Mister Is Being Weird

[want4rain]

so i usually kennel Mister if i will be gone for longer than 20 minutes but almost daily when i pick Cailyn up from school, (3 miles down the road) i leave him out.

today i had to run her lunch by the school. i kenneled him while i was out earlier (about an hour?? maybe a little less), came home, let him out, played with him and the kid for a bit, made a phone call, made her lunch and then packed Jeffrey up to take it to her. i patted Mister on the head, asked him to keep the stupid, defenseless cats safe (cause you know they are ) and left.

when i returned home (15 minutes??? MAX!!) he growled at me walking in the door before he could see me. when i opened the hall door he had his hackles up. he relaxes when he saw me. when i saw him, i quite calmly and impassively closed Jeffrey in the hall bathroom and then inspected the house. other than checking the house and closing Jeffrey in the bathroom, none of my actions were different, i petted him the same, said the same things to him as i would had nothing been different.... we are very careful not to feed unreasonable barking which is why i had the deadpan face. he is the kind of dog who barks cause he wants you to look out the window with him.

anyway, half the cats were in the same spot, nothing looked out of place... we were OBVIOUSLY not home so i doubt someone would have come and knocked. neither of the phones had missed calls.... i couldnt find anythign that would have caused him to react this way.

since i got home he has growled at the back door 3 times, hunkered down each time i walked past him, looked at me like 'dont you get it you stupid broad?!?!' almost nonstop.... i just dont know what to make of this!!

i know he is trying to tell me something and im just wondering if my paranoia of someone entering the house when we arent here is blinding me to what??? i dont know.

any thoughts??

-ashley

[danaekitty]

Creepy!
One time when my beloved Healy was still alive and I was living on my own in Belleville, I came home and he was sitting on the end of the couch STARING at the closet. I didn't think anything of it for about a half hour, but later he was stil staring so hard, so I opened it and my exboyfriend (crazy jealous Jon) was hiding in the closet! He'd let himself in while I was at work and was hiding out waiting to see if I was going to bring any boys home. He's insane like that. Obviously we're no still together.
Probably there was an animal hunkering around your back door, maybe it's made a home nearby and Mister can sense it always there. That's the only reasonable explanation, ESPECIALLY if the cats hadn't noticed anything amiss.

[want4rain]

im sorry Danae, i dont mean to giggle but maybe its the nerves???

i broke down and called my neighbor, i dont remember if you guys remember her at all?? things havent gotten any more civil but her dogs arent barking much anymore.

so i called her after i stepped out with Mister and he gave that alarm bark with the stiff legs?? she said she heard it and was alarmed herself. she knows Mister doesnt do things like that unless its just not good. she said her dogs hadnt noticed anything strange but two other neighbors have seen coyotes in the area. Chris came out and said he has seen a really large fox. hopefully thats it.

-ashley

[danaekitty]

OH MY!!!
Are your cats indoor cats, hopefully?
Where do you live that there are coyotes and foxes...and what's the deal with your neighbour, do you have a thread link I can read some background?

[Kristin7]

omg danaekitty! your ex sounds like a freak, yikes. I would have hit the roof.

be careful out there.. one time while hiking I thought I saw a large fox, but when I was able to see more of the animal's body I realized I was staring at a mountain lion.

[want4rain]

http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=42133

i think i also started an 'update' thread at some point. its been a nightmare with the dogs barking and all that but she was laid off a few months ago and since then, the dogs have been really quiet. we had one day (it would happen every few weeks) where the dogs would bark from long before we got up in the morning until 10-11pm. the last time that happened we called the cops at 9pm. the kids had been in bed for an hour and were still awake from it. since it was an animal disturbance, AC was suppose to call us right back but never did. ive actually been very very upset, our OTHER neighbors dogs got out, she called AC and they were AT HER HOUSE on saturday at 4:30.

whats so frustrating abotu that???? the fact that we spent MONTHS making complaints about her dogs barking, got video footage... called the sheriffs department.... filed a police report.... THEN we had two untagged strays show up at the house on a WEDNESDAY at 4:00pm. it was already "too late in the day, could you guys either keep them at your house or take them to the shelter?" i asked the woman on the phone if there was any particular reason why we faithfully pay our taxes and hung up. i was afraid i would say more and use bad words.

its really frustrating to put so much effort into soemthign and get no response and then see the source of your own personal daily harassment ask them to jump and they say how high.




i thread jacked my own thread!! all of my cats are indoors and Mister is mostly indoors also. he has a run outside but he doesnt spend any quality time in it. its not really big enough.

we live in a historical city with a resident count (as of the 2000 census) of 5446 people. just in the outskirts anyway. we are a rather sprawling population. we have one of the smallest lots in our 70's built community at an acre and a half. the rest are all 3 or more acres (unless you look at the blemishes popping up... those little cookie cutter communities dont count!!)

i dont think the neighbors saw a coyote, i think its that giant fox thats been spotted. Chris said he is, without a doubt, positive it was a fox. he almost hit it on a road near here... a few times. good thing his car handles well.

-ashley

[Love4himies]

Dogs don't lie, I would be worried that somebody was in my back yard if my dog was acting like that.

I find with my cats, they don't react to what is outside (except for other cats and prey), only if somebody comes into the house, unlike dogs who have an instinct to protect.

[Love4himies]

Originally Posted by want4rain

http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=42133
i asked the woman on the phone if there was any particular reason why we faithfully pay our taxes and hung up. i was afraid i would say more and use bad words.

-ashley

Can I quote you when I call the township office? I live in a rural community also and pay big taxes for no services.

[danaekitty]

I'm glad things calmed down with your neighbour.

How was Mister last night? Any strange occurances?

[want4rain]

yeah, heck of a storm came through. it was bad enough to evacuate the kids from the 2nd story. Mister was pretty upset about it. otherwise, no weirdness. i have our heating and air guy coming out today. im going to ask him, when he calls, to just come into the back yard and make a little noise to see how he reacts to it.

i must say, i have much more faith that my scared-of-puppies dog is capable of alerting us to danger near the house.

L4H, its all yours. would you like the unsaid stuff too??

as for the more peaceful situation with our neighbor... thankfully she can realize that for neighborhood safety, differences need to be set aside.

-ash

[CyberKitten]

Oh my, that is scary! Dogs are usually perceptive- something upset him. It could be a fox as your husband believes but Mister has at least warned you ahead if time to be on guard. Some dogs will not bark - depending - but many will -if they feel there is a threat to their home and people so I would listen to him. He was obviously (in my opinion for what it's worth, lol) sending you some signal but like me, your fluency in dog is not perfect and you don't get his every nuance. His breed of dog may be more sensitive too. (As a child. our fox terrier barked at almost everyone she did not know. My brother's choc lab would invite any visitor in for tea and ask him to play ball, lol) So, Mister may be more sensitive and in tune with his surroundings and maybe that is good, given where you live.

All that said I can still only guess too though. My thought is that it is s strange person or some animal that scares him. (ad foxes and wolves do qualify there).

Glad things are better with the neighbours.

[Jim Hall]

I would bet a paycheck mister saw or smelled something not of his pack


and your dog language skills are right on

[want4rain]

so i thought i heard someone knocking earlier, checked the door and no one was there. creeeeeeeeepy!!

later in the day the heating and air guy came by to change the filter on the system and give it a good glance.... i had to go out of the house a few times so i missed a lot of the house stuff going on.

i had a thought earlier though.... we had a wood pecker living in the outside of the wall last year. i wonder if thats not what the issue was?!?!?! wouldnt that be funny?!?! im an animal lover and an avid bird watcher but this sucker had a death wish. i can only imagine (if thats the culprit) how horrible that had to be for Mister hearing someone torment him by 'knocking on the door' for the whole time his pack was away from the house!!! poor fella!!

ill give it a week and see. the last two days would ahve deterred even the most persistent pecker. maybe tomorrow will show some noise??

ill keep ya posted!!! hope thats all it was though!

-ashley