Zoe escapes -- again...

Zoe escaped for about half an hour a couple of days ago. After the USA - England World Cup match, I came back to the boat yard and took her for a walk. We ended up stopping at the dog friendly bar done the street and had dinner and a couple of drinks, beer for me, and water for her. The bar allows dogs, which is technically illegal, but doesn't seem to bother anyone. The dogs are even welcome to sit on the stools.

We ended up staying till about 10pm before heading home. It was getting a bit crowded and I didn't want anyone stepping on her -- I don't let her up on the stools. When we got back to the boat yard, the gate was already locked, so I opened it, locked it behind us, and let Zoe off the leash for the walk back to the boat. We're in the back, so that gives her about 100 yards to run. She must have seen or smelled a rabbit, because she took off like a rocket. I jogged after her to see what she was chasing, but couldn't keep up. She ran back and forth along the far side of the yard that boarders a wooded area, then found a hole in the fence and was gone. I called for her for a while and then climbed the fence myself.

The neighbor behind the yard yelled over to see what was going on, so I went over and explained that my dog was missing. We spoke for about a minute, then I excused myself and began jogging up the street. At that point, I saw Zoe run by his house and called her. She came right up, panting, completely out of breath, and soaking wet -- she must have found a water hole of some kind. The neighborhood behind the boat yard is pretty quite, so there wasn't much chance of her getting into trouble, but if she'd gotten out onto the main road, it would have been a different story.

She hasn't run off like that for the last couple of years, and does come back within a few minutes, but I just can't seem to keep her from running off in the first place. She goes nuts for rabbits and horses, and we saw a possum the other night which really got her going as well. Now that I know the fence isn't secure, I won't be letting her off the leash even in the yard again. I never had this problem with any of my other dogs. Every one of them would listen and turn back if I called them, but Zoe just can't help it. She takes off at full blast and only comes back once she's worn out.

The first time she did this was right after I got her. We lived next to Vandy and took her onto the campus to let her run off leash with another dog, thinking the other dog would make her easier to control. But as soon as she got off the leash, she took off. That was before I injured my heels, so I took off after her. I must have chased her for about a mile before she got tired and turned around. It was all I could do to keep close enough to see where she was going.

She'd chase one squirrel after another. As soon as one went up a tree, she'd see another one and take off after it. All I had on were flip flops, so I kicked them off and chased her bare footed. I was glad we were on campus, since I could run on grass most of the time, but then she got to the edge and ran along the street for another good quarter mile.

I think I tried it again about a year later figuring that she would obey at that point, but it was pretty much the same thing. However, I was ready and had on my running shoes, so I was able to keep up a bit better. She's gotten loose a few other times, mostly through an open door, but I pretty much try to keep her in fenced areas like dog parks.

She's jumped off the boat before too, but never into the water, just onto the dock. We'd been out by ourselves and she got a little scared when the boat heeled over a bit too far. She didn't like that too much and wanted off the boat a quick as possible once we got back to the dock. I was busy with the lines, so couldn't chase her right away, but she just went about 100 yards and waited for me. We were living on the boat, and she didn't seem to have a problem with it once we got back, she jumped right back on board.