Escape From The Backyard

So, yesterday Winston, shown here, decided to run away from home. Three times. Winston used to be known for his escape attempts in New Mexico, but had yet to run away since moving to Indiana. I think the reason that he decided to make his move today is because my neighbor's kids decided to light off a few fireworks in the middle of the day. Despite his looks, he can be startled.

So I was out to lunch and I got a call on my cell phone from a guy who had appearently found him (dog tags are a solid investment). He asked if anyone was home to take him, I said no, and he said he would take him back to the house and put him in the yard. I mentioned that if he got out once he will just get out again, but he said if he could figure out how he got out he would fix it for me. I told him that was unnecessary and I would be by to pick him up in a minute. I came home, and he wasn't there. I started looking around for his escape route and found that he had pushed his way under the fence. I called the guy to pick him up, and he said that he had put him back in the garage, but blocked the dog's door with his traveling crate (which he easily can nudge out of the way), so he must have escaped again. sonofabitch.

So I get in my truck and drive down the road looking for him . I go a little ways down the street and somehow overlooked him (he's 18" tall), and then glance in my rearview mirror to see him running after me. I load him up, and take him back to the house. The doggy door has a piece of particle board to slide into place to lock him on one side of the door or the other, so I put that in place, stick him in the garage, and go back to work.

Right around 4 PM I get another call saying that he has escaped again (I later found that he had managed to slide the board up with his nose after much work and trashing of the piece of board) and that he is pinned in their backyard. Fantastic. So I swing by Wal-Mart to pick up some tent stakes to pin the fence down, and head to the neighbor's house to pick him up. I get him, take him home, fix the fence, and he has behaved since. Damn dog.