I can't explain this.

youtube!

The other night we put the dogs to bed as normal around 11ish. We have two one is a very well behaved little terrier and the other is a young boisterous German Shepard cross cross breed not as big a full thoroughbred so think medium sized.

Anyway we always let the little fella sleep on his own on the bed because he can be trusted not to chew cables from lampshades or rip up quilts and pillows etc.

We have to crate the other one however because she will wreck everything in sight if we do not.

Getting to the point. Each night I open the crate door which requires me to lift a lever over to a horizontal position and push a little to engage the slider and thus pull it open (think baby gate or similar) Obviously when I open the crate the dog knows its time for bed and she goes in no problem at all, in fact I believe she feels quite snug and secure in her crate and seems to love it.

When she is in the crate I then close the door and have to again move the lever to a horizontal position, push in a little and slide over to close, in order to lock it and make it doggy proof you have to then pull the lever downwards thus locking the dog in the cage for the night. Simple but effective.

Anyway this is where it gets interesting! At about 5 am we heard a crashing banging sound which woke us up,it was coming from the dogs room.

I went to investigate and what I saw has me utterly mystified. Basically when I went to the door and opened both dogs burst out of the room in panic,They were crying and terrified. I say both dogs because the bigger animal whom I had crated the night before was OUT of the cage, not only that but the cage was closed behind her and LOCKED DOWN IN PLACE!

Now the first thing I am sure someone will say is "ah you obviously just forgot to crate the dog" and that may be a fair point except for two things.

Firstly I would never forget to do this because she is so destructive and more crucially, we found she had actually defecated in her bed within the cage, which is totally out of character for her,she is a very clean dog.

Both myself and my wife were very unnerved by this because there is no way a dog can open these things,the whole point is they are secure. We have imagined that perhaps a really clever dog could somehow open the cage but to find it locked after was really very very weird. In my whole life I have never been so utterly stumped as to how this could occur!

I am open to suggestions as to how this could happen and also if anyone else have had similar stupifying experiences?

I am pie

They were obviously frightened, poor mutts. Is there any chance there is a window, someone actually got in via a window and scared them? Was there no barking?

Weird one alright.

youtube!

There is a window alright but it is an upstairs bedroom so unlikely unless they had a ladder. No Barking atall just a crashing banging sound

I am pie

Have you had a good look at the window to see if it's been tampered with?

Was the cage the only thing interefered with?

youtube!

I am pie wrote: »

Have you had a good look at the window to see if it's been tampered with?

Was the cage the only thing interefered with?

Yes i did check out the room the window was closed and nothing else was moved or intefered with.

maccored

that sounds strange. I assume if someone broke in, solely to let your dog out, then the dogs barking etc would have woken you earlier. Has there ever been anything else strange going on or is this a complete one-off?

I am pie

Dogs have pretty limited vision but acute smell and hearing, interesting as to what triggered that level of fear. Regarding the latch, weird for sure. People would always have questioned as to how sure you are that you closed it properly, is it possible it wasn't closed, the dog was scared, shat and bolted then somehow the slamming shut door locked?

Sounds very unlikely. I'd be tempted to get a security light set up on the wall out by the window and maybe a little web cam inside.

Odd...lets us know if you crack it. Are the hounds still nervous or back on form?

youtube!

I had another good look at the cage this morning while the dog was inside.
I deliberately teased her a little with a treat to try to get her to find a way of opening up the crate.
I hope that doesn't sound a bit cruel but I was really hoping she could somehow get the cage open.

Well after a few minutes of the poor thing putting her paws every which way in an attempt to get out it became apparent that the cage is designed well...there is no way she can open it from the inside let alone close it again and lock it behind her and I suppose that's the whole point of these things,to keep your dog securely locked in.

Nothing untoward has happened before or since and the dogs are quite happy to go back into the room at night to sleep. I wish I could say the same about myself however! This is keeping me awake at night because I am a logical creature by nature and a bit of a sceptic at heart and this is just way off my radar.

I am hoping nothing else strange happens and eventually I will just forget about it but the camera is a good suggestion and it will be my next step if needed.

Kettleson

Start at 3:06.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7hJWnYgoxI

fryup

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

would that be a possible scenario with you OP?

youtube!

fryup wrote: »

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

would that be a possible scenario with you OP?

A very good suggestion! The first thing I did after watching it was to try to lift the separate the top from the bottom... Sadly though the crate does not have a detachable bottom such as the one in your video. It is all in one piece.

fryup

if you can...post a pic of your set up in the room with the crate and dogs

and maybe someone could come up with a rational explanation

celica00

dogs can be very creative if it comes to escaping, but the fact that both were so scared is a bit weird and would maybe explain some activity in the room.
Was there ever something in the house/room?
animals are very sensitive and if u are sure nobody broke in, it might have been something paranormal.
if it keeps happening, install a camera and post the outcome here

youtube!

trying to upload some pics..

youtube!

another pic of the lock, it hard to make out the detail because it is black , also just to note there are actually two locks one on the bottom and one on the top but we only ever use the top one.

I must just also mention that the other night another strange thing happened but I wont say anything yet because it may well be explainable (I sure hope so:eek:)... keep you informed..

celica00

what happened? u can also pm me

Kettleson

What breed of dog is it? What size is it? How old?

Noopti

youtube! wrote: »

another pic of the lock, it hard to make out the detail because it is black , also just to note there are actually two locks one on the bottom and one on the top but we only ever use the top one.

I must just also mention that the other night another strange thing happened but I wont say anything yet because it may well be explainable (I sure hope so:eek:)... keep you informed..

If there are two locks (one top and one bottom) then surely it is designed that way for a reason? In other words, only having one results in a crate which isn't secure and they came to that conclusion through testing/experience/customer stories with previous models? Not trying to nitpick or anything, just seems like the most likely explanation is the dog managed to escape (we have our own escape artist at home!).

youtube!

Its a fair point about the double lock and in one way it makes sense, however she has been in the cage for 2 yrs now and it is the only occasion she has managed to break out,if indeed that was what has happened. It also does not explain how she managed to lock it again..perfectly:pac:.

Someone asked what breed of dog she is ...a german sheperd cross, I think quite an intelligent animal all right.

When I stop and actually think as logically as possible I try to interpret things perhaps a little differently. For example neither dog barked or made a fuss before I entered their room , it was only when I heard the noise coming from their room and went to investigate that they seemed panicked.

However perhaps that was due in part to the fact that one of them had messed up her bed (she never done that before since she was a puppy) and was perhaps a little anxious to get out to the back garden to finish her business.

I also have to take into account that neither dog had any issue with returning to the room that night and if they were really scared by something I reckon they would not be keen to sleep there again so soon.

No one has ever died in the room or in the house as it is only 12 yrs old and we were the first owners,nothing strange has ever happened before.

I did mention another weird thing which keeps happening every night and I have not managed to figure it out yet, but the skybox turns itself off every time I nod off, (I often sleep with it on)now I know there is an auto standby function to save power on the unit but I have disabled it and yet as soon as I try to sleep I hear the familiar sound of the box powering down, this can happen several times a night. I am going to try a different box tonight to see if that makes a difference.

I do welcome everybody's input on this thread, however as I keep saying it is the fact that the cage was closed that has still has me stumped.

Noopti

youtube! wrote: »

Its a fair point about the double lock and in one way it makes sense, however she has been in the cage for 2 yrs now and it is the only occasion she has managed to break out,if indeed that was what has happened. It also does not explain how she managed to lock it again..perfectly:pac:.

My point was that she isn't unlocking it, but escaping because the bottom part isn't locked, by possibly squeezing out underneath like the video posted above. So therefore she doesn't need to lock it again after escaping.

youtube!

Noopti wrote: »

My point was that she isn't unlocking it, but escaping because the bottom part isn't locked, by possibly squeezing out underneath like the video posted above. So therefore she doesn't need to lock it again after escaping.

I am not being funny but I did already address this. Simply put the two cages are totally different. There is no chance it could be lifted up as it is a one piece unit that cannot detach ,unless the dog had an angle grinder :P

morton

youtube! wrote: »

another pic of the lock, it hard to make out the detail because it is black , also just to note there are actually two locks one on the bottom and one on the top but we only ever use the top one.

I must just also mention that the other night another strange thing happened but I wont say anything yet because it may well be explainable (I sure hope so:eek:)... keep you informed..

Could the dog have wedged the bottom half of the door open with its nose and squeezed through? I've seen my dogs try to do it, when the top lock is used on its own. The noise of the door of the cage springing closed probably is what woke you, and if your dog got stuck squeezing out, this could explain the dogs crying.

The attached photo is not my dog ( it's a screenshot of youtube video called 'gar escaping from cage'.

Kettleson

In honesty, this is more Pets Forum than Paranormal. You might well get a load of responses and possible explanations there.

I'd go with Mortons' photo as the likely explanation.

youtube!

Kettleson wrote: »

In honesty, this is more Pets Forum than Paranormal. You might well get a load of responses and possible explanations there.

I'd go with Mortons' photo as the likely explanation.

Maybe. I would like nothing more than a rational explanation as I am a rational person myself but the fact is the cage is rock solid and very well made. I tried to prise the bottom part of the gate open with the top part engaged and gave it lots of strength and even then it only opened enough to let something the size of a tennis ball through for example, even then I had to forcefully hold it open to do so. I have checked the dog over and she had no injuries or pain which she most certainly would have had if she tried to get out through the tiny gap, but the fact is she wouldn't even get her head through it,let alone her whole body. I have looked to see if the top of the cage could give way but again nothing. I am not saying it is a paranormal event but in the absence of logical explanation I don't know what to think.

Tragamin2k2

a wizard did it

Myrddin

youtube! wrote: »

I did mention another weird thing which keeps happening every night and I have not managed to figure it out yet, but the skybox turns itself off every time I nod off, (I often sleep with it on)now I know there is an auto standby function to save power on the unit but I have disabled it and yet as soon as I try to sleep I hear the familiar sound of the box powering down, this can happen several times a night. I am going to try a different box tonight to see if that makes a difference.

I had a Sky Plus box before, & the hard drive would wake & sleep quite a few times throughout the night. I think the content on the On Demand part of the drive gets refreshed/updated regularly, & maybe the drive wakes up as part of the phone home checks. It's definitely normal with those though.

Oryx

Tragamin2k2 wrote: »

a wizard did it

Please post constructively, or not at all, thanks.

Noopti

youtube! wrote: »

I am not being funny but I did already address this. Simply put the two cages are totally different. There is no chance it could be lifted up as it is a one piece unit that cannot detach ,unless the dog had an angle grinder :P

It hasn't been addressed though. You don't use the bottom lock on a crate which has two locks (for a reason). I would bet a lot of money that the dog is squeezing its way out (if not at the bottom, then at the side near the bottom) - you would be very very surprised how a dog can do this even though you think it is impossible.

If you objectively look at the possible reasons, surely the dog squeezing out because you haven't secured the crate properly as it is designed to be secured, is the most plausible. Surely?

Noopti

youtube! wrote: »

Maybe. I would like nothing more than a rational explanation as I am a rational person myself but the fact is the cage is rock solid and very well made. I tried to prise the bottom part of the gate open with the top part engaged and gave it lots of strength and even then it only opened enough to let something the size of a tennis ball through for example, even then I had to forcefully hold it open to do so. I have checked the dog over and she had no injuries or pain which she most certainly would have had if she tried to get out through the tiny gap, but the fact is she wouldn't even get her head through it,let alone her whole body. I have looked to see if the top of the cage could give way but again nothing. I am not saying it is a paranormal event but in the absence of logical explanation I don't know what to think.

That is your explanation right there, the dog is squeezing its way out, 100% sure of this. You might think it is impossible but it isn't. Look at the video posted earlier, it looks like the dog would never get its body through the gap - in fact it looked horribly sore and uncomfortable at one stage, but it wasn't.

youtube!

All things considered you are probably right, it is amazing how we can under estimate the abilities of animals to fight their way out of tight situations,it does seem impossible but maybe she did just squeeze through. She must have.
One thing I have learned from all this is to make sure we use both locks in future because otherwise we could have an injured or even worse a dead dog to deal with, thanks to you and everyone else for their help, mods move to animal and pet issues I think!

Noopti

youtube! wrote: »

All things considered you are probably right, it is amazing how we can under estimate the abilities of animals to fight their way out of tight situations,it does seem impossible but maybe she did just squeeze through. She must have.
One thing I have learned from all this is to make sure we use both locks in future because otherwise we could have an injured or even worse a dead dog to deal with, thanks to you and everyone else for their help, mods move to animal and pet issues I think!

Very good point! I would be pretty confident that she won't escape again with both locks engaged, and she won't hurt herself either - which is the main thing!