Lost Dog Rings Doorbell To Let Her Mom Know She's Safe

"To see her come home was the best feeling."

Fourth of July fireworks are a dog’s worst enemy, and every year, pets go missing after being startled by the noise.

Usually, it takes days to find these wayward pups, but a dog named Rajah figured out how to get back home — and even rang the doorbell to let her mom know she was safe.

Lost dog rings doorbell after being spooked by fireworks
Ryan Washick

Rajah has always had trouble with fireworks and thunderstorms. The rescue dog is most comfortable snuggling her mom or chasing animals in the backyard and sunning herself on the deck. “She is scared very easily by loud noises,” Mary Lynn Whitacre told The Dodo. “We don't know what happened to her before we adopted her from the shelter, but she is a very sensitive girl.”

Mary Lynn Whitacre

On June 27th, Rajah was out in her yard when neighbors set off a firework that scared her. “Right after I heard the fireworks, I went outside to get her from the backyard and she was gone,” Whitacre said. “She had climbed our fence and ran off to go somewhere safe.” 

For Whitacre, this was a worst-case scenario. Whitacre and her family had only recently moved into the home and worried that Rajah wouldn’t be able to find her way back. 

Rajah was outside somewhere, alone and afraid.

Dog rings doorbell to get back inside
Mary Lynn Whitacre

“We searched for her for hours and asked people to help,” Whitacre said. “Around 1 a.m. we decided to stop driving around and [figured] that someone must have brought her inside their house because none of us had seen her. We planned to call all the local shelters in the morning and we had posted about her being missing on social media and other lost pet websites.”

Whitacre went to bed, worrying about her dog. Then, at 3 a.m. she heard the doorbell ring, followed by scratching at the front door. Rajah had returned — and somehow figured out how to press the buzzer.

Ryan Washick

“We were so excited to see her,” Whitacre said. “Honestly, we were scared she was hurt somewhere, so to see her come home was the best feeling. We couldn't have been happier.”

For the seven hours Rajah had been out on her own, she had clearly gone on quite an adventure. The pup was covered in dirt, thorns and poop — and she looked guilty.

Mary Lynn Whitacre

“She thought she would be in trouble and sulked inside, but we just cleaned her off and let her sleep in the bed with us,” Whitacre said. “We have no idea what she did while she was out … who knows what she did?!”

While Rajah’s story ended happily, it’s a good reminder to think twice before setting off fireworks and to make sure your pets are secure during those noisy times of the year.