Bad / Scary Night

Kevcoy

We live in New Mexico and last night we received the first rain in 78 days which is a blessing.  The past week I have  been battling a terrible cough (not Covid) and even went to Urgent Care to get something to help because I've been coughing all night long and am exhausted.  I've been having DH sleep in the guest room so my coughing doesn't keep him up and we ended up going to bed about 8:00pm.  About an hour later one of our dogs started barking and wouldn't stop.  DH wasn't in his bed and then I heard some knocking on the front door.  I looked out the little window and saw DH with someone standing behind him who's face I couldn't see.  My mind immediately thought it was his mother and I opened the door with the friendly greeting of, "What the h*ll is going on?"  Then I saw it was our neighbor from across the street who told me DH rang his doorbell and told him that he was lost.  Then I noticed they were both wet from the rain and DH was only wearing a tee shirt, socks and in his underwear.  I got him into the house and talked to our neighbor thanking him for his kindness.  When he left and I closed the door I turned around to see DH sobbing uncontrollably.  I got him calmed down, dried off and changed his clothes and kept him with me so this wouldn't happen again.  I've read on this forum about locks you can put up high on the door but I think I need more information about that because I don't want to go through this again.

Then as a side note I guess my dogs have forgotten how to poop in the rain.  I let them out before bed but during the night both of them let loose so they faked me out earlier.  Plus I coughed and coughed again all night. 

M1

What a rough time.....thank goodness for kind neighbors.  Yes, you're going to need to make some moves, obviously.  So hard to do when you're sick, hope it goes away soon.  Glad you got the rain, FWIW.

Similar thing happened to me a long time ago, except I was the neighbor.  Heading to bed on a Sunday night and as I walked through our living room by the front windows, a grasping hand reached up on the outside of the window.   Like something out of a horror movie, scared me silly.  It was our neighbor's brother with AD, who had wandered outside while she was asleep and onto our front porch.  Fell and broke his wrist, actually.  So glad we saw him--no matter how scary--because it was December and he could have frozen to death.  

Keep us posted. Get well quick.

May flowers

Wow, that is scary - glad he made it to your neighbors and all ended up okay.

After we found my DH outside roaming once at 3 am a few years back, we bought slide bolts that we put way high up on the door. We did that and the door chimes. The chimes are good but by the time we got to him, he was out and down the steps, not a good thing when it’s dark out (fall risk). He never did look up and notice the bolts. We got something like this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004FFPNJO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

sandwichone123

Wow, a night to remember. Gives new meaning to "when it rains it pours."

What a scary moment, though, really! Giving thanks for the rain, but the dog poop just seems like too much on top of everything else! Certainly not the biggest problem, but it just seems over the top.

I hope urgent care was able to help you and the cough will calm down so you can have enough energy to cope with everything else in your life.

toolbeltexpert

Defender locks at lowes amazon.  Sosorry that sounds so scary.

Stuck in the middle

Lost in the dark, in the rain.  That must have been terrifying for him, as well as dangerous.  Glad he had the presence of mind to ask for help.

I think I need to upgrade my door locks now, rather than wait to find out the hard way that DW has learned to wander.

IWBH1990

The "defender lock" from Amazon was $16, and was a lifesaver for me to keep my DW in the house.  I installed one high on each door and never had an escape afterward. It does not require any keys, but a just little thought process to open.

ButterflyWings

Yes to these. I painted them the same color as the (wood) door so they are even less noticeable.

We also had a door with one old school hook- latch at typical height and another at the very bottom. (Don’t know why?)  But DH has never noticed that lock at foot level, though he does sometimes look ‘up’. Less so now than in the past. 

Thanks for the link. I’m going to order a couple more of these.

Ed1937

I'm sure you welcomed the relief with the rain, but what a night!! Good neighbors seem to almost be a necessity when you're dealing with this stuff. Hope you feel better soon.

Kenzie56

I bought these Door Guardian Confounding Locks on www.alzstore.com and they work like a charm.  DH doesn't even see them as they blend in with the door frame.  I think they are also listed on Amazon. Now I can leave the room without worrying that he will walk out the front door at anytime of the day or night. (Sorry, I don't know how to make the link active...just copy link and paste)

https://www.alzstore.com/confounding-door-lock-p/0247.htm?utm_source=google&utm_campaign=High Priority - PLA&utm_medium=pla  

Joydean

 I know that rain was a blessing, but what a night! Glad your neighbor was home and could help. Good neighbor’s are a blessing. Hope you get to feeling better soon! 

Kevcoy

Great ideas, thank you.  I didn't even know there was an ALZ Store.  I made my neighbor some brownies yesterday as a thank you.  Come to find out his father has alzheimers and is in memory care.