Close call

[OzGirl]

Yesterday evening one of my sisters called by, well my son opened the door for her and both dogs ran out. My kids called me and I raced out and my son was standing holding Roxy but Susie was at the end of the driveway just metres from the road (which was fairly busy at the time). I yelled for someone to bring the treat jar and tried to coax her near to me, she had no intention of coming in and I didn't want her to run on the road. Hubby went through the garden to come at her from behind and I threw her a treat, which thankfully she wanted, then hubby grabbed her.

It was really scary cos she was so close to the traffic, and I thought I was going to lose her.

I apologised to the kids later for being so cross with them over the incident and my son said when the dogs ran out he asked my sister to come in so the dogs would follow her in and she told him "no I'm just going to get something out of my car" and walked away back to her car, not caring that my babies were following her. When I got out there she was more or less ignoring the fact that we were all frantically trying to get them in. She is not a dog (or animal) person and has said on a few occasions that my dogs are not well behaved they don't come running everytime they are called. I was pretty peeved when he told me what she had done, so I will say something next time I see her.

[josie&holly]

Unfortunately, some people do not realise what their actions or lack of action cause. Glad you were able to retrieve them!

I am going in a few weeks to relatives and am concerned about how Holly will react and how they will deal with not being able to just open doors etc.

[Cairnmania]

Yikes! Cars and dogs to not mix well! Glad everything turned out okay.

I feel fortunate now that neither of my dogs run for the hills when my front door opens. Neither of them consider it a big deal to be off lead and have no interest in running away just for the thrill of it. Part of the reason is that I used to have an invisible fence so they still suspect they might get zapped - and the other reason is I simply did not make a big deal of them being off lead and in the front of the house. I don't get excited, so they do not get excited.

In the interest of full truth though I don't let Abby in the front of the house off lead for more than a minute. There is a neighbor's cat that likes to hide under my shrubs and sun herself on the front path and Abby is absolutely obsessed with finding it. She would definitely take off after it.

[Hagar]

It's scary when they escape isn't it? I live between two busy one way arterial streets. When Renny was about 8 or 9 months old ( He's 3 1/2 now), I had him in the back yard to take care of business and to play for a bit.

Unnoticed by me, the gate didn't latch and a gust of wind blew it open. We noticed it at the same time. Before I could close the gate, he walked out and headed down the driveway. There was snow on the ground and I was wearing a light jacket and a pair of shoes that were about one notch better than slippers, so I had a hard time keeping up. He would stay just out of reach as he headed down the street, but did stay on our usual walking route. Everytime I got close he would speed up a bit. I can say that he didn't run away, but wanted to "explore" on his own. He stopped to sniff and mark, but kept moving around the corner. When he got to the alley, he headed up the alley and checked out some back yards he'd never seen before. I almost had him in one backyard, but he got back to the alley before I could get a gate closed.

He continued up the alley to the next street and headed for one of the busy streets. He walked across the street and avoided getting hit. As luck would have it a man and woman were walking a dog in the next block. While I was waiting for a chance to cross the street, I yelled to the couple to "Grab him if you can". The lady managed to get him into a nearby fenced yard and close the gate behind him. When I caught up, I went into the yard and caught him easily, and once I had a good grip on him thanked the couple profusely for cornering him. I hate to think about how it could have ended if the couple hadn't been there.

Needless to say, a spring loaded gate closer was installed the next day.

[kayharley]

And people in my family laugh at why I have a gate across the top of my stairs that lead to our front door/downstairs door/garage door.

So glad all turned out okay and give your sister a scowl from me....

[Puddlesmama]

I lost my 16 year old cocker spaniel a few years back. He was afraid of thunderstorms and jumped out a screen to get out. He never came back, even though i pounded the pavement for months. I eventually found him.. A kind lady took him in an hour away and he died while in her care.

Now I have 2 Cairn Terriers that have actually helped turn my place into a fort knox for dogs. I am ever vigilant and never ever say that I would never lose my dog (s) again. It was one of those least expect it things..even with his age and all..

I am glad you got your sweeties back

[Hagar]

Puddlesmama, your comment about a pet getting out through a screen is a familiar one.

Shortly after we moved into my current house, we had a cat force the screen on the screen door out and got out. We never found her.

This suggestion is a bit off the topic, but may keep another pet from getting lost.

This is a good precaution if you have the combination type of storm door with the sliding screen and glass panels. The panels are interchangeable. I put the screen at the top out of a pet's reach. So for the warmer weather, I slide the glass down to expose the screen instead of having the screen at the bottom where it's vulnerable to an active pet.

For the most part this idea only works for storm doors and not for most windows.

[sheila and Misty]

And people in my family laugh at why I have a gate across the top of my stairs that lead to our front door/downstairs door/garage door.

So glad all turned out okay and give your sister a scowl from me....

Im not any better with my dog sign on the gate-beware of dog! I can run to the gate in 15 seconds-can you? and it has a big german shepherd on it!!

[Kramersmom]

I'm so glad your hubby got her! I get chills when I hear questions as to a Cairn being off leash. I'm sure with good training it's poosable, but, I could never. I just wouldn't trust it.