, my two dogs went nuts when they went outside the next day and smelled where he had been.

Anyway, I think that's only half the mystery. The other is how Buddy could do so much damage to a metal screen door and yet no one in the house heard a thing. Now that's a puzzle! :?
It might be something that he's smelling. I've never seen a snake in my grandma's yard before (or if I have, it was such a rare occurence that I can't remember it off the bat), although he's seen squished snakes on the road all the time when we go for walks because people drive over them, so he knows what a snake smells like at the very least (fortunately we don't have any poisonous snakes in my area).
We have a friend down the road who took a plaster mold of a large black bear's paw in his mother's orchard just three doors down from us, so it might possibly be a black bear, and there also were a few sightings of a cougar several months ago. It might be either of those two animals (although, if it is them, I would like to ask them why on earth they would have to be in the yard in the first place when they can't even keep the enormous rabbit and deer populations outside of the yard down :lol: I see at LEAST five rabbits every day while riding my bike and see deer quite often so they are probably very fat predators).

I am deciding that Buddy has a stealth mode switch somewhere that I don't know about. I can't figure out any other explanation. My grandma wakes up at every little bump in the night and it takes me a long time to get to sleep so the fact that he timed it so perfectly well that neither of us heard it is rather extraordinary. We can even hear him throught the closed window normally!
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Nettle
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Re: Escape!... Into the House?

Post by Nettle »

He's in pretty serious danger if you have bear and cougar about. Is there any way he can be kept more safely?
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jacksdad
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Re: Escape!... Into the House?

Post by jacksdad »

I would bet money if you have bear, cougar you also have coyotes. it's probably one of those causing problems and nettles is right. buddy might be able to deal with a small single coyote do to his size, but bear or cougar or even more than one coyote is way to much for him.
Buddy'smyboy
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Re: Escape!... Into the House?

Post by Buddy'smyboy »

We're having an electric fence built around the property right now so we will be able to keep in cows and goats in that area and we're having new gates installed. For the moment he might be at risk if they were to come right up to the front porch but in less than a month they're going to have to deal with an electric current before they can even get near him. I stopped and talked with a neighbor and the last cougar sighting he knows of was back in October of last year when a mother cougar made her den under somebody's porch and she and her cub were relocated. He hasn't seen any signs of bear around his property and we talked with our friend with the orchard and she hasn't seen any black bears either in her area, so I think maybe he smelled it from a farther distance away in the air maybe (whatever it was)?
Buddy'smyboy
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Re: Escape!... Into the House?

Post by Buddy'smyboy »

New freakish behavior. People down the street have been shooting off guns for hours so I've been outside and inside running all around for hours to keep him entertained, as relaxed as possible, and not trying to get into the house (he is terrified of fireworks). His newest method of getting in the house; trying to push his way through the huge window in the living room :shock: :shock: :shock: The scariest part; I know he's strong to do it if he had the chance! From now on, I don't care if there isn't a gunshot in hearing or it's the 4th of July, he IS going in his crate at night because I am NOT going to give him the opportunity to smash through the window.
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MPbandmom
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Re: Escape!... Into the House?

Post by MPbandmom »

Poor Buddy! and poor you! My thoughts and sympathies are with you and yours. You might want to try some Rescue Remedy. It seems to help my noise sensitive dog. (I have also been thinking of getting some for myself to have on hand for stressful situations.)
Grammy to Sky and Sirius, who came to live with me, stole my heart, and changed my life forever as I took over their care and learned how to be a dog owner.
Buddy'smyboy
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Re: Escape!... Into the House?

Post by Buddy'smyboy »

Alright, new problems. There were gun shots again today so Buddy jumped up on the window so obviously I had to go out and stop him. I petted him and calmed him down until the gunshots ended and about ten minutes after that I went inside. No more than ten seconds later he was on the window again. So I went back out and played with him and his bone again for a while before sneaking in the house. Again, he got up the window. So I went out, got him down, and then went back inside and told my mom to watch him and pet him if he got up again because I was going to cut up some dog treats and work with him. Of course, less than a minute later he was back on the window so she had to go out and keep him off while I quickly cut up bits of carrot, ham, and cheese before going out again and working on loose leash training with him for about ten minutes. While out there I noticed some poop so after I got satisfied with his ten minute exercise I went back in briefly to wash my hands and when I came back towards the door I could see him at the window getting ready to jump up again. So I went out, scooped his poop, played with him a tiny bit and then went back inside. Again he was right back at the window so I went outside yet again and finally put him in his crate to keep him from damaging the glass while I figure out the why behind the what. Around this time my mom said he needs to learn no, and went to say how he needs a slap on the nose for behavior like that (I couldn't tell if she was saying that figuratively or literally) and said how when we (myself and sister) were little and doing something bad, we'd sometimes get a slap on the fingers as her analogy. Not to say that she isn't smart and that slapping his nose as an aversive wouldn't work, I KNOW from being on this site that there is definitely a better way to go about this. Slapping him on the nose for jumping up on the window will not change WHY he is doing this... the driving force behind why he's getting on the window will still be the same, he just might change tactics if we start slapping his nose every time he jumps on the window because he learns that does not work and he will need to do something new to get his point across... whatever that is. I did notice that even after the shots ended he did continue to try to come in throught the door when I opened it, so maybe that was still bugging him. My grandma commented and said he's learning that if he gets on the window I come out and so he's doing it to get the attention because it works. While I think that's a possibility, I also doubt it. He only ever jumps on the window in correlation with the gunshots/big noises. The noise is the trigger, jumping on the window is the result. How long after the trigger he continues jumping on the window I haven't figured out yet, but since this whole thing took about half an hour after the gunshots it is probably quite a while. I NEED help with this guys as we get gunshots pretty often and they're just a few doors down.
emmabeth
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Re: Escape!... Into the House?

Post by emmabeth »

He is scared of the gunshots and he wants to come indoors where he might feel safer - so yeah, slapping his nose won't help him not be scared of gunshots.

I realise this IS really really difficult for you as it isn't up to you where he lives/stays most of the time, but would it not be possible to have him as an indoor dog, maybe crated if you are out and only allowed into certain rooms?

Alternatively, whenever you are home and there are gunshots going off - go out and give him a reward for every single gunshot - so that in the end gunshot = treats. When he starts to get the idea that gunshot = reward you can try giving him really easy Kong toys with something good to lick in there, or a big meaty bone, or a box stuffed with good stuff that takes longer to do.
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