Nearly lost Fergus last night!

We had a major scare last night. We were having dinner at my parents house. Now some of you know that Cooper our ruby cav is in the process of patella ops so is being confined at the moment. I was out in the garden taking him to go to the toilet and then brought him in for a quick couch cuddle before taking him home.

My parents were seeing my brother, his wife and their cav Rockford out. Our elder cav Fergus has had a tendancy in the past to dash out the front door and go exploring so mum and dad know to keep any eye on him and keep the front door shut. Unfortunately last night when seeing everyone off they obviously weren't paying attention to fergus and he somehow got out the front door and went off exploring down the street without any of them noticing!

So they came back in and my hubby went out in the yard to get Fergus into his harness so we could leave and he was nowhere to be found. We were so panicked and so angry at my parents. It was already dark so we were expecting a futile drive around the streets in the dark to find our little man.

Fortunatley he walked up to a lady taking her cav for a walk. She saw he had tags with a phone number so instead of leaving him on the street in the dark, she took him home and rang us. We keep my parents number on the tag as well - since they stay there a lot. She lived just around the corner so we went to go get him and found him having an absolute ball playing with this other gorgeous blenheim cavie. We were so relieved and my parents escaped the abusing of a lifetime. I felt so guilty as well but I was so focussed on Cooper. I'm just so thankful we got him back and we're so lucky this lady took him with her and called us so we got him back safe and sound. Even though I'm sure that he just thought he'd had a great adventure.

So as if we needed it, another word of warning on how easily these little dogs can get distracted by things and all of a sudden we've lost the love of our lives. And they may not always find such wonderful people who'll look after them and contact the owners.

Close call....glad a good person found him. You know...it's so easy for them to slip out. You do what you can...just glad this turned out so well.

They are so fast. When someone rings the bell. I have to put Lily in her crate because she will break her neck to get out of the door. She did get past me one time and ran like the wind. So scary. That's when we started putting her in her crate when company is coming or going. So glad it turned out well for you.

Thank you.

Yes we always pick up the dogs or hold them when the door is opened. My parents are usually good about this too. They obviously just got distracted.

When Fergus was a puppy he would try to dash out when the door was being opened even slightly ajar. Now he's pretty good although we still don't take any chances. He must have just walked calmly out the door and gone exploring and no-one saw him cause they were all saying goodbye.

At least we got him back ok. We're going to drop by that ladies house tonight and drop off a box of chocolates to say thank you.

so glad it was a good ending. now everybody will be more careful than every.

oh goodness it's so scary how quick this can happen...


thank goodness Fergus is back safely with you...the lady who found him sounds lovely, I think it's a nice idea to take a gift around for her...and maybe you can arrange a play date for the doglets?

What a lovely neighbour and so glad you got him back.

One good thing sbout old, traditional homes in Ireland is most have a front hallway with doors that close -- I call it the 'doglock' for 'dog airlock' :lol: -- and that means I can answer the door with the dogs safely excluded from the hall, back in the sitting room, and allow people in with the dogs excluded. When I was looking at houses in California it worried me that none had front halls and I wondered about managing them.

One thing I suppose would be to train the dogs to line up at their crates or go to a specific room at a doorbell signal! This wouldn't be hard to do though would take time but then they could all be secured in crates or a room. Mine know now from experience to go back and wait in the sitting room as they know I will send them out of the hall.

If the hall is narrow enough you can put up a dog gate, my hall is too wide, I've never been able to train my Cavaliers to not go crazy at the door, other dogs, yes, but these guys have a group mentality and it's more powerful than mine!

So glad your story has a happy ending, very close call.
That lady would be getting a big box of chocolates if it were me.

Our condo in Florida has double doors leading to the elevator foyer which is just for our condo. So visitors come up on the elevator, the elevator closes and then they are in our foyer. So Maddy is safe. In addition, the elevator locks out so people cannot open it at our floor, but we have not locked it out yet.
The front sliders open into our lanai and from the lanai onto the front patio, so again, she is safe.
Our back courtyard is where she plays. It is large 40ft x 25ft and all walled in. So she is safe there. You can bounce balls up against the wall etc.
However, when we move her up to New Hampshire for the summer it will definitely be much harder. We have a townhouse condo there, with a front door open to the house, plus the garden is not fenced in and the condo association does not allow it. I have a few months to think up some solutions though, and it is a very quiet over 55 neighbourhood.
There is also a bike/walking trail close by so that will be nice for her.
It's amazing how much we worry about them isn't it?
Pam