Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid Make a Break

BC and the SDK AKA Duke and Freckles escaped out of the back yard while we were jogging after work yesterday. That could have been a disaster had they tried to track us down. Let me explain how close to danger they were.

First, A couple of weeks ago I tried to fix the drop bar latch on the gate as it would not close properly. It's suppose to drop into a slot but it would hang up so the gate could be pushed open.

Yesterday when we left to jog I checked to see if the latch had dropped and it had but evidently not completely.

The street in front of our house is under construction with one lane completely dug up for installation of a new storm water sewer main. Four houses to the east is a major four lane street. Our jogging route takes us one block down that street where we cross the street and head into a large cemetary for the rest of our jog.

When we walked home and turned into our driveway Freckles came bounding up followed by Duke. Both were a mess from wading through the muddy side of the dug-up street. Luckily the construction had stopped for the day and with the torn up street traffic is slow and sparse.

They could have been on the run for 20 - 30 minutes. If they had tried to track us down they would have encountered that major street with fast heavy traffic and not being "educated" urban street dogs that would have probably been fatal to both, especially if they had caught sight of us on the other side of that street.

They were a mess but I was so thankful they were not hurt I forgave them their escape and immediately installed a new drop bar latch on the outside of the gate that will prevent them for pushing the gate open again.

But there was still the clean up. Duke is good about tolerating being hosed down but Freckles freaks out at the hose, something I will have to work on. I had to put Freckles on a leash and hose him down as he bucked around trying to escape.

Here is a photo of the two mud pigs before I hosed them down. Notice the tongues as they were two happy but tired pups and oblivious to the dange they had avoided.
http://home.flash.net/~jdebess/Photos/muddogs.bmp

 

wow! glad they got back safely!
speaking of escape stories...
we have an electric gate, and the other day, due to the wind, it didn't close all teh way. snickers (who for some reason seems not to like the backyard) jumped out of a little 7-8 in. space, while ranger stayed put. Im sitting in the living room watching TV when i hear something in the flower beds, i look up, and snickers is sitting there, having cornered the cat in the bush. it always freaks me out when they get out, because our neighborhood is sandwiched between 3 busy streets, they've never gotten that far though.

 

:lol: :lol: The expression on Dukes face is great....hes got the "yeah...I know...Ive ben baaad". Im really glad they came home safe though.
I dont know if your looking for ideas for giving Freckles a 'less traumatic' bath, what Ive done with a few dogs is have a large bucket of warm or tepid water and use a jug initially just gently pouring the water on them (still have them tied or have someone else hold them) then with the shampoo just really get your fingers into them, most dogs love a good 'massage' especially along the back, the neck, the head and rear legs, then use the hose to spread the shampoo around but I keep the hose on low to medium power and put it on the dog, not aiming it at them from 6 inches or more. If possible try giving him a couple of small tasty bite sized treats to take some of the attention away from the whole process, Ive used food, squeeky toys, one dog was fine while he was nibbling on his bone that Id tied to the fence. It takes longer but with a lot of dogs Ive found that it does make a difference, I think the water hitting them scares them, and I remember you posting something about Freckles being scared at the groomers.
Im guessing on this but I think that a lot of the problem is the anxiety as soon as hes sees a hose, you could try some desensitization, have the hose, uncoiled on the ground, initially with no running water, then try walking him around it while its on the floor then try it with the low pressure water running through it, then go a step further and have it in your hand, no water at first then low pressure, make sure he is comfortable with each step before going on to the next. If you ignore the hose and try and distract his attention from, maybe play ball with him around it, give him treats near it etc. It wont help at the groomers and depending on the groomers handling could set back every bit of progress you make with him. Personally for me I would either talk to the groomer and let him or her know what your doing and ask them to do the same or just give him his baths at home if its easier on him.
(you may have already tried all this I just thought if you havent it might help, some dogs hate bath time no matter what you do though :? )

 

DeLaUK,
Thanks for the tips. I did see one episode of the Dog Whisperer show where he dealt with this exact problem. He worked to get the dog into a calm submissive state before slowly introducing him to the hose. I'm not sure if it's the hose or the running water but I will have to work to calm him down.

 

Is that the show with the guy whos name is Ceaser? Im in Germany now so I havent seen it but a friend in California was telling me about one of his shows with, I think it was a Cocker Spaniel being groomed, my friend said he got the intended result but by the end of the show the guys hand was all bandaged up :shock:
Seriously though one of the things I love about desensitization training is watching a dog go from being absolutely terrified of things like, hoses, plastic bags, trash cans, wheelchairs, automatic doors that open when you walk past etc and gradually bringing their confidence up to where they are no longer scared of it. A dog I had years ago was scared to death of those canopies that some shops have hanging over and tents, tarpaulin that was flapping around, she almost got us both killed because out of the blue this canopy flapped in the wind as we were walking under it and she ran, peeing, into the middle of the road dragging me with her , almost got hit by a car, I was so upset that something like that could scare her so much.

 

you are soo lucky they didnt wander, probably having too much fun in the mud pit

 

At least it ws mostly just their feet that was muddy!

Nala has the same sort of hose issues. Unless she is really dirty, I tend to just leave her outside until the mud dries and then brush it out of her. For feet, I use a bucket of water and a washcloth and sponge off her feet. I have even used the washcloth on the rest of her coat. If she is stinky and there is no other choice, I put her in a harness, attach her to a tie-out that is looped around a tree trunk, and then step on the line close to her. She still bucks around but can't go far. I get soaked, of course. Sometimes I take her to the self-wash at PetCo so I don't have to bend over. But the automatic dryers - forget it! The noise freaks her out.