Rogue's Great Escape

Last night was homecoming...well, that's what I call it.  It's the Sunday night when all of the kids come back home for the week.  It's a fun time.

We had a campfire and were hanging around outside.  Around 8:30, when it was getting dark, I told Grace to tie Rogue up.  She has a 50 foot training lead that we clip to her collar and then tie around a tree...just to be sure she stays near us in the dark.

Around 9:00 we were making all kinds of noise, kids were on the trampoline (and some adults) and I was sitting by the campfire and realized Rogue wasn't there.

I called and asked everyone to stop.  Rogue was gone.

I found her lead, with the ring for her ID tags stretched out.  The lead had gotten connected to the ring for her IDs, not the ring on her collar.  One tug and she was free.

We called Rogue, no response.  We all stood in the backyard, calling for Rogue.  Tears started to flow pretty quick for Gracie.

We got in the car, leaving one team (Brianna and kids) at home in case she came back.  We drove around the block, but saw no sign of her.

We then split into two cars to cover more ground.  I in one car and Grace and Jodi in another.  At about 9:30, I called the police department to report our missing Dog, in case they found her.

At this point, kids are crying and I'm getting really worried.  I keep telling myself that she made it for a long time in a ditch with three puppies, she will be okay for one night.

Although she is new to us yet, this just didn't seem like something Rogue would do.  Certainly she takes off after things, such as Rabbits, but she is always right by our side; it doesn't make sense for her to just take off.

After driving all over the South East part of town, I returned home.  Brianna was in the driveway and said Rogue had not returned, but she heard something in the neighbors backyard; but wasn't checking on it herself!  We headed out back.

We walked into the neighbors yard and I called Rogue.  I didn't hear any reply, but I saw some raspberries move.  I called again...

Then, there she was, behind the fence.  Somehow she had gotten into the neighbors garden, probably chasing a rabbit, and gotten stuck.  Why she didn't bark or whine when we called her, I have no idea, but she was trapped, at most, 75 feet from where we were sitting all night.

Needless to say, everyone was relieved.  It goes to show that anyone can make a mistake when it comes to caring for a dog.  Rogue was tied up at night, to keep her safe, but one small mistake allowed her to get free.

Fortunately, the fact that she was right by us and couldn't get to us reaffirms my feelings that her running off didn't make sense.  I would have been much more frustrated if we had found her blocks and blocks away.  While Rogue has a lot of training to go, she has made great progress, to the point that she is off-lead in the yard with me.  That would have all changed had she taken off and not come back.  Fortunately, we know her pretty well and were right that it "just didn't seem like something she would do".