Note: This is an older version of the page, click here to see the most current version.

A Dog Escapes

The scary event that led to the Invisible Fence

On a dark and stormy night — seriously! — we let our dogs out in the backyard before going to bed. After a short while, Barney, a beagle-border collie cross, was back at the door. Waiting to be let in, he'd obviously had enough of the light rain. It had rained on and off for several days, and we were all quite sick of it. Carmy, a young golden retriever, was still out. I called her, but there was no answer. This wasn't unusual behavior, she was probably tracking a squirrel at the bottom of the yard, so I let her stay outside a while longer while we watched some television. The rain never bothers her.

A few minutes later, Barney barked at something he saw moving outside at the front of the house. We shushed him because our infant daughter was sleeping and went back to watching TV.

After ten more minutes, it was time to get Carmy in to the house. I called and called her name, to no avail. Finally, I resigned myself to putting on a jacket and boots and heading outside to fetch her. Something was obviously keeping her busy.

Once outside, however, I could find no trace of her. Worried now, I went back inside to grab a flashlight and proceeded to walk the entire length of our long wooden fence.

And there it was: a new hole. Carmy had taken advantage of the wet weather and the softened ground to dig herself a larger hole. Squatting, I took a close look at the hole and saw a big tuft of her fur hanging off the bottom of one of the boards. How she'd managed to squeeze her body through that hole I don't know, but obviously she had. And now she was gone!

Next: The Search

This is Stage 1 of an AdSense case study. Copyright 2005 by Eric Giguere.