I'm a Little Spooked...

I had to be away from home most of the day today. If I have the same problem in the morning, I'll install another lock that is safer. I think I already have a spare deadbolt lock here. I can install it myself. Thanks for the idea!!!

If my cats were outdoor cats, I'd blame all this on them!!! They get into all my cabinets & even open up the fresh bags of cat food. I brought in a new bag of dog food one night & never did open it as I feed the dogs in the mornings. When I got up the next morning, not only had they tore open the top of the bag, but they had turned it on its side so they could get to the dog food inside. All the while they had a full dish of cat food waiting about 5 steps away. Dogs aren't usually as sly as cats!!!

Yep, but I don't think they know how to do it again (or they would have tried it by now). There's a spot on the door that if you hit it just right, the door pops open. I believe one of them accidentally bumped into it &, once open, they both went shopping. My brother will be adding another lock so it will no longer pop open. As I said, it hasn't happened again since then!!!

If I didn't know you, I'd be offended!!! These 2 are just as destructive when it's 100 degrees outside as they are when it's 15. The male has been like this since he was 3 weeks old. He has taken a bumper sticker off the bumper of my car. He ate the year sticker off my state tag. he pulls the vents off the side of my house. He dug up my cable company's wiring & chewed it in two. He's been like that since before I got him. He REFUSES to come inside. His wife was adopted last summer. She hates cats. I have 2 indoor cats. When it first turned cold, I tried to get him to come in & he wouldn't so I put the cats in the bedroom & brought the female inside. The male sat on the back porch & howled because he was alone. She scratched on the door trying to get back outside to him. They were both miserable. The 2 cats were scratching the bedroom door trying to get out. They were miserable too!!! I was miserable because ALL 4 of my babies were miserable. To answer your question, they have a carpeted porch surrounded by thick shrubs. They have a dog house with thick cedar shavings as a bed. They have 2 3-sided sheds with the wind blowing to the back side. They have a 4-sided shed with a flap door so no wind can get to them. All 3 sheds have a down filled bed in it. When it gets cold, they both go into the dog house & curl up together. If they broke into the garage to get warm, they didn't sleep in the garage. When I went out this morning, they both came out of the dog house. I don't like leaving them outside but they seem to prefer it. The male is a Black Lab/Boxer Hound mix. The female is Black Lab/Retriever mix. Their fur gets real thick in the winter. They are both miserable when inside. Tonight is supposed to be 20 degrees warmer. I'm just watching the garage tonight & will check it before I go to bed!!!

Thanks P1key. I'm sure the door was locked when I went to bed last night. The door knob was still locked this morning...it's just the door was opened. I really don't think the dogs would let anyone in the yard. If they did for any reason, they would be barking like crazy & I would know. Their bark is completely different when a human approaches the fence than when a dog or cat does. I don't think the dogs could have done it. Still I don't think the dogs would have let a human do it, so I'm stumped for now. I called the police department today & they said to let them know if it happens again tonight. Since it has only happened once, they aren't concerned. I don't know wtf I thought they would care!!! So tonight I'm going to check that door frequently to make sure it isn't open. YES, I'm POSITIVE it's locked!!!

ALL 4 of my furbabies are too smart for their own good!!! I usually slam the door shut, lock it with the key & then butt my rear end against it several times to make sure it doesn't pop back open. I feel sure that is what I did the last time I closed it. It has been a couple of weeks since the last time I had a need to open it & my aged brain can't remember that far back...but, I'm almost positive I followed procedure!!! My brother was supposed to come by today & look at it for me to see if he could see anything I didn't see. Unfortunately his car broke down & he never made it over. So he's coming tomorrow instead. As for the neighbor, I've toyed with the idea of cross contaminating some chicken, leave it sitting out for a few hours & then placing it in top of the freezer. Would serve him right to get a good case of Montazuma's revenge!!!

If my cats were outdoor cats, they would be the prime suspects!!! They are ALWAYS getting into cabinets & closets & anything else they can find. I have a mesh screen in my bathtub drain to catch all hair & anything else small that attempts to get down my drain. The cats were stealing it daily & playing with it...batting it all over the house. When time came for my shower it was always a treasure hunt to find the screen. So, I placed a half dozen bottles of shampoo over it. That worked well for the first week until they figured out how to double team the bottles & move them to where they could get to the screen. So I go hmmmm...rethink & decided to set a 6 pack of Coca~Cola in 20 ounce bottles on top of it. That 6 pack weighs close to 8 pounds. That lasted for about 3 days when they figured out how to bump the 6 pack off the screen & steal it again. So, now I have 2 6-packs...one directly on top of the screen & another just in front of the first. It has been over a week & they haven't figured it out yet. It's interesting to watch them working together to get over on Mommy!!! My little boy from hell, lets himself into my closets & pulls my clothes onto the floor. Then he walks our & yells at me to let me know he needs his closet tidied back up. That means he can start over. I spend a lotta time at flea markets looking for heavy items to sit in front of doors. His other favorite is my old CRT computer monitor that's too heavy for me to pick up. He loves hitting the ON button to watch the blue light come on. The outlet is behind a desk that I can't move to unplug it from the power source & the power cord is hard wired to the monitor. So, now I've covered the power button with electrical tape so he can't see the button nor the light. Staying ahead of his thought process has definitely become a challenge. My good little boy has recently started opening drawers. So far he's not pulling items out of them...but my guess is that he will!!!

If I could figure out how the dogs could do it, I'd be happy to blame it on them!!!

The door WAS LOCKED!!! I'm not sure what happened, but I WILL find out & it WILL be fixed!!! It didn't happen again last night. My brother will be by in an hour or 2 to see if he can find anything I didn't see. It will be interesting to see what he finds!!!