Escape-ades

So, my life revolves slightly around an amazing 10-week-old boy, so a few other things have gone by the wayside as far as blogging goes.  I'll slowly catch you up on all the goodness, boy-related and otherwise.  For today, however, we're going to focus on a certain Schnauzer.

He may be the size of an elf, but he
can cause a whole lot of trouble.

Geoff, Will and I took a two week vacation from life to visit family over the holidays.  We spent a week in Utah with Geoff's side of the family followed by a week in California with my side.  Overall the trip was great (exhausting!) and we had a blast (more on that later).  It wasn't without a few snags. 

A couple days into the trip, we were out and about in Utah when my phone rang.  It was a number I didn't recognize, so I let it go to voicemail.  A few moments later I had a message.  "Hello," a strange man's voice said, "I believe I've got your dog."

Somehow, Romulus had gotten out of the yard.  Thankfully, this good neighbor had nabbed him.  Our dog sitter (AKA our hero) went and picked him up.  He then surveyed the yard and couldn't see how he had gotten out.  We figured it was a fluke and carried on. 

Three days later, I was lying in bed when my phone rang.  Again, I didn't recognize the number and didn't think much of it.  When I listened to the message?  "Hello," a strange women's voice said, "I believe I've got your dog."  This time is was 12:30am in Utah, which made it 1:30am at home...on a Thursday night.  I contacted my dog sitter and pretty much everyone else I knew in Fargo - no responses.  The lady graciously agreed to keep him 'til morning when a friend of ours (AKA our other hero) was able to pick him up and take him home. 

For the rest of our trip, he wasn't allowed outside without supervision. 

Upon our arrival home, our dog sitter had determined the area of the fence he had manage to squeeze underneath for his escape and placed wood down to block his exit.  Rom didn't see that as a problem and pushed it aside with his nose and disappeared just a couple days after we returned.  This resulted in Will and I driving around the block for nearly an hour before we found him. 

And there had been no other incidents, until Thursday.  I had let the dogs out to do their business.  As they were out, Will decided it was time for some attention, so I went to his aid.  Both dogs returned inside for dinner.  I fed them and then went to play with the boy.  I forgot the door was still open.  And, thus, Rom was gone. 

I, once again, loaded Will into the car and drove around the block repeatedly.  After 45 minutes, I decided the task was futile.  It was dark and cold and Will was getting cranky.  So, we came home and said a prayer that Rom would be safe and someone would find him. 

Someone did.  About another 45 minutes later I got a call from a sweet old lady.  "Hello," she said, "I believe I've got your dog."  I rushed to the address she gave me only to realize that my dog had crossed 6 lanes of a heavily trafficked road during rush hour.  And managed to make it to the other side alive. 

Needless to say, we went to Home Depot that night and purchased some bricks.  Our luck has been two good to risk yet another escape.  Crazy dog. 

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