Thank Heavens That Paula Hates Strangers!

Hi all,

For the very first time since I have had Paula, I was grateful on Thursday that she is very wary of any strangers that come to the house. To set the scene, my house is on about an acre. The house stands in the middle of the land and the whole of the perimeter is fenced with chain link. There is a double gate that is closed with a chain and clip which is on the inside of the gate. I have very few close neighbours and no-one ever walks past the house - only cars driving past. The fencing that is on the roadside is not see through, so a car whizzing past would not notice my little dog out in the garden.

Anyway, on Thursday I was inside the house working on the PC as I usually do, with the back door open so Paula could play out, when I heard Paula bark a little. Now that is unusual in itself but, as I was expecting my son to call, I didn't get up to see if anyone was around. After a minute or two and my son hadn't appeared, Paula had gone quiet so I got up and went out of the back door and around the side of the house to see what Paula was up to.

She was standing (in flight mode) watching a rather large middle aged lady fiddling with the gate chain whilst trying to encourage Paula to come to her. Fortunately, Paula will not greet anyone with enthusiasm (unless they bring a playmate for her). So, I said to the woman 'Can I help you?' She looked at me, then turned away without saying a word, got into the passenger side of a car that was parked near my gate and drove off!

The only reason that I can think of was that she was trying to pinch my Paula! Why else would she not say a word to me when only seconds before she was trying to get Paula to come to her? I can not come up with another explanation.

So, this is the one and only time that I have been grateful for Paula's reluctance to be friendly when anyone comes to the house!

Be on your guard - I most certainly am now!

Karen

omg that's awful, clever girl, how bout some cctv fakes by the gate incase the woman comes back

fake cctv sounds like a good idea, or maybe covering the gaps in the gate with wood, so no one can see in through it :b

sounds like a lucky escape to me, scary though, i think i probabily would be calling the police about it to, just incase they come back

That is a great idea to install cctv. The good thing about it is that cctv is relatively inexpensive these days.

I thought that maybe I was perhaps making more of the incident than was necessary, but I can't think of another explanation for what happened.

I didn't go to the Guards (irish police) because I absolutely know what the reaction would be.

"Nothing was stolen? You just saw someone talking to your dog? Let us know if something goes missing" The laughter would be ringing in my ears as I left the Guarda Station and I would be labelled as 'that nutty English woman'.

In most cases, dogs are unimportant over here - they are farm animals and allowed to roam freely. A lot of dogs have never even seen inside the house, let alone sat on the sofa in front of a nice warm fire - whatever the weather!

So, in this case, I think extra vigilance will be my main course of action.

Please be on your guard, apparently dognapping is not as rare as I thought it was.

Karen

:rant: bloody dog thieves paulas a lucky girl :sweating: dun think anybody would try get my gate open once my lot start barking at em lol sound like a pack of savages if anybody try my gate :-

Well done Paula :thumbsup:

oh what a good good girl some people really are sickening :angry: might be worth telling the police, its worth putting up with any laughter if this information might save a dog from being stolen, or get one who has been stolen home sooner with a description :unsure:

I think you've had a lucky escape and thank God your gate is properly locked and not just on a latch. The woman can't have been after anything but your dog - how horrible.

My daugher and I took Gracie to a fun show some weeks ago, wandered round with her and she won a class. A lad in his early 20's took an interest in her, very complimentary and quizzed me about her breeding and whether we coursed her. It was quite a big event but everywhere we walked we bumped into him and his friends and it just became too much of a coincidence. In the end I was so spooked that we packed up and went home.

Glad nothing bad came of it. Thank goodness she barked!

Your house sounds great by the way! :b

Can we have a description of this middle aged woman ,who was after your dog please .

Dar Khan said:

Can we have a description of this middle aged woman ,who was after your dog please .

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I live in Co Roscommon in Rep of Ireland, so it is doubtful that this woman will be in your neck of the woods.

But, if anyone is in Ireland - I didn't really take notice of all the things I should have except that she was a heavy-ish woman, with brown frizzy hair.

She wore a dark coloured coat and was a tad scruffy. That's all I can tell you really because it wasn't until she had gone that I began to think of the implications.

Anyway, Paula is safe here with me - thank goodness!

She is a really funny girl - if anyone talks to her in the street she makes herself 3 inches tall so she can hide and they can't see her. But when I take her with me to the race track (my son is a greyhound trainer and I sometimes take dogs racing for him) she absolutely basks in all the attention! Maybe dogs can tell who are 'dog' people and who aren't.

Karen

i had something weird like this happen a while back.

I was walking Digit in the private park (which is really quite small and securely fenced all the way round) He had got a little bit ahead of me and when I turned the corner a man was walking towards him with a lead in his hand.

When he saw me, he stuffed the lead in his pocket and turned away without speaking.

Now, like you I have no proof whatsoever that he was trying to steal my dog but:

why would he be walking towards him with a lead (the park is so small and secure that any dog in there is likely to belong to someone)?

if he was just being altruistic, not knowing that the park is fenced and thinking that Digit was lost, why would he furtively stuff the lead in his pocket when he saw me?

why would he not know that the park is secure - he would have had to use a key to get in?

I also didn't report it as I didn't think my 'funny feeling' about a man acting oddly near my dog would be any kind of priority for the police..........but try as I have, I can't think of any reasonable explaination for his behaviour (except for the obvious conclusion that he was trying to steal Dij)

and I think it's the same with Paula - if the woman had any kind of benign interest in your dog, she would have chatted to you when you came out of the house wouldn't she? I know I often talk to people's dogs (particularly if I spy lovely whippets through fences) but if I got copped i would immediately be explaining that I was just saying hello and be saying what a lovely dog you have there ..... getting into a car without a word confirms her motives as far as i'm concerned.

I think you've had a very lucky escape - thank goodness Paula doesn't go up to strangers eh!

urchin said:

i had something weird like this happen a while back.I was walking Digit in the private park (which is really quite small and securely fenced all the way round) He had got a little bit ahead of me and when I turned the corner a man was walking towards him with a lead in his hand.

When he saw me, he stuffed the lead in his pocket and turned away without speaking.

Now, like you I have no proof whatsoever that he was trying to steal my dog but:

why would he be walking towards him with a lead (the park is so small and secure that any dog in there is likely to belong to someone)?

if he was just being altruistic, not knowing that the park is fenced and thinking that Digit was lost, why would he furtively stuff the lead in his pocket when he saw me?

why would he not know that the park is secure - he would have had to use a key to get in?

I also didn't report it as I didn't think my 'funny feeling' about a man acting oddly near my dog would be any kind of priority for the police..........but try as I have, I can't think of any reasonable explaination for his behaviour (except for the obvious conclusion that he was trying to steal Dij)

and I think it's the same with Paula - if the woman had any kind of benign interest in your dog, she would have chatted to you when you came out of the house wouldn't she? I know I often talk to people's dogs (particularly if I spy lovely whippets through fences) but if I got copped i would immediately be explaining that I was just saying hello and be saying what a lovely dog you have there ..... getting into a car without a word confirms her motives as far as i'm concerned.

I think you've had a very lucky escape - thank goodness Paula doesn't go up to strangers eh!

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The wrong sort of person as described here need ,smashing up no two ways about it .

People stand and watch others scream help whilst they are getting mugged in the street .We all have to stop this in our own world .Keep the faith and dont have it ! we will get there before they ruin the planet .

What a shame you didnt get the car reg number.

Very scary for you , mine dont run up to strangers either, so I have no fear of any one taking one of the gang

Years ago I was at an exeption show when some one showed an interest in my greyound Barty . I gave him a `wrong`tel number ` Just to get him to leave me alone :lol:

If they ask questions I tell them they dont chase and /or are very slow -_-