Last night i let the dogs out with the door open because i do not let my dogs out without supervision and i heard this really deep bark that i couldnt identify as one of mine or the other dogs i hear bark every night. Turned out spider was barking for the very first time. She is very vocal but will be 4 next month and has never actually barked before. I ran out barefoot in the snow thinking something was wrong and there was a mountain lion about 10 ft from the fence staring at my little terrier. Brought everyone in. Shot the gun in the air to scare off the lion. This morning i went out and there are huge cat tracks and blood all over the driveway. Makes me wonder if i should call the forest service since the animal is radio collared

You sound like me, Avalanche (Alaskan Husky) has to be one of the quietest dogs going. When I first got him I never heard a peep out of him - nothing!! One day a fellow drove into my drive and Av barked - one time. Scared the blazes out of me cause I'd never heard him before! Even today, he doesn't make much noise. Oh, he'l whine when the UPS driver pulls up cause he wants to go get some attention or if there's a rabbit he particularly wants to go make friends with (he wouldn't dare actually catch one!) but he's one that when he barks, it gets my attention NOW!

I have to wonder what "all the blood" was ... if the cat killed something, he'd have drug it off to have some peace and quiet during dinner. Chances are good that he's still in the area. If your laws and Wildlife Dept are anything like in Texas calling them wouldn't do much more than get a "Oh, thanks ... we'll send someone over to identify the cat." which they'll do with radio ID... But then our cat population here in the Big Bend area is high enough that they are not a protected species and have several hundred square miles to eat and breed in.

On that though, it's when Av lets me know that something is out there - whether it's a big cat, a bear or a pack of coyotes - that everyone gets out on lead only when they tell me they need out. Cats aren't a big problem here - we've had reports that they're in the area but then we're in the flat between two mountain ranges; bears - I've never seen one but folks have found animals that have been killed by bears; the coyotes are a bloody nuisance since they'll invade any midden they can find and strew it all over the back 150 acres (slight exaggeration) but, like you when they get too close, too loud I'll fire a round or two off just to suggest that they might be more comfortable elsewhere.

Cats are very rare around here. And having seen the same cat 4 times and tracks in the yard more then that i know its hanging around. And hes big but still young where he has light spots. The first time i saw him i thought he was a lynx until i saw a long tail. Im in lynx range but never saw one but they have bobcat type tails. Found the little mule deer it killed and dragged down the irrigation ditch trail. Luckily here the bears are hibernating and the coyotes are well fed so they dont usually attack pets or people. We have some killer agressive bucks that have charged my dogs tho

I have heard Kenzi bark once. The rest of the time she does this high pitched ear piercing yip at the other dogs during play that I really wish she wouldn't do. It was on our trip around Kentucky a few years back though that I had her and keno staked out by the tent and it was dark. We were with my parents and me and my mom were in the tent and my dad had gone into the campground to the bath house and was walking back. She must have not recognized him in the dark but when he started cutting across the lawn toward us she actually alert barked at him. Never heard her do any kind of alert bark before that and not since either. It actually sounded half good. Much better than her typical excited yip while playing. Barking isn't really something I ever expect out of her but if faced with an actual attacker I have no doubt she would tear into a person to protect me and would do so without needing to bark about it first. Meanwhile my GSD mix will bark his head off for any and every reason and serve no purpose in an attack.

Shadow my gsd gets this anubis like position where hes watching and ready to lunge up and smiling and as still as a statue its quite creepy its also his about to attack position (hes bit 6 people) hes never barked at someone then bit them. Spider usually does this high pitched screamy howl its super annoying.

My husky barks but only when something is around usually at night. He also howls at night usually at nothing , I think he likes to hear his own voice.