OT - Scary Incident, Please Be Aware

[Beth G]

All these stories remind me of when we had rescued an abused lab/greyhound mix, which eventually we had to put down as it was too aggressive to rehabilitate. Charlie was greast with us but no one else!!

 

 

He was such an excellent watchdog that within one week, all the weirdos stopped hanging around here and stealing neighbor's cars and breaking in their houses.

 

But after we had him put down, we had a break-in here a month later. They never got in but boy did they ruin two of my screens.

 

Which means that they were obviously watching this house, and knew we no longer had him. Creepy huh?

[Lunar]

Originally posted by BustopherJones:

Guns can be a useful tool, in a variety of circumstances, not all of which are related to self-defense. Problems start, however, when people who own guns do not know how to use them correctly, and/or lack proper respect for their capabilities. A LadySmith .357 Magnum is a great defensive tool for a smaller-framed woman; but NO ONE should own a gun unless they have been trained in how to fire it, and have taken a comprehensive gun safety course. DW is an expert markswoman (marksperson?), and can use a LadySmith (amongst other handguns) as well as a shotgun. Further, I would NOT advocate having a readily-accessible gun of any type, much less a handgun, if there are children in the house. At the very minimum, every gun should have a trigger lock under such circumstances; in my own case, while we had children in the house every gun had a part critical to the firing process disassembled (thereby rendering the gun useless) and stored in a locked safe until we wanted to use the weapon, at which point the weapon was reassembled only for the period that it was used, then disassembled again. In those days, I relied instead on the hope that I could remember enough from my martial arts training to deal with intruders...

Bustopher, I just wanted to say thank you for being a responsible gun owner!

 

Vicki - what a beautiful dog!! Must have scared the pants off that guy. Good.

[sea4th]

Vicki - what a beautiful dog!! Must have scared the pants off that guy. Good.

Thank you! ;0))

 

They were almost off anyway----you know, that crotch to the knees look. Honestly, I don't know how he ran as fast as he did. They probably had to come off anyway after he saw what was on the other side of that door----he probably dropped a load at the sight!! LOLOL.

[Woodenlion]

Vicki

Are you sure Lena didn't eat that perv? It certainly appears that way in the picture. Yum! I never answer my door. I am amazed at how long someone will continue to knock with the dogs barking. If someone approached me like what happened to you Vicki, I am certain George would come through the window. He watches me from the Living room until I enter the front door. Great dog. I am so lucky I found him.

 

Toni

[KrisK]

All of the above posts in many ways sadden me. No one should have to live their life looking over their shoulder.

Smileyzookie, I would suggest a self-defence course. At least you would gain some confidence with your ability to handle a situation.

As for me, I'm deeply fortunate that I live in an area where I can leave my doors unlocked if I chose to do so. Mind you, we don't have anyone 'strolling' around here. If they are on our road, they are either lost, or going to one of the 3 other farms.

All my dogs are great 'alarms' and both Jazz and Cricket have a bark that makes them sound like Cujo! Here's something that happened just this weekend. DH was away. It was about 8:30 in the evening and all the dogs were outside in the back yard. All of a sudden, they were giving their "4 alarm bark". This is the bark that indicates to me, something's not normal. So, I check through the windows to see. Is it a bear? Nope...all dogs are barking toward the driveway. So, I head to the front door, open it...and just about jumped out of my skin. My neighbour's fist was about eye level...getting prepared to knock on the door! We both got a big surprise! Of course, it could have been a stranger I suppose. We are going to be doing some renovations which will include a window that allows a full view of the driveway...at least then I won't get the same kind of surprise again

Bustopher, I also want to commend you on being responsible with firearms. I was taught when I was a kid how to handle a gun so I have lots of respect for them.

Vicki...what an awesome dog! I'd think twice before coming too close without an invitation

[Beth G]

Vicki- What a wonderful dog you have. What a Godsend. I'm glad that she was there for you. I hear that that breed makes an excellent watchdog.

 

Bustopher- I agree. It is always a great thing to hear responsible gun owners tell others how to be more responsible with guns, we need more of that.

[borderlicious]

I wonder if they were even legit salespeople. We had a guy push his way into our house and get extremely angry when we wouldn't buy his $50 magazines. We called our neighbor who is a policeman and told him the story and it was just our luck at the guy wound up at the policeman's house next. He gave him a completely different story (he said he was a high school student earning money for charity, wheras he told us he was a university student earning money for a trip to london with his communications class). Long story short, he was arrested as our neighbor found on him not only hundreds of dollars in cash and checks from people on the street, but jewelry, figurines and various other valuables that were most likely taken from their houses.

Really makes you trust people, huh? I thought my BC was being a bit of a snot and told him to knock it off and eventually put him in another room, but in the future I will trust him more. His judgment is better than mine!

 

sea4th - Your CMDs are gorgeous; I love the breed. Lena does look like she got a bite of something! Quite the welcoming crew you have. My BC is far from a guard dog but boy, he sounds vicious (and huge!) when he thinks something is up.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

I totally missed this Laura - how horrifying!

 

3. We WILL get our house on the market, post haste.

Let me know if there's anything I can do to help. I saw a palce for rent somewhere on 150 between Caswell and Guilford Counties. I'll have to look at it closer tomorrow.

[Jordi44]

I've said it before, and will say it again - NOTHING BEATS A DOG for security. Now at my house, depending upon where they stop, you can't even see a vehicle unless you go outside - but very few people even make it to our door - legit or not. We have 4 dogs - and when they're out, they are very imposing. My daughter's little mix would love to take someone's leg off (it's the Spitz in her I guess), and I'm sure the others would join in if necessary.

 

We're all surprised my dad hasn't gotten something done to him. He'll trot out at midnight for anyone and buys it all. He'll let anyone in, too. As my mom says, just as long as they don't get her too because he just poo-poos if you tell him how stupid he is. They used to have a Great Dane mix that would park himself between anyone that came to the house (they live on the highway and all sorts slither in) and they usually didn't stay too long. He was a lovable galute, so if he growled or bristled at someone, you knew something was up.

 

I figure if my dogs bite (with the exception of my daughter's dog), then I'm glad they did because it was probably called for - they certainly know more than we do.

[sea4th]

My BC is far from a guard dog but boy, he sounds vicious (and huge!) when he thinks something is up.

And that is really all that is needed---that and you never tell anyone your dogs don't bite.

[SoloRiver]

When I was living in Philadelphia, there was a guy known as the "Center City rapist" on the loose in my neighborhood. It was a nice neighborhood too -- two blocks from Rittenhouse Square for those that are familiar with the city. He raped a girl a block north of me, a block south of me, and raped and killed another a block west of me. Literally. He targeted women in their 20s living alone and would climb trees, brickwork, and squeeze through very narrow openings to get into apartments.

 

At the time I had my Pomeranian, Harley. She was not intimidating, and she hardly ever barked, but if there was something that needed to be said she would say it, and I knew that no one could get into my apartment without me knowing about it. So I felt safe and slept with the windows open.

 

Later they caught the guy and he mentioned that a couple of the women he raped had cats. He said that the cats were useless, and would just sit there and watch. Presumably he avoided women with dogs.

 

Now that I have Solo I feel even safer. He has protected me -- appropriately -- on a couple of occasions. Once he stepped between me and a drunk guy in an alley who was becoming hostile. Solo started with a stare, escalated to a growl, then when the guy didn't back off, escalated to a bark, and finally a snarl and a lunge. It was a very different reaction from the one he has toward people who frighten him: he was totally protective and totally in control of himself. The guy ran off in a hurry once Solo lunged at him, muttering something about the dog.

 

In the meantime, Fly and Skeeter were cowering behind me. Once the guy started off Skeeter popped up and yapped for good measure, as if to say, "You heard him!"

 

If someone tried to break into my apartment I think Skeeter would give the early alarm, Fly would run and hide under the bed, and Solo would provide the muscle. He isn't a big dog, although he's big for a Border Collie, but I think most intruders would think twice about a 50 pound dog with blazing yellow eyes, a deep-throated bark, and pure white teeth -- especially one that looks willing to take them on.

 

I've walked friends without dogs home before, and they commented on how much freedom of movement having dogs gives me. I do think this is a welcome side benefit of having dogs.

[AK dog doc]

Yikes, Melanie - that is REALLY scary, living in the eye of the storm like that, especially with the escalation to murder. Although I personally think Solo has a certain presence, and the mere look of him - a serious dog, and a determined one - would give me pause, if I were up to no good. Vicki's Lena looks quite the deterrent, too - a certain intent look, not to mention the sheer handsome, imposing bulk of her.

 

This all makes me go Brrrr... creepy slouchy people skulking around and trying to get into the house. Disturbing. Haven't experienced quite these scenarios, but I did once have someone call me at work and ask to speak to me by name, supposedly selling security systems. Without knowing any better, when they asked me if I had a security system, I said, "No, I have a vicious dog." Which was true - he was only 16# (which I did not mention), but he would not let ANYONE in the house without my say-so, and would bite without hesitation anyone who attempted it, even if they were people well-known to him and people he normally liked. At any rate, after I hung up with the alleged security system people (who, for all I know, may have been legit) my boss told me "That's what you're supposed to say: either you already have a security system, or you have a vicious dog. Sometimes it's people looking to case your house so they can rob you." I admit this would never have occurred to me, and it was just my good luck that I did in fact have a vicious dog at the time. My current dogs SOUND bigger and scarier than they look, IMO; not sure what would happen if someone tried to threaten me, but I'm fairly certain that Pepper and Finn would go, and the other two would pile on if the first two started in. Kenzie is little, but she's quick and tough. Ali is actually the most likely to bite if frightened, but I bet if something happened and the other two dogs jumped on someone, he'd jump in too rather than run away. If he was by himself - not so sure.

 

Anyway, creepy cautionary tales, and probably good to be thinking about the potential for ulterior motives and malign intentions BEFORE something bad happens, so I'm glad people posted their experiences - even if they are scary. :eek: :eek:

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

My house is now inside the pasture areas, so these guys meet everyone who comes up the drive. Most people are a little nervous about this.

 

 

If they get past the Marremmas (who actually are trained to be big teddy bears even to strangers), the house is protected actively by Maggie, who it seems has decided that she's the number one guardian when I'm not around. She also protects the kids at all times - she's assigned herself Lassie-like supervisory duty 24/7 whenever possible.

 

Last summer she proved she wasn't playing around when it came to protecting the kids. I was upstairs vacuuming and the kids were in the fenced yard playing on the swingset. Suddenly I became aware that I was hearing, over the noise of the vacuum, the dogs barking at a frantic level.

 

I went to the window and looked out. There was an old shabby car parked opposite the front gate, with an even older, shabbier looking man just sitting and watching the kids. Maggie was standing as close as she could get to the car inside the fence and looking and sounding as vicious as I've ever seen her.

 

The rest of the dogs were just sort of running around barking in a vague, territorial way. But Maggie was certainly interposing herself in a way that communicated as clearly as anything, "You'll have to go through ME to get to those kids!"

 

It took less than a second to size all this up and I ran downstairs as quick as possible. Just as I opened the front door, the guy looked up and drove off.

 

I found out later that there were two kidnapping/assault attempts in my area about the same time.

[smileyzookie]

Oh my gosh Rebecca. Thank God for your Maggie. Who knows what could have happened. Thats so scary. I probably shouldnt ever have kids. Im such a worrywart, they'd be hermits lol.

[Kitch]

I grew up in the country and when I was about 12 or so, I was walking my dog (4 yo male coonhound mix) along a back country road at dusk. I lived in an area where no one locked their doors, you felt comfortable walking into anyone's houes if you needed something and the majority of people left their cars unlocked with the keys in the ignition. Not a high crime area. For a few days I had seen an old beat up car with an older scruffy looking guy driving it. I didn't think much of it besides thinking to myself that the person was not from around here. As I was walking that evening, Mugsy was exploring in the ditches along the road like he usually did. The car pulled up beside me and the guy opened the door and grabbed my arm (the ditches were deep and he evidently hadn't seen my dog). Mugsy let out a deep menacing growl and flew through the car window after the guy. He freaked and drove off with Mugsy half through the window for about 20 feet. Mugsy finally let go or lost this grip and came running back to me. That was the second time that Mugsy saved me. When Mugsy was just 4.5 months old - the one and only time he had ever ridden in a vehicle - my dad let me take him with us as we ran some errands. Everywhere we went (lumber yard, hardware store, gas station, etc) I was proudly showing off my puppy and attracting all the attention that a small kid and puppy usually do. When we stopped to get gas, my dad let me get out of the truck to walk Mugsy in the grass. A few minutes later my father said he heard Mugsy growling at a man who was talking to me. My father said something didn't seem right and as soon as my father walked up to me the guy took off (he apparently worked in the garage). Not long after that the man was arrested for the abduction and murder of a 10 year old girl (if you are from the northeast you might remember the Sarah Ann Woods case). Freaky, huh? And Mugsy was just a pup.

 

I would like to think that if push came to shove, Dublin would protect me. He has no problem jumping between me and any dogs he thinks might mean me harm, but I don't know what he would do with a person. He thinks all people are wonderful and has never had a problem with people he doesn't know just walking into my house. He has been known to bring them a toy...

[Beth G]

I honestly believe and have witnessed that our dogs can read our minds, they are that closely linked to us by their love for us.

 

So I have no doubt they can read the thoughts of these "Bad" guys. They are that intuned to their enviroment. And so they now when to act appropriately to protect us. They are truely in my eyes, God's angels.

[Aussie_Dog]

No stories from me (fortunately) but I'm certain Jake would ward off anyone. If he hears someone walking up the front steps (heck, he can tell when I'm walking up the DRIVEWAY, and once he knew when I was walking on the lawn), he starts woo-woo-wooing, which sounds pretty intimidating coming from his mouth. Then he runs for the door, still woo-woo-wooing. When I open the door, he turns into a marshmellow, wiggling and squealing and acting all happy, and I make a big deal about how he's being uncontrollable, so I don't open the screen door. People usually understand and don't looked pissed that I'm leaving them outside, lol. A couple of salespeople (for Jehovah's Witness things, I believe) and I did the same thing, kept them outside. But one of them (one woman was on the steps, the younger one stood back on the sidewalk) tried to give me pamphlets and got pushy about it, so I opened the door and Jake flew out and started jumping all over her and snuffling spit into her clothes. Then he ran to the younger woman who looked freaked, then ran back to me. Bye bye salespeople! Don't come back again! (and they haven't, lol)

 

Jake is also very sensitive to body language. Sometimes he howls at strangers seemingly for no reason. Once he barked at a young kid who was crying at the door of his house (Jake was just a pup, but the kid started crying harder anyways), once he howled and shied away from an elderly woman who was trying to pet him. And once we passed a guy who lives several houses away from us, in the back alley, and Jake got all spookish around him too. I couldn't see anything wrong with any of these people (the man was quite friendly and I knew him when I was a kid). So if someone decided to break in and grab for me, I have no doubt Jake will jump in and try to remove the arm (trust me, he'd do that. Me and my sister used to tease him by hitting each other and he always aimed for the arms, trying to hit them with his forepaws or his chest)

[emmetteabrakai]

It is good to see how deeply ingrained all of our dogs, are in our lives. I know that I wonder what my dogs will do in certain situations. I "knew" with out a shadow of a doubt that Emmette would have nailed anyone who tried to hurt me. He was fine until someone made a wrong move then he whined then growled, then lunged. It only happened once but that was enough to convince me he was serious. I'm not sure about my dogs now, they do bark and they do hang back until they are

sure of folks. But they love people when they are around them for any length of time.

I have to agree with Kitch,it is sad that the creepy slimy people of the world are so very much alive and doing well. I live out in the country , and there hasn't been any crime to speak of. For years I never locked my door, and never thought about it. I do now that I live alone, and why I'm not in any more danger now then then. But I don't have human backup and I don't feel as safe. Go figure, but it's the truth. The dogs make a big differenc no one can sneak up on me, with out them giving the alarm. I live on a very busy Highway, and lots of people stop to get directions and want to use the phone. I have a storm door that stays locked. I have learned to trust my gut feelings too. I had a man ask to borrow a Gas can once, and he followed me in to the garage. It was dumb on my part, but I did manage to pick up a pick ax, and acted like I was moving it out of the way. I don't think he was up to anything but by gut was screaming and I acted on it.

Dogs are "are" the best security device, they warn you when something is amiss, or not normal. I remember years ago there was a man and a woman, who killed a young mother of three, ( in So. Cal. Not here in Missouri) and severely injured her personal assistant. They had gone from house to house looking for a segway inside. They had been at both my neighbors houses and it was the dogs that kept them out. They didn't like any dogs, and asked at least three people to put the dogs away. This man and woman were pretending to give bids on gardening. When they couldn't get folks to put the dogs up, they forced their way at gun point at the next house that didn't have a dog, they were able to reach the front door. The woman they ultimatly killed, had no pets of anykind,.

Strangely enough it was the 19 year old girl that decided to kill them, not the young man with her. He told the police later, that they would never have ever considered a place with dogs, they were to unpredictable. The assistant lived, but did not remember ever calling 911 or any of the circumstances of her bosses' death. This was a high income, fairly exclusive neighborhood, horse property etc. Every one was edgy after that. I was so glad for my dogs. I had a huge long drive way, and you could hear the dogs from the bottom of it. I think they didn't even try my house after the others they had tried with dog. My neighbor talked to them and was able to give a detailed description of the people who came to her gate. The woman killed lived directly behind me.I don't feel as secure as when Emmette was alive. But I feel mores secure than if I just had the cats. But even they, will alert me if a car stops outside. They don't make any noice so I have to actully watch them to see what there trying to tell me.

I'm glad Laura is ok, and that we have all survied scary circumstance over the years. I think my dogs give me more confidence just by their presence.

andrea d.

[Carson Crazies]

It is scary. I think by and large the world we live in today is growing more dangerous. Then again I would imagine everyone throughout time has thought to themselves at one point or another, "These are dangerous times in which I live."

 

After pow-wowing with my neighbors we do feel they were legit (after the cops frisked them they were looking at paperwork that the driver produced. They subsequently let them go, although they made them leave), albeit skeevy, slimy, and way pushy. It is good to know that neighbors are looking out for each other, though, so that is the one good thing in this.

 

Oh, and Vickie, if I were a crook and came face to face with one of your pictured dogs, I'd probably run screaming like a school girl.

[silhouettestable]

Originally posted by sea4th:

They'd have to get past this:

Juta looks just like the dog owned by the family I boarded with during college. I could swear that they called her a Macedonion shepherd or sheepdog or something, but I've been on a website about the Caucasians before and several of the pictures looked exactly like her. Their kids named her "Fluffy" but she was a good guard dog! They were darned lucky to have her when living at their previous home (just a few miles away from the home they later moved to). The woman at the neighbouring farm was tied up and raped by one of the carny guys when the fair was in town. Probably having Fluffy is what deterred the guy from coming on the property of the family I know (where the wife and kids were often home alone). The woman who was raped saw the guy working at the fair later (it is a 10 day fair) and he was caught. Makes you think though, if not for Fluffy...

[Lunar]

I gotta say, at my parents' home - they don't have a screen door or storm door or anything - my favorite thing to do when Oreo was younger (and less inclined to be nice) was to hook two fingers under Oreo's collar. So when I opened the door she would predictably lunge at whoever was there, and my fingers would catch her partway. It really caused some spectacular effects. Every single person took a giant step back after that.

[sea4th]

Juta looks just like the dog owned by the family I boarded with during college. I could swear that they called her a Macedonion shepherd or sheepdog or something

It might have been a Sar Planina. Juta was actually born in Siberia, near Irkutsk. If I have to take a ride in a lousy neighborhood, she is always with me. Appearance is a great deterrent in itself, but Juta follows up. With me though, a bigger baby you'll never find.

 

I had her spayed recently. I stayed with her while she went under. Before she was totally out, she gave one last glare and growl at the vet.

[Jennifer Glen]

I know what you all mean about having the dogs. I have a GSD who is protection trained (attack)-and she has earned her paycheck on more than one occasion. Before her I had another GSD who was trained. It realy helps with your confidence to know that that dog is trained to protect you. Unfortunately, she's old now and since I now work only with BCs she will probably be my last GSD. I have a BC who has beginning protection training but he's getting older too. I don't think my younger BC's would understand what to do if I was attacked. My husband travels alot so it is a little disturbing that the protective dogs are getting older. HOWEVER, since we have a kennel full of dogs in training and a house full of trained dogs (of course they are trained to herd not attack but an intruder wouldn't know that)I suppose we wouldn't be a prime target. Plus, since we are a 1/2 hr from town, a person would have to go way out of their way to bother me.

Jenny