Day Seventy Eight – The escape artist.

The great escape

Remember the story about Delilah jumping the fence in the update section of this post?  Yesterday morning I let the dogs out and when I went to let them in Delilah was gone again!  Luckily she was next door in the neighbor’s yard, but I had to go out in the sub-zero weather to help lead her home.  The path she took to get there was down hill and trying to climb back up the ice hill was almost impossible.

Formulate a plan

Chet and I discussed the situation at lunch and decided until we can add some height to the fence, we will have to tie her out on a lead.  I really hate having to tie dogs up, but she must be safe.  I cannot take a chance that she can 1) hurt herself going over the fence 2) hurt herself fighting with one of the dogs in the neighborhood 3) run off 4) get hit by a car, well you get the picture.

Put the plan in action

When I got home last night, I walked the fence line; not an easy task with two feet of snow with a layer of ice on it.  I found a spot where I thought she was going over.  Then I took the 30 foot leash I bought to take on vacation and I attached it to the deck.

Foiled!

I let the dogs outside before dinner and after about 5 minutes, went outside to check on them.  Imagine my shock and horror when I saw the leash taut and draped over the fence.  I ran inside and shouted for Chet, threw my boots on and ran back out.  Yes, she went over the fence and was scrabbling about on the ice hill trying to get up or down.

Dad to the rescue

Chet jumped the fence and climbed down through the snow, luckily for him (or maybe not) he sank in the snow (hey, beats sliding on your butt) and quickly got to her.  I kept the leash tight and kept ‘reeling’ her in, finally we got her up to the top of the fence and Chet had to pick her up and lift her over the fence.  Of course we adjusted the area where the leash was tied out so she cannot possibly get over the fence again.  She hates going out on the lead, but she really has to be safe.

I don’t have any pictures of the event because I was too frantic about getting Delilah safe before she hung herself.  I figured you would forgive me. 🙂  Instead here is a picture of my two babies.

Delilah (aka Houdini) on the left; Sampson on the right.