<p>I know that’s a ridiculous Title line but it really does sum up my problem. </p>
<p>My pug has gotten herself well and truly stuck under the porch. The people who owned this house before us built it and it is really well built with lots of cross supports under and wood around the entire bottom so you don’t see the dirt/grass under it. Somehow, my pug gets under there from time to time, cries for awhile and then figures out how to get out. Well, tonight her luck ran out.</p>
<p>My son and I spent over an hour trying to figure out how she managed to trap herself in the middle of the support beams and we’re got no clue. Now we’re three hours into leaving her alone, keeping her company while she cries and leaving food around the edges to encourage her. </p>
<p>This dog has never spent the night outside and it is supposed to be 42 degrees tonight. She weighs 14 pounds and I can see that she is shivering. Part of me thinks I should get a saw and cut into the top of the deck to get her out. Another part of me thinks about repairing the damn deck and wants to leave her there until the morning. She’s a dog, right? But she’s an indoor, little dog. </p>
<p>Naturally, my spouse is unreachable right now as are my other back-up adults I consult for second opinions. What should I do? What would you do?</p>
<p>If there is dirt (as opposed to pavement) next to the porch, I’d probably try to dig the dog out. Just start digging hard up against the porch near where the dog is trapped until you clear an opening that is either big enough for him to crawl out or for you to reach under and get him.</p>
<p>Ground is not frozen. We live in South Texas and it’s going to be 70 degrees tomorrow afternoon but tonight is going to be 42 and I will it were not. </p>
<p>My son tried digging in from one side but I didn’t think to check how we was doing it. Will go take a look and see if we can do some more work on that solution.</p>
<p>Well Pug-Mad (a quite prescient screen name selection as it turns out) I’d throw the helpless creature a couple of blankets and await hubby’s return. But first, check to see if the decking is screwed down or nailed down. If it’s screwed down have S take up a couple of boards, which shouldn’t take more than a couple of minutes. As a last resort you could remove one tread on the stairs. (Even if you break it a new porch tread is cheap.)</p>
<p>I’d call the fire dept. (if your community is such that they come out for this sort of thing). They may have some ideas or expertise. I would certainly not leave the dog trapped overnight.</p>
<p>Does the deck have a skirt around it (e.g. some kind of trellis or something that hides the underside of the deck? If so, it probably is in 8 foot pieces and can be taken off in big chunks without too much damage. Yes I would rescue the pup at whatever the damage required…</p>
<p>If your son is not grown or not skilled with a shovel, are there any men-folk neighbors you can call on for help? A motivated guy who knows how to use a shovel can shift a surprising amount of dirt in short amount of time.</p>
<p>Or better yet, get all the neighborhood men out to look at the problem. It’s especially good if some of them are engineers. Men love to gather in flocks and noodle out a problem.</p>
<p>Do-it-yourself options from a forensic graduate structural engineer’s point of view, from most easily fixable solution to least fixable:</p>
<p>1) Pull up a whole plank (you can pull the nails later and replace the original board)… Like someone previously mentioned, the steps would be the easiest place to pull up a board
2) Cut a plank (you can replace the plank later and repaint it)
3) Pull off side boards, coax dog out
4) Cut supports to get to dog… don’t do this, it may cause instability in the structure of the porch and you could end up with some bigger problems than you want to deal with</p>
<p>Sooooo…I also wouldn’t leave the dog out overnight. Besides being cold could truly go into some type of shock. As a single woman, I especially liked the idea presented of getting all the neighborhood men out to look at the problem.</p>
<p>As lucky would have it, my neighbors are either very elderly or single women. I didn’t feel right knocking on any of their doors.</p>
<p>So, we’ve dug and dug. We sawed, we hammered & chiseled and basically worked like, well, dogs and nothing. Well, that’s not entirely true…I did wrench my back and cannot stand up straight now. </p>
<p>Damn that fort knox of a deck. </p>
<p>I called the vet; the dog needs to be rescued. Then I called the non-emergency police line. They said the police cannot come out but animal control will call me back soon. So, we wait. I’ve decided that if animal control cannot help, then the police or the fire department is coming.</p>
<p>Maybe you should get a cat and let it loose under the deck and the dog can chase it out as it escapes. Or, if you see a path out, maybe you could tie some food onto the end of a pole or rope and lead the dog out with it.</p>
<p>Seriously, I know this is distressing for you and the dog. I hope you end up getting him out soon. Does your S have any nearby classmates/friends whose fathers would be willing to come over and help even at this late hour? I know if I was asked to help in a situation like this I’d be glad to - and I have a lot of tools.</p>
<p>If the deck has spaces between the individual planks then with a pry bar, wrecking bar, or even a shovel you should be able to pry up a plank over the dog.</p>
<p>She is free! I called the non emergency line back again and they promised to get someone out here when they could. Two very nice police officers came out and were able to get a plank off so we could reach her. I thanked them profusely.</p>
<p>Thank you to all of you as well. I felt very alone here and it really did help to know that other people were “in it” with me. Now I’m going to ground my pug for the rest of her life!</p>