We got a big scare today.

anatess

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Jul 26, 2011
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Usually, when I leave the house for less than a couple of hours, I leave both dogs (bulldog and bichon) in the patio. Gizmo the bichon has separation anxiety but he's been able to handle an hour, at most two, of being left alone ever since we got Bullie.

So, I leave the dogs in the patio, I go take kids to their activities, and less than 2 hours later, we come home. We go to the patio and Gizmo was beside himself with anxiety. He was shivering like a leaf, etc. We stand there shocked... BULLIE WAS NOT IN THE PATIO! The patio doors were still closed, nothing else was amiss except that there is no bulldog. Now, Bullie cannot open the patio doors. It's too high up. Besides, if she found out a way to get out, Gizmo would be out before she could go through the door.

The kids scoured the neighborhood looking for the dog. We were all in a panic. 30 minutes later, they come home and Bullie was waiting by the front door, unharmed, still clean (meaning she didn't go to the pond in the backyard which is usually the first place she runs to).

Now, this is already a big mystery. What's even more puzzling, my husband comes home and he usually gets the mail from the mailbox... this time, there was a big, firm, baking potato inside the mailbox.

We've been scratching our heads over it. But one thing is certain, my husband is getting a monitored security system installed pronto.
 

kazzy220

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Jul 31, 2010
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Wow .. I would be totally scared $hitless .... I'm assuming you have a gated backyard for you to leave the dogs out on the patio.

So you have to then decide if somebody took him, or he was hiding somewhere, or there is somehwere around the fenced area that he has managed to sneak in and out of. Either way... if you have a fence i would check it incredibly carefully, and then NEVER EVER leave your babies out by themselves againl

This is in no way judgemental, but I don't care if it's the most perfect weather conditions EVER and I'm ONLY leaving the house for 25 seconds ... every dog I own is in and accounted for!! NOBODY gets left behind ... because there are too many fricking lunatics out there.
 
OP
anatess

anatess

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Wow .. I would be totally scared $hitless .... I'm assuming you have a gated backyard for you to leave the dogs out on the patio.

So you have to then decide if somebody took him, or he was hiding somewhere, or there is somehwere around the fenced area that he has managed to sneak in and out of. Either way... if you have a fence i would check it incredibly carefully, and then NEVER EVER leave your babies out by themselves againl

This is in no way judgemental, but I don't care if it's the most perfect weather conditions EVER and I'm ONLY leaving the house for 25 seconds ... every dog I own is in and accounted for!! NOBODY gets left behind ... because there are too many fricking lunatics out there.

Oh no, this is not an open patio out in the yard. This is a screened-in patio - also called a Florida Room, or a lanai - that is under the roof of the house. It's really a room in the house except it is not air conditioned. When the temperature is between 40 and 75 (which, in Florida is fall through spring), we leave the french doors to the main house from the patio open all day long and only close it when we go to bed. I haven't gotten into the habit of locking the patio doors because I live on the end of a deep cul-de-sac one mile from the one and only entrance into our subdivision in an area of town that has a very low crime rate.
 
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kazzy220

..........
Jul 31, 2010
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Grafton, OHIO
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Maggie (My Angel Baby 5/31/2012). Daddy (2 years). Linus (1year). Bella (4 years)
Oh no, this is not an open patio out in the yard. This is a screened-in patio - also called a Florida Room, or a lanai - that is under the roof of the house. It's really a room in the house except it is not air conditioned. When the temperature is between 40 and 75 (which, in Florida is fall through spring), we leave the french doors to the main house from the patio open all day long and only close it when we go to bed. I haven't gotten into the habit of locking the patio doors because I live on the end of a deep cul-de-sac one mile from the one and only entrance into our subdivision in an area of town that has a very low crime rate.


If you see no obvious way for you bully to have gotton out ... and the way that somebody could have got in to Bullie is the way they would get in to your entire house then I would be EXTREMELY concerned.
 

LisaMarie

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Jan 13, 2011
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Very scary just to read. I will have to agree with [MENTION=959]kazzy220[/MENTION] not to leave them there any longer.That is wierd. But thank God he came back and was not harmed!!
 

MamaAndi

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Nov 20, 2011
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Wow that's really strange...especially the part about the potato??? People are crazy. Glad everyone is okay.
 

Watson

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Dec 9, 2011
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[MENTION=2874]anatess[/MENTION] What a freaky story...glad your Bullie came back. I would call the police too. Alot of crazy people out there
 

LariP

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Aug 4, 2010
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My teen years were spent in a very rural low crime area. My parents never locked the door and even left the vehicle keys in the ignition at night. But even rural areas can become targets of criminals. Several people had their homes ransacked while on vacation one year. My parents began locking up.

Sad that it had to happen. But you just never know. Lucky for you no real harm came to Bullie. Glad she came back safe.
 

JeannieCO

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Mar 11, 2011
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WOW scary indeed. I'm in agreement with calling the police, especially since something was left you in your mailbox, a potato, very odd. I believe, and I could be wrong, but isn't it a federal offense to tamper with a mailbox? So glad Bullie was at the front door.
 

Davidh

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Holy cow, did you guys get lucky, if in deed someone let him out and did not steal him. that would have been terrible. Plus I don't get the potato in the mail box????
anyway glad it turned out OK and he is safe.
 

KMARINO

I couldn't make this sh*t up if I tried!
Jul 21, 2010
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So weird! We have a lanie as well living here in Floirda, I was always afraid to leave Vegas out because someone could easily cut the screen. Thank god everything worked out well and both Bullie and Gizmo are ok. The potato??????????
 

Biogirl71

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Nov 5, 2010
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Cedar Rapids, IA
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That is so incredibly odd and nervewracking. I am so glad that Bullie and Gizmo are okay and glad you are beefing up your security. It might have been a prank but it was not a very funny one and there are way too many weirdos out there.
 

2BullyMama

I'm not OCD....now who moved my bulldog?
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Where the patio door(s) and window(s) locked? I would be beside myself in fear/paranoia that someone was watching the house and lurking around -- definitely call the police and log a report... just leaving the potato in the mailbox is a federal offense -- no one but a postal employee can place or remove something from mailbox (my b-i-l is a letter carrier, he told me that years ago)
 

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