Jailbreak Jake

As a part of my ongoing effort to get more exercise for the dogs and myself, I took Coco for a walk yesterday. I hadn't walked the dogs to our new park yet, so I decided to start with just one pooch. I would then add the second pooch on a later walk, if all went well. Since Coco is by far the most restless of the pair, I chose her for the trial run.

Jake was not happy. The two of them were outside in the dog run when I came out (with Jake's leash yet) to get Coco. Normally mild-mannered Jake freaked out. It was as if we were heading out for The New World and leaving him behind to scratch out a living on an Irish potato farm.

He escaped the dog run before I got Coco to the edge of our lawn. I stopped, went back, and put him back in. It looked like he just squeezed under the fence, so I secured the bottom by hammering in the stakes that hold the fence down. That would do it.

Jake was now officially a dog on a mission though, and all that green chicken-wire obstacle did was slow him down a bit. Like the Dingo Fence in Australia, it doesn't really hold up if the dingo is motivated. And our dingo was motivated. He was not about to let a little black furry upstart take his place as top dog.

Coco and I made it almost to the park before I saw Jake tearing across lawns and streets towards us at top speed.

I was not happy. I had to hold Coco's leash out away from my body as I stooped to hold Jake's collar for the long two-block walk home. It's not a very ergonomic situation for the lower back.

Upon arriving home I tied Coco's leash to the planter hook near the porch and got Jake into the basement. No fences this time. He sensed his impending imprisonment and started squealing like a stuck pig. I closed the basement door and went back outside just in time to see Coco leap from the porch and hang herself on the suspended leash. She was flailing around like a fuzzy piñata as my jaw dropped in shock.

As I leapt towards Coco all I could think about was that if I couldn't get there in time Heather would think I hung her on purpose. As it turned out, I got her free in seconds. Once she had time to recover her wits and re-expand her windpipe, off to the park we went for a very enjoyable walk filled with squirrels and scents and sunlight.