Escapes . .. They must run in family

Dear Woody:

It’s Vail again, your favorite sister. I had a fun time last week too and it also involved a few kennel breakouts. I’m glad to see you are teaching your siblings to be creative and think outside the box. Do you think we were all programmed in the womb to attempt daring escapes at the end of February?

It all started last Thursday night, when I was hanging out in the backyard. Just outside of the fence I smelled a little critter and felt the need to dig him up. So I simply chewed through two layers what is supposed to be industrial strength plastic fencing (and is advertised as being able to stop a running deer head on). I can’t believe none of my other four siblings have never done this before. It was so easy and quick. I didn't go far and was just digging a hole a few feet away from my very tiny escape hole. My absence was quickly noted and I was soon brought back in to the yard while my dad made a quick fix of the fence. However, while he was in the garage getting some more fencing to really fix the hole I did it again because the critter still needed to be caught. Again I was quickly caught and returned to the yard. This time Dad really fixed the hole.

The next day on Friday, Mom’s friend came over to see Morgan, our new human puppy, and while all the humans were inside I had time to study addition sections of the fence for potential weaknesses. It did not take long before I found another area that was susceptible to chewing. Again I escaped to look for my critter. Unfortunately, my Mom decided to check on me and sees me outside of the fence. So she immediately hands Morgan over to our friend and rushes outside. I was so happy to see her outside of the fence too that I ran right over to show her where I am digging. I’m not sure why but she carries me back into the yard and into the house where I am forced to stay until Dad gets home..

When Dad gets home he fixes the fence again and I am allowed back outside. Friday is our usually play night with Souki, the beagle next door. So Souki came over to play with Cooper, Aspen, Denver, Boulder and me. We were all playing happily in the fenced in yard when an hour later Souki is barking. I look to see what she is barking at and discover that it is me because I am not in the yard. Again I am more than happy to come back to the yard when called. I still can’t believe that I have been unable to persuade my siblings to follow me.

All this resulted in a fun family outing on Saturday to a trip to Home Depot where we bought two rolls of steel fencing to reinforce the industrial strength plastic. As of today, Tuesday, no breakouts, although when my siblings went sledding this morning I didn’t follow them as closely as I usually do and ended up having a really long free run for about an hour before Dad found me in the woods carrying a chipmunk.