Dog alerts owners after alligator sneaks in through the doggy door

Dogs are such intelligent and protective animals. They have great instincts for detecting danger and will always step up to protect their loved ones.

That was the case recently, after a dog alerted his family of a very unexpected home intruder.

Don and Jan Schultz recently moved from Arizona to New Iberia, Louisiana, and recently got a big surprise in their new home.

Don says he knew something was wrong when their dog Panda woke them up in the middle of the night. “Panda growled a deep throat grumble and woke my wife up and she tapped me said I think there’s someone in the house and so I got up headed down the hall to check,” he told KATC.

He went down the hall and saw that there was indeed an intruder: a 5-foot alligator!

The gator had apparently snuck in through Panda’s doggy door. The couple called 911 and Wildlife and Fisheries officers from the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office quickly responded and got the gator out safetly.

“Home invasion of the reptile kind,” the sheriff’s office joked, sharing the news on Facebook.

“We are real grateful for the Sheriffs and Wildlife and Fisheries that came and so thoroughly dispatched the creature from our house,” Jan Schultz told KATC.

May be an image of 2 people and text — Facebook/Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office

The alligator was relocated, and Jan says their home intruder is now “swimming in a bayou somewhere.” The couple said they are going to put a lock on the dog door that only unlocks with dog collars, to avoid any more surprise guests.

Thankfully Panda was on alert, and the newly-transplanted couple now have a distinctly Louisiana story to tell in their new home.

“It was quite an experience, we’re getting the full Cajun experience,” Don told KATC.