Howdy Partners I love an adventure, don't you?  They don't call me an "escape artist" for nothing ya know.... I just have to share my latest adventure.... It was some adventure, it did cause my human family some heart-burn, I really did not mean to cause any distress. But I just had to do do it ... You understand don't you?  Okay so you don't see any humor is this?  Maybe if I share with you my story you'll smile with me....

 I get bored you know, Woof and there is this dip in the neatest place, right under the fence... So naturally that gave me the idea in the first place... I started sniffing around this little patch of dirt and oh that smelt so good... I did what is naturally to us dogs. I started digging to see what was making this smell. Next thing I knew I had a hole.  Yap a nice size hole if I can brag a little.   I was pretty proud of that little hole.

That reminds me of something... Does your human have this annoying thing about sticking a camera in your face? Every move you make, you can't even eat or play, without that little camera being stuck in your face?  Just wondering, if it was just something particular to my humans...They seem to showing these pictures to everyone?

 But anyway, back to my hole  digging, nothing going on in my yard.  My humans were somewhere, doing all the crazy things humans do... So I just sat there under a tree, near my hole, admiring my work. I was wondering what else I could do to entertain myself.

 It was a nice warm Sunday afternoon and lots of time left to fiddle around. Normally I would be watching the humans kids play; with my human mom and dad digging in the flower beds. I could let them know I needed a belly rub, and I had them trained to stop and scratch my back.

But I guess nothing like that today.  Usual practice, would be for me to be  "supervising" the job to make sure all was done correctly. How disappointing, boring today is. Nap time I guess.. I had just settled down to a summer nap, when a sound nearby caught my attention.  OH OH,  LOOK!  What I see, it is one of those irresistible critters with the large floppy tail.  That sassy tease was back again!  It had just sassed its way through the hole I just dug.  Now what dog could resist that invitation! The darn thing stopped just inside the fence in-front of the hole at seeing me, started chattering.  I don't know for sure what it was saying in squirrel talk, but in dog talk, that squirrel was laughing at me! He was teasing me, saying "You can not get me! You could not before, you sure can't now. Your a dumb dog."   That did it! I is was up in a flash and almost had him.  Needless to say, boy did I surprise him, when he scurried under the fence, and I did too. I can believe he could feel my breath on his tail  Woof! Woof! ...A most satisfying thing, chasing and almost catching him as he dashed and darted zig zaggy to the next tree... I would have really liked to catch and shake that rascal, once and for all.

Oh well that was fun, and look at him, cuzzing at me up there, when he knows I can't climb trees. I was thirsty let me... oh, oh looky here, this is new, sniff sniff, oh and look over there, and woof!! I smelt where another dog has been.  I forgot to look for my water bowl, the smells were catching up with me and they were all new, at least to me... 

Hmm. Now even for me, after a while, too many new smells gets tiring .... Now were did they put the water bowl? Hey there is another dog, let me ask him if he is a friend and can help.  I was going to ample over and make a new friend. As I started to approach, it did not take me long to understand, this dog was only interested in Not being a friend, he was just down right unneighborly.

I was in his territory and he chased me. Whew, by the time I got him to leave me alone. I discovered to my dismay I was really thirsty, and my water bowl was no where in sight. I had no idea where I was. I knew I could not go back in the direction I came from, unless I wanted to face that unfriendly dog again. I did not.

This was not turning out to be a casual afternoon outing at all. This was beginning to remind me of a story the humans had told about this amazing dog, named Zeus.   Zeus, was a nine-month old Labrador and Rottweiler mix, took a 13,000 mile journey before making it home after escaping from his yard in Casa Grande, Arizona. A couple driving from North Carolina to San Francisco spotted him on a highway about an hour south of Phoenix. They picked him up and when the shelter they took him to explained that he would be euthanized in three days if his owners weren't found, decided to take him with them. After all, California is supposed to be dog heaven.  Well I do not want to have that kind of adventure  even if these nice people did find the owners!   

 Did I mention that I was smiling with relief in my photo above...I was thinking about how exciting my adventure had been, and mom snapped another photo. Good grief, enough already!

Oh did you wonder how my adventure ended? I just have to tell you it was exciting in more than one way. That is because I was standing looking around trying to get a bearing on which way was home, when a bunch of loud sudden sounds caught my attention.  I observed where headed straight for me was a couple of kids. What the heck now? Looks like they are up to no good, I better scat out of here fast.  The excited kid and his big bother came running at me yelling, waving some kind of sign like they were going to hit me with it.. ... Naturally I took one look at this onslaught of humans running me, and dashed under a couple of bushes, near a house that I spotted just in time.  Grrrr. This was beginning to be no fun adventure at all.  My collar got caught on a branch and I could not get it untangled in time I was nabbed!!!!  As I struggled I managed to cause the large yelling kid to drop me. Ouch! my paw. Limping or not, I was in a full run to get away...

I do not know how this happened, I was running pellmell away from the kids, who were chasing me, running screaming at me to stop or something.  Don't know, I did not want to wait to see, and almost ran into a moving van, that skidded to a stop, just barely in time to keep from squishing me, that much I know.

I was panting hard now, and getting tired, this was not the kind of adventure I had ever imagined.  Not even in my nightmares, which are filled with me chasing giant squirrels up a tree... Anyway the van stopped. People started scrambling out of the vehicle from all kinds of openings, they were chasing me too.  The world was against me, for sure the humans, so I kept on running...  In all this chaos, I heard my name in a frantic voice I recognized.

WHAT? Where? Oh my it was my humans, that were trying to catch me now. Calling to me to stop, wait,  sit and down.. oh?  okay since it was them, and they had stopped chasing me. Maybe it is safe?

Just wait till I get my teeth on that squirrel! It is all his fault....MY Humans, they took me home all happy and smiles of relief, but once we got inside the house did they continue to hug me? Tell me how they missed me? Nope, they shoved me in a crate and ignored me for two hours or something like that, could not see the clock. Finally they started to relax and let me out of my crate. They did not even yell at me. All seemed forgiven. I need to continue my training with them. They have a long way to go. They are suppose to hold me hug, me give me lots of treats, play ball, not ignore me. Its is all that squirrel's fault...

Of course I am already planning another adventure, that is if they don't cover up my hole under the fence...

Recently I discovered that those kids were waving a printing flyer with my picture and description. Apparently when my mom and dad discovered I was not in the yard they, started going door-to-door leaving flyers at neighbors houses, and even mailboxes. I get the impression my adventure must have lasted much longer than I was aware.  They had even taken the time to call all the neighbors and local vets too. They even had a LOST DOG sign on the back of our vehicle while they were driving around.

Oops! did I mention that I had traveled more than a mile from home. Wow! It doesn't sound like much area, but that mile radius could include residential, lots of shopping centers, and close to 200 acres of undeveloped green belt areas. I am sporting something called a microchip now, along with a collar, with my name and a phone number on it. I wonder how all that will affect my next adventure. Yes did they find the hole I dug under the fence. Now I will just have to dream and plan something different... A dog can dream right!

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In addition to microchipping, other forms of pet identification are collars, tags and tattoos. "We think external collars and tags save more lives and prompt more returns than anything else," says John Snyder, vice president of the companion animal section of the Humane Society of the United States.
Preventive Lost Dog Measures
The best insurance policy against losing your dog is to make sure the dog doesn't get loose. Here are steps the HSUS recommends: Keep dogs indoors, especially when you're not home.

• Teach your dog to walk on a leash
• Fence your yard and padlock gates
• Don't let your pet roam free or be visible from the street
• Never leave pets in a car or outside a store to wait for you
• Train your dogs to come when called
• Keep your information updated on your dogs microchip.