The Day Bronco Saved the Neighborhood from a Nighttime Stalker

I once apologized to our neighbor Sam because our Leonberger Bronco had been barking. To my surprise Sam told me not to worry, let him bark he said, it scares the bad guys away, and is good for the entire neighborhood. I think the story below, which is an excerpt from my book might explain his thinking.

Bronco is standing on a red leather sofa. I am standing next to the sofa and Bronco is reaching over giving me a hug.
Our Leonberger dog Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle when he was young. He is giving me a hug.

A quiet and spooky evening alone

It was a quiet evening, and I was home alone. My wife, Claudia, was visiting her parents a few blocks away with Rachel, our daughter. Our son Jacob was meeting with his debate team; our other son, David, was visiting a friend.

I was making myself a ham sandwich in the kitchen when I suddenly felt a hand on my right shoulder. I startled and turned my head to face what I feared was an intruder, and there he stood on his hind legs—our Leonberger, Bronco. His big paw on my shoulder felt for a moment exactly like a human hand.

Bronco looked at me with his kind, wise eyes, then he looked at the sandwich. Then he turned his head toward me again and held my gaze. At that moment I understood what he wanted. I cut the sandwich in two and gave him his half.

The night stalker

I should explain that we had a problem with a trespasser at that time, which was the reason I was startled. This trespasser would sit outside our bedroom window at night and make threats and shout obscene comments at Claudia when I was not present. At first, though, we didn’t know where the threats and comments were coming from. I doubted Claudia’s accounts of these incidents, especially because she thought the voice might be coming from within our bedroom, perhaps via an electronic speaker. I thought she was just having nightmares.

Then one night I heard it myself—a voice screaming, “I am going to burn your house down!” Just as Claudia had said, it sounded like it came from within our bedroom, almost as if it were right next to me.

After Claudia and I went through our “Oh, so now you believe me” routine, I started looking under our bed and inside the heating and air-conditioning vents for hidden speakers and/or microphones. It was hard to believe that someone had planted these things in our bedroom, but that seemed to be the case. Then it finally dawned on me. Next to the headboard of our bed, on Claudia’s side, just inches from her pillow, is a window. At night, when the blinds are lowered and the slats are partially open, you can see in, even if we have just a few lights on in the house. But of course under these conditions, you can’t see anything that might be outside.

The stalker is sitting in a lawn chair and looking through our window.
The nightly stalker or voyeur looking through our bedroom window. Illustration by Naomi Roseblatt.

I ran out the front door and around the back of the house, and there, right in front of our bedroom window, was one of our lawn chairs. The trespasser had climbed our fence, taken the chair, sat down in front of the window, and spied on us. Whenever I left the room, he would shout obscenities and threats at Claudia. When his face was planted in front of our window, he was just two or three feet away. This was why the voice felt so close. This had been going on for two weeks. We were happy to have finally figured it out, but we realized we had a problem.

We talked to our neighbors about the situation, and they told us that the trespasser had terrorized them as well. He had been quite busy looking through bedroom windows at night. People in the neighborhood were scared. I called the police, who told us they could do nothing unless the man was caught in the act or he committed a crime other than trespassing.

The detectives

Therefore, I decided to hire private investigators. I found them in the phone book. Phone books still existed back then.

The investigators told me that they typically spy on people suspected of cheating on their spouses, so this would be a more interesting job for them. The plan was for them to hide behind the bushes in our backyard and in a dark car parked on our street. When the man appeared, they would record him on video. They had a lot of fancy equipment and instruments, including big microphones, cameras, and metal detectors. They reminded us of Ghostbusters with all their technology and enthusiasm. They clearly loved their job. Unfortunately, though, the trespasser didn’t show up, so after a couple of days I decided to let the investigators go.

However, I soon figured out who the trespasser was. I started paying attention to what was going on in the neighborhood, and one evening, I noticed a strange-looking but relatively young man, apparently homeless, who seemed to be stealthily roaming our neighborhood. I did not confront him, because I had no proof.

Bronco saves the neighborhood.

But a few days later, I heard shuffling noises outside our bedroom window. The trespasser was finally back. This time I sent Bronco out to chase him, and he did. Like the detectives, Bronco was enthusiastic but didn’t catch him. Still, he chased the man off. Having a big bearlike dog rushing toward you at night is probably a bit unnerving, even if the dog just wants to lick you. We never experienced or heard about the problem after this event, so Bronco may have helped the entire neighborhood.

Illustration of a big dog chasing a guy in blue jeans.
Bronco chasing off the intruder who would not return. Illustration by Naomi Rosenblatt.

A couple of weeks later, while walking Bronco on a neighboring block, I saw the homeless man across the street, at a bit of a distance. He stared at us in fright. Bronco just calmly looked at him without barking. The man was clearly terrified of Bronco, and he ran away. But despite the nightmare the homeless man had inflicted on us, I felt sorry for him. My guess is that he was suffering from mental illness and that he had had a very tough and lonely life.

Bronco our Leonberger is standing on the lawn. A ray of sunshine is shining over his head.
Bronco is a hero.

Did your dog(s) or pets do something heroic?

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Author: thomasstigwikman

My name is Thomas Wikman. I am a software/robotics engineer with a background in physics. I am currently retired. I took early retirement. I am a dog lover, and especially a Leonberger lover, a home brewer, craft beer enthusiast, I’m learning French, and I am an avid reader. I live in Dallas, Texas, but I am originally from Sweden. I am married to Claudia, and we have three children. I have two blogs. The first feature the crazy adventures of our Leonberger Le Bronco von der Löwenhöhle as well as information on Leonbergers. The second blog, superfactful, feature information and facts I think are very interesting. With this blog I would like to create a list of facts that are accepted as true among the experts of the field and yet disputed amongst the public or highly surprising. These facts are special and in lieu of a better word I call them super-facts.

48 thoughts on “The Day Bronco Saved the Neighborhood from a Nighttime Stalker”

  4. What a great story, an so pleased Bronco came to the rescue… Yes it is sad too about the homeless man, not all understand those living on the streets and their mental health issues…
    Not a very nice experience though I am sure at the time..
    Wishing you a good week Thomas. xx

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    1. Yes we had to get him to stop. It was very scary for my wife and the other ladies, at the same time it was someone who needed help. The good thing is that I could trust Bronco not to bite him. I wish you a very good week as well.

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  6. That would have been very scary!! Our dogs would have a barking fit if anyone was in our yard so it would only happen once! I love the sandwich story. Hubby always has to share his sandwiches with the dogs.

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    1. He was very quiet and we did not have any lights or ring system back then, but still it was a little bit surprising that none of our three dogs noticed him. We also had a German Shepherd and a Labrador (well a lab mix 1/4 Rhodesian Ridgeback). However, I sent out Bronco after him because the German Shepherd might have bit him. Now Rollo notices everything in the backyard but he’s got help from the lights turning on and the ring system making a noise on the phone. Well he is also very alert. I am amazed at myself for not figuring out that it was an intruder until that night.

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  10. They do keep us safe, Thomas:) I miss that. Our Sara used to keep us safe from bears. They were terrified of her and would head up a tree. Once my husband was take out the trash and a bear was there he didn’t see. Sara hopped the fence, hurting her leg on landing, but still chased the bear away.

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  11. I find that the police approach “unless we catch him in the act blah blah blah” is unprofessional. Isn’t the police job to protect people? And if enough people, in the trespasser’s case, filed in reports, would it not be their job to set out rounds of watches to catch him? Since a citizen has to do the protecting on his own a lot of the times, makes one wonder why do we even have police. Very infuriating. Kuddos to Bronco, brave soul, our animal friends do so much for us. And as pitiful it might be that a person commiting any sort of antisocial act or a crime has a mental health issue, it doesn’t mean take away from the danger and nerve wrecking aspect of it. I think, they should receive help somewhere where they can’t hurt others and themselves. Again… big applause to Bronco.

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    1. Thank you so much Inner Musings. I agree with you. I expected the police to do something and then they told me they couldn’t. Incidentally a lady on Nextdoors just brought up the issue yesterday. She has a stalker in a black car following her around and he also tried to open her door. Because there is no recorded crime (yet) the police can’t do anything. They said she needed to film her telling him to stay away and then film him violating that. People on Nextdoors are all upset about it, but it is reality. That’s why my neighbor Sam said, let him bark. He had a very intimidating big dog bark. A big dog can be really helpful in this situation. Another thing people on Nextdoor is suggesting to this lady is to get a gun, but there are risks with that.

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      1. It’s better to get a gun, if the police won’t do anything about the stalker it’s good to have a way of self defense. A big dog, a gun, whatever it takes.

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      2. Yes it is sad that it has to be that way. That’s why I got the detectives. When the police required proof of crime before doing anything I hired them to record what he was doing, and they were certainly very well prepared. They had every equipment you could think of. However they cost $400 per day, the two of them. When the guy did not show up for two days I let them go. But what is an alone women supposed to do?

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  12. Haha! I just read this story last night as I started reading your book this week, Thomas. As a lifelong dog owner, I’m thoroughly enjoying it. I especially am entertained by the dogs’ personalities and idiosyncrasies. I’m fascinated by the Leonberger, a breed I knew little about before now.

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  13. That’s certainly a creepy-sounding incident. Great that Bronco saved the day! Though, I admit, I was have been pretty freaked out if he placed his big paw on my shoulder while I was making a sandwich, too!

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    1. Yes he really scared me when he did that. So quietly, and he was the only dog who could do that. Our German Shepherd and Labrador could only reach up to my belly, maybe chest. It’s funny how you imagine things. I could have sworn it was a hand.

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  15. Hi Thomas, this is such a creepy story. A bit of a horror story really. I can’t think of anything worse than knowing some homeless man has been peeping in at me through a window and his making noises and saying weird things would make that much worse. Well done to you and to Bronco on saving the day. PS I think its very cool you hired a private detective.

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    1. Thank you so much Robbie. Yes my wife was not happy. I don’t know why I didn’t believe her at first, but it sounded weird that the voice would be coming from inside the room. Then I heard it myself “I’m going to burn your house down” and like she said it sounded like it was inside the room and the dogs were quiet. It took me a long time to realize that it was on the outside. I was pretty close to start believing in demons or poltergeists. Looking back at it, it seems really stupid.

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  17. That must have been terribly unnerving and it’s surprising the police weren’t willing to do anything. Good thing Bronco was on the job. 🙂 I’m sure many people were intimidated by his size, even though he was a gentle dog. (I can just picture him standing up and putting his paw on your shoulder. No wonder you were startled!) You’re probably right about the trespasser having mental issues. It’s sad there are so many others like him wandering the streets.

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    1. Yes you are right about everything you are saying. The police will not send out people to stake out your house unless it is very serious and there was not enough proof that a crime had been committed. At the time the police came out we did not even know how he looked like. They needed proof on a film and similar, which is why I hired the detectives. They had lots of equipment. But he didn’t show up for the two nights they were watching our house and they cost $400 per day/night, so I had to let them go. Claudia also thought that having people hiding in your yard at night was a bit creepy. Well, Bronco took care of it. Our German Shepherd might have bitten him but I knew that Bronco wouldn’t. He was just scary looking and big. You are right there are so many mentally ill wandering the streets and they need help.

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      1. How unfortunate there was no appearance when the P. I.s were present. That’s a lot of money for nothing! 😧 Many people install surveillance cameras on their properties now. Might be a cheaper option. I’m sure a shepherd would have been more likely to bite an intruder, but Bronco got the job done peacefully. 👌 It seems to me that homelessness and crime has increased substantially since the pandemic and there aren’t enough resources to deal with it.

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    2. Yes $800.00 without result was a bit much, which is why I didn’t do it a third day. It would take another 2-3 after that before he showed up again, so it would have been a lot of money. One thing the police did was suggest to us to get lights with motion sensors. That would alert the dogs and might scare the intruder. So we installed these lights and later on a ring system connected to our cell phones. Rollo is using the sound on our phones to start wildly barking at anyone approaching the house. The sounds on the phones are different depending on back-side or front-side so he runs to right place. I think he uses our phones more than we do.

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  19. Bronco to the rescue! Your story is fantastic, and it highlights Bronco’s bravery in protecting your family and the neighborhood. While it’s unfortunate about the homeless man, hopefully he found the help he needs.

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind words Chasing Potatoes. Bronco was indeed very unafraid and self confident, as well as friendly. He would never have bitten the guy but having a 140 pound bear looking dog chasing after you at midnight is scary enough. Our German Shepherd might have bitten him though, so having her chase him might not have been such a good idea. I also hope he got help with his homelessness and mental issues.

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