This isn't a late Halloween post, but it is a bit freaky!
Just to give some background:
Epic and Angus sleep overnight in wire crates which are side by side and in the corner of the living room. The crates are covered and I have towels which go down over the front at night. Epic has slept in his crate since he arrived, as has Angus after the first couple of nights. They are also fed twice a day in these crates. Angus is in the corner, in Yogi's old crate, Epic in the middle and Revel's crate is on the outside. (He only eats in his as he has a basket in my bedroom).
It is fair to say Epic didn't much like Angus when he first came, but I've always had them sleeping side by side in their crates with no problems. Epic is very clearly the dominant of the two and will Angus off, but mostly life is pretty relaxed.
All the boys have a good night biscuit. Epic and Angus have theirs in their crates, Revel has his just down on the floor. I put the younger dogs in their crates with their biscuits, pull down the covers and turn off the light then go into the bathroom to clean my teeth.
However, just over the last couple of nights something really bizarre is happening. As soon as I go into the bathroom, there is a sudden spate of growling and full on snarling. I've come right back out again and switched on the light and it stops. Light off and the growling starts up. It sounds almost like snoring....grrrrr.....grrrrr.....grrrrr, very low and really menacing sounding. Light goes on. Growling stops. Light off and it starts up again. After a couple of minutes it stops and all is quiet for the rest of the night.
There were a few pieces of kibble which had fallen between the cages so I thought they were squabbling over that. I cleaned this up on Saturday and made certain the biscuits didn't fall through the bars, but Saturday night the same thing happened. Both dogs eat the biscuits very quickly so there isn't any being left, so I don't think this is a food thing. Up until the weekend there was nothing in between the cages, so they could see each other but to be sure I hung a blanket between them so they can't see each other now.
Last night I was literally running in and lifting up the blanket to see who it was. It sounds like Epic's voice and certainly fits with his type of behaviour, but listening, the sound appeared to be coming from Angus' crate. Yet he was lying relaxed and not at all tense when I lifted up the cover. Epic also doesn't seem agitated - although as soon as I lift the cover up he thinks he's coming out so it's hard to tell.
I have a mystery on my hands!
It sounds funny but actually it's creeping me out a bit, because I just don't understand it. Also the initial snarling and squabble is quite loud and has woken Garry a couple of nights running (the bedroom is the other side of the wall) and he's not best pleased about that. 
I'm starting to dread bedtime.
Tonight I'm going to put my webcam in Revel's crate and point it at Epic to see what happens. It films in infrared so should show up, even in the dark.
Just to give some background:
Epic and Angus sleep overnight in wire crates which are side by side and in the corner of the living room. The crates are covered and I have towels which go down over the front at night. Epic has slept in his crate since he arrived, as has Angus after the first couple of nights. They are also fed twice a day in these crates. Angus is in the corner, in Yogi's old crate, Epic in the middle and Revel's crate is on the outside. (He only eats in his as he has a basket in my bedroom).
It is fair to say Epic didn't much like Angus when he first came, but I've always had them sleeping side by side in their crates with no problems. Epic is very clearly the dominant of the two and will Angus off, but mostly life is pretty relaxed.
All the boys have a good night biscuit. Epic and Angus have theirs in their crates, Revel has his just down on the floor. I put the younger dogs in their crates with their biscuits, pull down the covers and turn off the light then go into the bathroom to clean my teeth.
However, just over the last couple of nights something really bizarre is happening. As soon as I go into the bathroom, there is a sudden spate of growling and full on snarling. I've come right back out again and switched on the light and it stops. Light off and the growling starts up. It sounds almost like snoring....grrrrr.....grrrrr.....grrrrr, very low and really menacing sounding. Light goes on. Growling stops. Light off and it starts up again. After a couple of minutes it stops and all is quiet for the rest of the night.
There were a few pieces of kibble which had fallen between the cages so I thought they were squabbling over that. I cleaned this up on Saturday and made certain the biscuits didn't fall through the bars, but Saturday night the same thing happened. Both dogs eat the biscuits very quickly so there isn't any being left, so I don't think this is a food thing. Up until the weekend there was nothing in between the cages, so they could see each other but to be sure I hung a blanket between them so they can't see each other now.
Last night I was literally running in and lifting up the blanket to see who it was. It sounds like Epic's voice and certainly fits with his type of behaviour, but listening, the sound appeared to be coming from Angus' crate. Yet he was lying relaxed and not at all tense when I lifted up the cover. Epic also doesn't seem agitated - although as soon as I lift the cover up he thinks he's coming out so it's hard to tell.
I have a mystery on my hands!
It sounds funny but actually it's creeping me out a bit, because I just don't understand it. Also the initial snarling and squabble is quite loud and has woken Garry a couple of nights running (the bedroom is the other side of the wall) and he's not best pleased about that. I'm starting to dread bedtime.Tonight I'm going to put my webcam in Revel's crate and point it at Epic to see what happens. It films in infrared so should show up, even in the dark.
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Really, it sounds like I'm sleeping next to one of the Three Stooges some nights.
I wonder whether leaving a night light on in the room would stem the tide of the noise. Or even splitting the boys up a bit further by moving one crate further away from the other for the overnight? 
