ward_hill
New member
From the day he came home, Buckley has loved hanging out on the porch, either watching the world of people and other animals go by or sleeping peacefully.
Most creatures draw little reaction, except for raccoons, opossum, and CATS! And, because of the feral cat colony nearby, there are lots of cats hunting and passing through our property and the adjoining ones.
Particularly at night, Buckley will go ballistic whenever a cat appears within scent range and/or sight. He jumps onto the porch railing with his forelegs hanging over and woof-woof-woofs until the cat runs away in fright, or wanders away in boredom knowing that Buckley is stuck up there. If it's before 11pm, I usually let him bark. After that time, I will quickly bring him inside, usually by grabbing his collar and leading, sometimes wrestling him through the door (last ones on the right go into the hall).
Last night, about 1am, woof, woof, woof. Out I go, grab him and start toward the door. I can't even see the cat. In an instant, Buckley broke free and hurtled toward the end of the porch, leapt up, AND WENT RIGHT OVER THE RAILING AND ONTO THE GROUND BELOW!!
In the nano second in which I'm wondering what horrible injuries he's sustained, my heart nearly stopped .... It was pitch-black, but when I looked over the side, he wasn't even there! I ran out the front door calling him. For a second, nothing. Call again, and he comes bolting toward me from beneath a stand of rhododendrons!
He followed me up the steps and into the house. He sat, I started checking him out from stem to stern. Put him in a down, rolled him over, checked all over his underneath, belly, hips, elbows, ankles(?!), feet. Then, I noticed a little blood on my hands. Frantically opened his mouth, thinking he knocked out a tooth! No, it was, literally, just a scratch on his jowl, right below the nose!
This morning, he appears to be his usual self ... gait normal, not favoring anything, and not showing any sign of pain when I reexamined all of his joints. He hasn't been weighed for a while, so I'm going to take him down to the vet for a quick exam, just to make sure I haven't missed anything.
My heart is still skipping beats just thinking about it. Has he learned his lesson? Or will he be emboldened the next time he thinks he can catch a kitty?! I'm now trying to think of a way to create a higher barrier that will fit in with the house.
This kind of excitement, I don't need! Anyone else have a flying Newf?!
Most creatures draw little reaction, except for raccoons, opossum, and CATS! And, because of the feral cat colony nearby, there are lots of cats hunting and passing through our property and the adjoining ones.
Particularly at night, Buckley will go ballistic whenever a cat appears within scent range and/or sight. He jumps onto the porch railing with his forelegs hanging over and woof-woof-woofs until the cat runs away in fright, or wanders away in boredom knowing that Buckley is stuck up there. If it's before 11pm, I usually let him bark. After that time, I will quickly bring him inside, usually by grabbing his collar and leading, sometimes wrestling him through the door (last ones on the right go into the hall).
Last night, about 1am, woof, woof, woof. Out I go, grab him and start toward the door. I can't even see the cat. In an instant, Buckley broke free and hurtled toward the end of the porch, leapt up, AND WENT RIGHT OVER THE RAILING AND ONTO THE GROUND BELOW!!
In the nano second in which I'm wondering what horrible injuries he's sustained, my heart nearly stopped .... It was pitch-black, but when I looked over the side, he wasn't even there! I ran out the front door calling him. For a second, nothing. Call again, and he comes bolting toward me from beneath a stand of rhododendrons!
He followed me up the steps and into the house. He sat, I started checking him out from stem to stern. Put him in a down, rolled him over, checked all over his underneath, belly, hips, elbows, ankles(?!), feet. Then, I noticed a little blood on my hands. Frantically opened his mouth, thinking he knocked out a tooth! No, it was, literally, just a scratch on his jowl, right below the nose!
This morning, he appears to be his usual self ... gait normal, not favoring anything, and not showing any sign of pain when I reexamined all of his joints. He hasn't been weighed for a while, so I'm going to take him down to the vet for a quick exam, just to make sure I haven't missed anything.
My heart is still skipping beats just thinking about it. Has he learned his lesson? Or will he be emboldened the next time he thinks he can catch a kitty?! I'm now trying to think of a way to create a higher barrier that will fit in with the house.
This kind of excitement, I don't need! Anyone else have a flying Newf?!