Here is the results of a bulldozer (Bull Terrier) running into the screen protector.
As I said yesterday, Penny was at our house for a visit over the weekend. The girls played, rested and played some more. Well into the evening, Penny was wandering around the backyard so I did what any Grandma would do, I stalked her. She was on one side of the fence; I was on the other as we continued the game. Elsa joined in charging and attacking Penny who then began a full blown Bull Terrier style zoom. She raced around the yard like a maniac; hunched over with her tail tucked as the zoom took over her body.
When she left the grass area I never even considered what happened next, might be a possibility. Being that it was evening I had closed the screen door into the living room; I guess she never saw the door because she ran head first into it. This was no regular slam into the screen; this was a full speed, Bull Terrier force hit. The door screeched as she hit; we all stopped in our tracks at the sound, even Penny. What the?
I approached the door as Penny charged off to continue her playing. I surveyed the damage; man, a Bull Terrier is truly like a bowling ball. The door was half in the house, half out. The screen protector had suffered quite an impact and had the dent to prove it. I grabbed the edge of the door and tried to right it; but it was wedged in place so hard that I could not budge it. I tried for 20 minutes to get the door out of its forced entry position. With all of my might I pulled and struggled. The door screech again as I tried to pull it into place. Penny stopped playing with Elsa and watched, she was quite upset by the sound. It was the same sound she had heard when she hit the door. I left the door, giving my arms a break and time to consider what needed doing.
After a while I returned with a screw driver and rested arms. I tried again, rested, then tried some more. With the screwdriver under the door I gave it a lift while trying to hoist the door t the same time aand it was finally out. Once again I surveyed the damage. I never even considered that Penny was damaged as she had charged off immediately after impact. Her and Elsa continued to play.
This is the next day, it looked much worse the day after. There was no redness after it initially happened, just missing hair and what looked like scratches.
When Penny's Mom got home she immediately asked what happened to her head. I didn't have my glasses on and hadn't even noticed. Elsa and Penny had been brawling intensely for an hour after the incident.
The next day as I prepared to complete the door repair; I found Penny's hair where she had hit. The door was not closing properly so I had to remove it and straighten out some of the metal frame which had been damaged by the impact. Once that was done the door seemed almost back to normal. A piece of the wheel that the door slides on had broken off and of course there was the huge indentation from a Bull Terrier head left in it.
Yep, that's Penny hair.
So, in conclusion I have discovered that Penny does in fact run with her head down for a good portion of time. She did not impact the door with her nose, but the top of her head. She hit the door with such force that she had an impression of the screen protector on her head; minus some of her hair which she left in the door itself. There have been a few occasions of dogs hitting the screen door before this; but none with such an impact to even shift the door out of place. For the average dog, a screen protector works wonderfully. For a Bull Terrier, perhaps it is not such a good thing. Would it have been better to have her just run through the screen? In our previous house, our little Jack Russell Jessie regularly ran through the screen after lizards. She was unharmed by going through the screen but the screen had to be replaced many times. Perhaps this is the way to go with a Bull Terrier? Although there was one time when our Jack Russell ran through the screen, taking the whole door with her. I can picture the scenarios of Penny going through; running into the door from the inside out and bringing the whole door with her. Maybe not such a great plan.
So here is the question: When you have a tank like dog running full speed; is anything in it's path safe? Ah Penny, gotta love that little Pig/shark.
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