I have a story about 1 of our Ridgebacks (our hero). About 9 months ago our family (wife, 2 young kids, and I) are sleeping in our home, which is thankfully in a really nice neighborhood here. Outside the house our 2 cars, parked in front of the garage (we were obviously home). The pathway leading to the entry of our home has the Security Co. sign in the flower/rock garden (obvious we have an alarm). We have a 6' wrought iron fence that surrounds our yard.
Ok... So we are all asleep in our beds... at 3:30 am we awake to hearing our Ridgeback going literally Bizirk!!! I jump out of bed to see what is the matter.. Our dog will bark at people walking down the road by our house, or if a neighbor has guests stay late she will bark as they leave... but nothing compared to what she sounded like this night.
I walked out of our bedroom, anticipating finding Belle (our dog) barking at the front door... As I rounded the corner there is Belle, going NUTS! barking (frothing, etc) at the stairs leading down to the basement.
Realizing this is not good... I quickly go back into our bedroom and get a 12 gauge shotgun. I return to the hallway that only leads to my bedroom and our kids bedroom, I tell my wife to get the phone, get in the kids bedroom and call the police.
Belle is still going CRAZY. We wait for the police to arrive. The dispatcher tells us the police are outside, that a window in the basement is open, and that the police are coming to the front door. The dispatcher asks that we gain control of Belle and put the Shotgun away....
The Officer comes inside (1 stays outside)... After telling the officer that NO window should be opened. He and I go downstairs, his gun and flashlight out, I see the open window (freaky).. The basement secure, we go to take a closer look at the window, and see a huge muddy footprint on the couch (more freaky).. He was in the house.
I think Belle was sleeping on the floor near the couch... the guy slid open the window (my fault for not having it locked) quite enough to not wake Belle.. but when he came in and stepped on the couch, that woke her and she went crazy...
The thing: The kids slept through the ENTIRE thing... innocence preserved!
Long story short... We love Belle.
