What's the point of having a dog

[Dookus]

if I hafta go in the kitchen and chase out the raccoons myself!

A little while ago I heard the tell-tale *crunch* *crunch* of a raccoon stealing dog food. Tucker was sitting right here next to me, wide awake. I had to go in the kitchen and chase off the little bandit.

Friggin' dog won't even protect his own food.

[XanaDUer]

1. Racoons are scary

They are like cats with thumbs.

You cannot expect an innocent little dog to attack them!

[frylock]

12. you don't realize how scary they are..

until you are rousted from your tent in the middle of the night, still half-drunk, to the sounds of something rifling through your cooler. The little bastards ate all my eggs and most of my nightcrawlers! After I got them away from the cooler, closed the lid, and put a large rock on it to deter any further thievery, the ring leader walked around behind my tent and stood on his hind legs. He musta been 8 feet tall.. well at least at seemed that way at the time. He stood mere inches away from where my head would be when I went back in to lie down. You try falling back asleep with that going on!!

[seabeyond]

18. the bear clawing at my tent did it to me

got into our chest and ate the fish and drank the coke

refuse to sleep in a tent since. i get the trooper

[frylock]

19. jeez!! the last thing you wanna deal with while camping..

is a bear all jacked up on Coke, or any caffeinated beverage for that matter!

[driver8]

27. They are mean little bastards, too.

Racoons can do a lot of damage to a dog. I read somewhere that when racoons were being chased by dogs, one of the preferred methods they used to take care of the dog was to lure them out into the water and drown them.

They are cute, but dangerous!

[Redneck Socialist]

2. Ummmm, you have raccoons in your KITCHEN!?

Ummmmmm, :wtf:

Also, get a meaner dog.

[Dookus]

4. ah yes

It's been an ongoing problem for years. They come in through the cat door. So I got a cat door that required a magnet around the collar, but they STILL learned how to open it (by pulling on the door instead of pushing). So they come in, I chase 'em, it's all great fun.

And yeah, my dog's a big baby.

[angstlessk]

6. That is truly funny, raccoons are smarter than the people who create

devices to keep them out. A raccoon that can figure out how to circumvent protections against raccoons. Seems we should be sending our IT jobs to the forrest instead of India?

[XanaDUer]

7. It's their thumbs

they are brilliant, too.

[Redneck Socialist]

9. Figured it must have been a pet door

At least I hoped it was a pet door issue.

My parents had a garden when I was a kid and one year they made an attempt to grow corn but the coons kept getting into it. So my dad put out a big have-a-heart trap and one morning he goes out early and sees a big coon sitting on top of the trap eating an ear of corn. He gave up on growing corn at that point.

They are smart little buggers that's for sure.

[driver8]

28. I have a similar story regarding raccoons in the kitchen...

I live in Los Angeles and used to live up in the Hollywood Hills with a couple of friends. We had a dog and a doggy door for my roommate's Basset hound. The hound slept with me in my room and when I got up in the morning, he would go out.

So one morning I let him out, and I hear him whining by the door. I go downstairs to check it out and the bag of dog food is wedged in the doggie door, so our dog couldn't get out.

I start looking around and see little footprints everywhere. Then I looked in the water bowl and saw that something had been washing it's food. It then hit me -- a racoon came in and had a little snack. He liked the dog food so much he tried to steal it by taking it out the doggy door and it got stuck.

I thought that was pretty damn funny.

[B Calm]

49. A long time ago I had a raccoon in my apartment kitchen.

I was asleep in the middle of the night and heard sounds in the kitchen, When I turned the kitchen light on, the fresh loaf of bread I had just bought earlier was ripped open and something had been eating it. At first I thought, oh my god this aparment building has rats. The next night I caught the bandit trying to open the rear door at the end of the stairway. I was relieved it wasn't rats. Instead of just having a bolt lock I added a good door lock on the old wooden screen door and never had anymore problems.

[Liberal In Texas]

3. That was funny.

My doggie wouldn't let ANY critter get her food with out at least barking and scowling.

Of course she's a big coward, and would come to get me to chase the coon out of there.

[Skink]

5. Well first off you named it Tucker.....

How about Carville. And not the ice cream.

[mondo joe]

8. You should just have pet racoons instead.

Now there's efficiency!

[Dookus]

10. Your ideas intrigue me

and I'd like to subscribe to your newsletter.

[Seabiscuit]

11. If you like dogshit all over the house and yard, get a dog.

If you enjoy buying new carpets every six months, get a dog.

If you enjoy watching the mortified faces of guests whose legs your dog is humping, get a dog.

If you enjoy the disgusted expressions of guests while your dog is licking and slobbering all over them, get a dog.

If you enjoy the police visiting your house at night once a week because your dog is barking in the backyard and really pissing off your neighbors, get a dog.

If you enjoy seeing the chewed up faces of children around the neighborhood, get an attack dog.

Otherwise, get a cat - at least they're civilized!

(from a cat lover)

[Dookus]

13. I have a dog and three cats

He doesn't shit in the house - I trained him.
I don't have carpets - got hardwood floors.
My dog doesn't hump guests - I trained him.
He doesn't slobber over guests - I trained him.
He doesn't bark at night because a) he's not out in the yard and b) I trained him.
He doesn't attack children because a) it's not his nature and b) I trained him.

[Seabiscuit]

14. Good for you. Wish some of my neighbors were as courteous.

[Dookus]

16. well I think it's silly

and pretty dumb, to be honest, to judge all dogs based on your one experience.

[Seabiscuit]

20. I'm not judging dogs. I'm judging many experiences with many people

owning many dogs.

[Susang]

15. Go Tucker!

I have a dog and a cat myself and they love each other madly. Both are intelligent and cute in their own ways and my cat is far more dangerous than my dog, as he attacks anything that moves.

[bloom]

42. our cat attacks our dog

sometimes the dog growls at the cat if she gets close to the dog's food - but the cat will bite the dog for no reason.

The cat also seems to be untrainable as far as getting on table, etc. Other cats I've had have not be near the problem this one is.

[hlthe2b]

17. ???????????????

It sounds like your dog was sending you a message....!! Maybe you truly better stick with the cat...

[Seabiscuit]

30. I've never owned a dog.

My parents owned one for years, a well-trained golden retriever.

If you've ever handled severe dog-bite cases involving mauled children, as I have, it makes you think twice about certain breeds and about irresponsible dog owners.

My original post was mostly tongue-in-cheek. Sorry it wasn't obvious.

[LeftPeopleFinishFirst]

41. Well cats are capable of malicious acts too.

When I was six, a friend's cat jumped on me when I simply tried to pet it, and I had a huuuuge scratch along my cheek that took about a month to heal.

So it's not just dogs.

We have two dogs and they've never hurt anybody.

:shrug:

[Blue Diadem]

44. I agree

I love both dogs and cats, however, I have had many many more injuries from cats that I have from dogs. Yes, my 110 lb dog as a 1 yr old in training, once pulled me down the street on my face on the ice, but I've also spent 3 days in the hospital and 2 wks on IV antibiotics from a cat bite.

[Seabiscuit]

46. The difference is injuries from dogs are far more severe than from cats.

Especially to children. And especially from attack breeds.

[Blue Diadem]

47. I understand what you're saying,

I was speaking from my own experience. I'm not denying the fact that there are many serious injuries and deaths from maulings.

Small dogs and cats can do their own amount of damage though, it's just not deadly..unless you get a bad infection, then it has a potential to be so.

[hlthe2b]

50. Sorry to hear about your bad experiences, but glad you've also had

at least one good one (parent's golden). I've had so many wonderful dogs in my life, I want everyone to experience what I have. I consider them a real treasure.

But I know what happens when assholes breed dogs for their vanity or abuse them. Like abused kids who become violent as adults, abused dogs will usually eventually fight back or might injure a child. I find both situations to be wrenching.

[sepia_steel]

26. Wow.

Be mad at the people who don't train them, not the dogs. Mine is an angel.

[Seabiscuit]

29. My point entirely. I have nothing against dogs. Just bad dog owners.

[Scout1071]

38. Wow......see, I'd say that if you want to have your house smell like

Cat shit and urine......get a cat.

If you want your carpet and floor boards permanently urine soaked...get a cat.

If you want your furniture destroyed.....get a cat.

If you want dead birds and mice dragged to your front door or in the house....get a cat.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of both, just thought your list was a little harsh. Barking, humping and all that are really the fault of the owner. Untrained dogs can really be a pain in the arse. But most are gentle, loyal, behaved, loving animals who provide endless companionship and joy.

[MidwestMomma]

21. Maybe he's a socialist and doesn't believe in food ownership

Just sayin :)

[EFerrari]

22. There's humanism for you. Expect a perfectly good dog

to risk serious vet bills by confronting a mob?

Hey, does he also do your bookkeeping ? :)

We have a Lab and 7 cats. My dog stands in line to drink her own water.

[ikojo]

37. As the dog should....your lab completely understands her

position in the pet/animal hierarchy.

CATS RULE!!!

[Ladyhawk]

23. I love raccoons. :)

I raised three of them when I was a kid. They are feisty and formidable, so I think your dog must be pretty smart. A coon could whip most dogs one on one. :)



^^^The first raccoon I raised. Josh was his name. :)

[Dookus]

24. I like them, too

but just not in my kitchen. I know he's run a few off in the past just by barking at them. But he's just such a terrible watchdog that he doesn't even notice when somebody or something comes in.

When I come home from work, I have to wake him up to say Hi to him.

[Ladyhawk]

25. I wouldn't care for them in my kitchen, either.

My rabies shots are not up-to-date. Seriously. I got bitten by a raccoon a few years ago and the shots only protect you for two years. :)

[Stop_the_War]

36. Don't raccoons have rabies? n/t

[bloom]

31. That happened with me last year.

Except my dog did chase it once she realized it was there.

[Nikia]

32. My dog growls and chases everything

Rabbits, squirrels, raccoons, other dogs, deer, insects...
He is just a little American Eskimo but he feels that he has to protect us from all sorts of wild creatures even that scary fly.

[baldguy]

33. I had a bat flying around in my house.

Zelda the dog was sitting right next to my when it went flying by right in front of us - she didn't even notice it. I knew I had a box someplace to trap it with, so I got up to look for it. I expected Zel to chase and bark her head off at the intruder. Instead she followed me around, wondering what was going on.

When I finally found the box, *I* had to hunt down the bat, too. It wasn't flying around anymore, but hanging on one of the front windows. I boxed it and brought it outside. Stupid dog still didn't know what was going on.

[amazona]

34. raccoons are scary!!!

And sometimes they have distemper. I'd let you chase the raccoons yourself too. :-)

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[welshTerrier2]

35. it's quite simple really

the point of having a dog is that they teach humans about unlimited love and fidelity ... my dog tells me that once we humans get the basics down, there will be other great lessons to follow ...

[arwalden]

39. Are They Aggressive? Do Raccoons Attack? Do They Carry Rabies?

Coming up next on America's Funniest Home Videos... WHEN-RACCOONS-ATTACK!

http://my.webmd.com/hw/health_guide_atoz/hw181110.asp

Signs of rabies in animals may include having excessive saliva or sometimes foaming at the mouth, paralysis, or behavioral changes in your pet (shyness when the pet was friendly) or no fear of humans in a wild animal.

[Nikia]

40. They have other diseases too

One of my grandmother's dogs almost died from a disease that he developed after being bit by a raccoon. I forget what is was, but I think that there are several possible diseases. You don't really want your dog fighting with a raccoon.
Your dog could have responded like my dog does though and barked at it, but I think some breeds are more barkers than others.

[gizmo1979]

43. trouble with the racoons around here

is they're smarter then my dogs.pretty much make my dogs look the fool.

[FuzzySlippers]

45. Tucker's so cute

he shouldn't have to do anything other than look adorable.

[hickman1937]

48. This is the best laugh I've had all day. n/t