My Moose is quite an escape artist. Give him a half-inch crack in a door or fence and he’ll somehow manage to squeeze himself through. Once he gets a hint of freedom, my normally sedentary lazy boy turns into Moose the Brown Rocket. He picks a direction and keeps on going.
Half the time, Lally will make a break for it if Moose gets out. Can’t have the little sister be left behind, can we? No, she has to tag along and follow big brother into trouble.
I have to confess that when Moose gets out, I go suddenly insane. I’ll take off running after his furry brown butt in the hopes of catching him before I lose sight of him. There have been times I’ve taken off after him without grabbing the collar or leash!
On Halloween night two years ago, Moose made a great escape with the help of some cute little trick-or-treaters. I bolted out the door after him and managed to tackle him while he was still on our street, maybe two blocks down. After I caught him, I was stymied: how was I going to get him home? Moose is WAY too heavy to carry. Inspiration — or is that desperation? — struck. I took off the long sleeved shirt I was wearing and wrapped the sleeve around his neck to drag him home.
And there was the morning Moose made his big break as I was trying to leave for work. I followed him in the car until he took off across the nearest baseball and soccer fields. I abandoned the car (left it running — how stupid!) and ran after him. At some point, I kicked off my heeled sandals and went on barefoot through the muddy fields, splashing orange mud all over myself and screaming to the high school kids to please try and catch him. Nobody could! Moose lightning! I finally caught him after a few more blocks of chase and dragged him home — stopping to pick up my sandals and car on the way.
The last few times Moose has escaped it has been thanks to my grandmother, who will open the door to check the mail and Moose will make a break for freedom. If Moose (and Lally) get out when I’m not home, they’re pretty much going to roam the neighborhood until they get tired and come home — after two or three hours, they’ll be spotted on their way back to the homestead. My eighty year old grandmother can’t run after Moose!
No matter how careful you are, no matter how well trained you THINK your dog is, he may decide to pull a Moose and make a break for sweet freedom. Hopefully you’ll be a little less irrational than I am when Moose goes running!