Usually dogs over a certain age sleep through the night. Not this bitch; never has… probably never will. I’ve tried pretty much everything, from taking her water bowl away by 6:00p to feeding her dinner at 4:00p. Nothing works; she always wakes in the middle of the night and needs to go out. Well, roughly 90% of the time.
Amazingly enough, I’ve gotten used to it and I don’t even curse any more. While not a blessing, more times than not I’ve gone outside to an incredible sky and I look up, enthralled, while she takes care of business.
This morning at 4:20a she woke me again. Carefully. She’s learned that much. I rolled out of bed and stumbled to the door, still asleep. Grabbed her collar and navigated us both to the gate. I can’t just open a door and let her out; we have no back door, only a side door. We suck.
So she went around the side of the house where I couldn’t see her and soon the sounds of her growling and an ‘erk’ reached my ears. Not able to tell what the hell has happened and if she made the sound, I started for the side. Before I could move two steps a small figure bolted around the corner, keeping to the fence line. It followed the fence on three sides, going all out, until it reached the gate, evidently its entry point. Finding it now closed, the thing burst through it, leaving the gate standing ajar. No, it wasn’t closed well, as I hadn’t anticipated a wild animal charging it at 4:25a! The night being a dark one, I couldn’t see that the gate was open.
Bree, who up to this point had been completely nonplussed by the events, went to the place where the gate was supposed to be…. then she went through it. Understanding that the gate was no more, I of course yelled for Bree and hoofed it for the gate. But when I got to the side door, there she stood.
For the first time in her short life, she had done what she was supposed to do when loose; gone to the door. She waited for me, ears back, tail tucked… and I hugged her with a great deal of relief.
Can you imagine me running down the street at 4:30 in the damned morning, screaming after a dog?
When we came in Bree was checked thoroughly for any wounds, something I learned to do early on with my Dachshunds, who aren’t afraid to mix it up with any other creature on the planet. She was clean, just a tad confused. She loves to chase and curse the canal rats, when they venture onto the property… but this was not a rat, and she was simply curious about it.
It wasn’t a cat for sure. Not a rabbit, or I don’t believe so. I’ve seen rabbits running and they have a distinctive gait. Having never seen a raccoon or possum run, I can’t say for sure that it was one of those or not… but it was fast. I have witnessed a coon stand to its full height and tell a dog to get lost… and usually a possum would just feign death.
So what the hell was it?
The picture is bad, I know. Looks like it has acne or something. It was taken before I did the firmware upgrade to my new [not sure I'm keeping it] camera.
25 Comments
Apparently more than I thought!
See…she CAN be a very good girl.
But that’s a little more excitment than I like at that time of the morning…..
Yeah, me too!
Raccoons look like fat cats running over speed bumps, that’s the best I can explain it…. their rears bump up and down when they run. Possums are a little sleeker, with a smoother gait, but they also look like fat cats running…. but a possum would go over the fence entirely. Probably a raccoon.
Good Bree!
It must have been a raccoon, then… but it was running so fast and the night so dark I couldn’t see well. Dangit.
I’m still proud of Princess Breagha today.
That is so awesome she went right to the door. My dogs all know to come back… well, most of them. Tatum and Muffit don’t know it quite so well yet, but coming always means treats and fun. Even the most careful person’s dogs can get out.
Once when we just had the three smooth blue collies one of our doors blew open (it’s always locked now) and they all went off for a walk down the street. Fortunately they were only about four houses down when I found out and went outside for them. They all came happily back and said “we had a fun walk Mom where were you?”
I’m so glad they came right back!
Since we live on a semi-busy street it’s a constant concern… and though she learned recall, when there’s a cat running from her… well, it’s hard for a young dog to contain herself.
Our old Collie, Tess, would never leave the yard, I don’t care if there were 30 cats across the street. Or squirrels. LOL!
Your pack is very well trained!!
4:20????
Is Bree a pothead???
Er… no. I don’t think so.
Good dog, Bree! You tell that critter to keep out and stay out!
I love raccoons. Then again I’m weird. But you already knew that. Actually, I love raccoons because my babysitter from when I was really little had one. And I got to hold it and pet it and love it and call it George. Yeah, George.
Still doesn’t do you any good when you were scared half outta your skull at 4 in the a of m, does it?
Mrs. Who, she was mainly asking what the critter was…
I miss Bugs Bunny! Why don’t they run GOOD cartoons anymore? Though I am also partial to Spongebob and Fairly Odd Parents, my heart is still with Looney Tunes. And the Flintstones, Jetsons, Scooby… but the Smurfs? They can go smurf themselves. I always hated those little blue bastards.
Glad this came up; I need to order Bugs on DVD!
ANYway, I’ve nothing against raccoons.
It was probably the VC (Viet Cong) probing your perimeter. Put out some claymore mines and tangle-foot wire. Trip flares are always good to have! Make sure all weapons are clean and ready to fire! If your dog is scared of fireworks, I’d keep him or her inside, and have plenty of poop cleaning supplies on hand. You don’t have neighbors do you?
OMG!
OK, that was the best comment of the day. Month. Hell, maybe the year!
Hey, even my 8 month old daughter has started sleeping through the night!
Our dogs, Simon (and Max when he was here) were very good about staying where they belonged, gate or no gate. One time my MIL accidentally left the gate open and didn’t realize it and took my son for a walk while the dogs were in the yard. She came back to find them both sitting right outside the gate waiting for her to come back.
…but they were older, right?
Bree is growing up, slowly but surely. I hope that she’ll be as good as Simon and Max one day… cross your fingers, k?
Good dog, Bree! No matter what, cornering a wild animal, no matter what it is, isn’t a good idea. Seems like Bree knew that, but it sounds like you might’ve come close to getting into it with that..thing…Pam! Yikes!
Scary, isn’t it? I was lucky it didn’t run up my leg, I guess…!
I think she’d corner a rat; she hates them… but anything else… nah.
Pam, yes, around 5 when that happened.
…and Bree’s only a year and a half old. She’s getting better, really she is…
…. I’m betting chupacabra…… maybe a baby one…. or a midget one……..
…. I saw a show the other day that said they liked to wander around at night looking for goats….. and if it were a small enough chupacabra, it might have thought that Bree was a itty bitty goat….
… hey, these things happen, you know?…. I saw it on TV….
I think the south Americans invented the chupacabra so they’d have something to blame when goats went missing.
But hey, I don’t discount anything. Coulda been a chupacabra.
We saw a few armadillos in Florida, and yes, they move fast.
Thanks for the info! Just the thought of an armadillo running makes me laugh… wish I could have seen what it was; the list of wildlife is growing.