‘Guard dog’ happily greets intruder with toy in mouth, ready to play

Play fetch? Nash, a golden retriever, wants to play, but an intruder at a San Diego residence is more interested in what is happening inside. (San Diego Police Department via Dante Rowley)

SAN DIEGO — Man’s best friend was acting a little too friendly in a Southern California home.

A San Diego couple flying home from Chicago last week noticed the intruder on their Ring camera. Then, they saw their 4-year-old golden retriever Nash “confront” the man, happily wagging his tail with a toy in his mouth, KSWB reported.

The dog, left alone in the residence with another canine, apparently just wanted to play. Nash’s friendliness allowed 57-year-old John Paul Cline to make himself at home, the dog’s owner, Dante Rowley, told the television station.

“We thought, ‘Wow, he’s way more well-behaved with that guy than he is with us,’” he joked.

Rowley and his fiancée, Stephanie Calderon, were traveling when their Ring camera application went off, showing the intruder trying to access their home in the Sherman Heights neighborhood of San Diego.

He apparently entered by using a ladder behind the couple’s shed, climbing through a second-story window that had been left cracked open, The Los Angeles Times reported.

There were two dogs in the residence, but one bolted through the “doggy door” while Nash approached the intruder, hoping for a pooch play session, according to KSWB.

That allowed the man to make himself at home, even napping on a dog bed, Rowley said.

“He took off his shirt, took off his shoes, went through our refrigerator and ate one of our yogurts,” Rowley told the television station. “And we saw him eating it and I heard him say something like ‘Oh, that’s good, maybe there’s more,’ and then he went back, got another one, ate that, ate some turkey, ate some cheese, and then right after that, just took a nap,” Rowley added.

During this time, Nash kept bringing the suspect different toys to play with, but the man did not bite at the hint.

Rowley began texting the San Diego Police Department while he was 30,000 feet in the air. He gave them access to his Ring camera app so they could also keep an eye on the suspect, KSWB reported.

When officers arrived, the camera showed them sending a drone into the residence before several officers entered with their guns drawn, according to the television station.

Rowley said that Nash also greeted the officers with a toy.

Cline was arrested by San Diego police and was charged with suspicion of first-degree burglary, KSWB reported.

Rowley said he plans to bolster security at his home.

“We’re definitely going to increase security, we’re getting a taller fence,” Rowley told the television station. “We’re going to get some alarm system for the house.”

As for Nash, he is blissfully unaware that being the “worst guard dog” has made him a celebrity. The Ring video has been seen more than 6 million times on Rowley and his fiancée’s social media accounts, KSWB reported.

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