Escaping Dogs

Reggie escaped again tonight. Yes, again. He dug a hole under the gate and took off. I realized it was too quiet in the backyard and went out to investigate. He was no where to be seen or heard. I hopped in the car and eventually found him. I love Reggie, but one of these times the dumb fewl is going to get hit by a car and really make me cry!

My mother reminded me that the dog we had when I was growing up, a Beagle named Dixie, also got away several times. This is true, but there were differences:

• Dixie loved to run. Reggie loves to escapes.
• Dixie would run and run and run...sometimes getting a mile or two from home. Reggie visits neighborhood dogs and interesting things to smell. He's never gone further than a couple of blocks (which is still filled with moving cars! dumb fewl.)
• Dixie was bigger and had less of a chance of being hit. Reggie is smaller and darker in color...better odds of getting splashed.
• Dixie stopped doing this after a few years and eventually could be left un-tethered in the yard if somebody else was outside also. Reggie is almost 10 and a half and there's no way I'd leave him unhooked or not fenced in; clearly even this is insufficient.
• Dixie usually got away by pulling out of her collar. Reggie's never lost his collar. Since Dixie was on the run without a collar, we always had to call the police to tell them what happened so she wouldn't be impounded. I've never had to call the police about Reggie, but almost did tonight because it was so dark and I couldn't hear him anywhere.
• Dixie returned with a McDonald's bag one time. Reggie's never returned with a gift offering of any type. (My mother threw away the McDonald's bag without looking in it to see what it contained, so I don't know if Dixie preferred Big Macs or Quarter Pounders.)

There is one similarity between the two: if not caught and brought home, each eventually returned home.

One time Dixie got away, but only got a short distance from our home. I could hear her barking, but couldn't find her. I went home and my brother went back to check. He returned with the same report...he could hear Dixie barking, but the barking stopped once he got close. We decided it wasn't Dixie and continued searching. We called the police and reported her lost without her collar. Dixie was loved by all our neighbors and soon half the neighborhood was searching the subdivision. Many people reported hearing her bark, but not being able to find her. A few hours later the police called to say a family had called to report they'd captured a Beagle and had locked it in their garage while they were out for the evening! So, all this time Dixie had been locked in a stranger's dark garage while the people were out at a movie and dinner! Hello? I can tell you that these people were not popular on our block...not that it mattered, they never came over. I don't know why Dixie stopped barking every time we got close to her, maybe she thought we were there and she was rescued and didn't need to keep barking. Some of the kids thought the people lied about not being home. Who knows. We got her back and that was the main thing. Dixie was so pretty, I need to find a way to scan a picture to post of her.

As for Reggie, I've temporarily blocked the gate, but I'm going to have to come up with a better solution. One that will keep Reggie in, but also let the lawn people come and go without a blocked gate. Sigh.