We moved to a very small town where my MIL lives. I know there's a 'bad faction' in this town, but I didn't take it too seriously as I grew up (in part) in a suburb of Flint. I found out the other day that I should never, ever answer the door with Grim kenneled.
I heard the birds going nuts, and my wife's dog was barking. I went to go see what all the fuss was about. There was a guy that had come to the door. He was driving a red pick up truck. I stuck my head out the door to find out what he wanted. He told me that he was here to disconnect our cable... and gave the name of the only cable company in town. We don't have cable. I told him this. He just stood there and said "well this is xxx address, right?" I said, "Yes, but we don't have cable." Then he said "Well, does xxx (my wife's first name) live here?" I said, "Yes, but we still don't have cable". He finally walked back to his truck.
It didn't hit me until later (this is how slow my brain works since the strokes) that he had no uniform, was driving his personal truck, and probably was NOT from the cable company. I called my wife and told her what happened. She called the cable company who confirmed that they didn't send anyone out and didn't have her name, even, in their system. I called the police to file a report.
Our rental house is in a strange place. Right on the edge of town. It's on a main road in and out of town. On one side is a hotel, and the other is an empty field. A hardware store is past the empty spot. The owner of the hardware store also owns this house. Behind us is a UAW hall that's empty. So we're kind of isolated. I had Grim kenneled at the time, and didn't let him out before answering the door. That will be the LAST time I ever open the door with him in his kennel. I will leash him and open the door. I may just not open the door at all. I got really freaked out because of this. I know Grim is young.. the point isn't to have him attack anyone. He's very dark, though...so he looks scary to those who don't know he's young. He's also handler protective already, so at the very least he'd growl and bark, especially if I'm feeling uneasy. I almost bought a fully trained PP dog, but wanted a pup to raise. I'm seriously thinking now that when Grim is older and mostly trained I will get another. My wife has already been talking about it.... but now I feel vulnerable where I never did before. Of course, I wasn't ill and out of shape before. I've learned my lesson about answering the door here. Grim serves his purpose even now... because of how he looks. He doesn't do me any good in a kennel, though.
We moved here from a very affluent town. It wasn't uncommon for me to leave the front door unlocked all day and even when I ran short errands. Crime was nearly non-existent there. I've gotten very lax about things from living there so long. I owned a house in a blue collar neighborhood, and one of my next door neighbors was a police officer. I never freaked out about someone coming to my door. Especially not when I had my pair of GSDs.
I heard the birds going nuts, and my wife's dog was barking. I went to go see what all the fuss was about. There was a guy that had come to the door. He was driving a red pick up truck. I stuck my head out the door to find out what he wanted. He told me that he was here to disconnect our cable... and gave the name of the only cable company in town. We don't have cable. I told him this. He just stood there and said "well this is xxx address, right?" I said, "Yes, but we don't have cable." Then he said "Well, does xxx (my wife's first name) live here?" I said, "Yes, but we still don't have cable". He finally walked back to his truck.
It didn't hit me until later (this is how slow my brain works since the strokes) that he had no uniform, was driving his personal truck, and probably was NOT from the cable company. I called my wife and told her what happened. She called the cable company who confirmed that they didn't send anyone out and didn't have her name, even, in their system. I called the police to file a report.
Our rental house is in a strange place. Right on the edge of town. It's on a main road in and out of town. On one side is a hotel, and the other is an empty field. A hardware store is past the empty spot. The owner of the hardware store also owns this house. Behind us is a UAW hall that's empty. So we're kind of isolated. I had Grim kenneled at the time, and didn't let him out before answering the door. That will be the LAST time I ever open the door with him in his kennel. I will leash him and open the door. I may just not open the door at all. I got really freaked out because of this. I know Grim is young.. the point isn't to have him attack anyone. He's very dark, though...so he looks scary to those who don't know he's young. He's also handler protective already, so at the very least he'd growl and bark, especially if I'm feeling uneasy. I almost bought a fully trained PP dog, but wanted a pup to raise. I'm seriously thinking now that when Grim is older and mostly trained I will get another. My wife has already been talking about it.... but now I feel vulnerable where I never did before. Of course, I wasn't ill and out of shape before. I've learned my lesson about answering the door here. Grim serves his purpose even now... because of how he looks. He doesn't do me any good in a kennel, though.
We moved here from a very affluent town. It wasn't uncommon for me to leave the front door unlocked all day and even when I ran short errands. Crime was nearly non-existent there. I've gotten very lax about things from living there so long. I owned a house in a blue collar neighborhood, and one of my next door neighbors was a police officer. I never freaked out about someone coming to my door. Especially not when I had my pair of GSDs.