Thread: Bella = Houdini

I always read that pits are great escape artists. I wouldn't really call this a trick, but on Sunday when I got off work around 11pm and got out to my car, I had four voicemails. The first two were from the same number, one from a guy, one from a girl. They were sent around 4:30 and 6:00, respectively. They went about like this:

"Um, hi, this is so-and-so from Campus Court apartments. Your dog has been running loose around here and we caught her and she's staying at our apartment until you can give us a call and come get her. We're at apartment blah blah blah."

I live in a 2-story townhome. The building is 3 stories...our first floor is the 2nd story, and the upstairs is where our bedrooms are. We have a deck on the 1st floor (which is the 2nd floor of the building), and up until now, that's where I've kept the dog while I'm at work. She has plenty of room to move around, she has her doghouse, the deck is covered and there's nothing for her to get into and chew to pieces.

Well, I got home and sure enough, she was not on the deck. I went to their apartment and there she was...they also had a dog and told me the two had been playing for hours. I thanked them about a hundred times, leashed her, and we went home.

The rail of the deck is at least four feet tall, possibly a bit higher. The drop to the grass below (from the rail) is about 16 feet. So apparently Bella cleared the rail, dropped down a story and a half, and proceeded to wander the apartments. She's jumped off some high tables and off the counter at National City when she was about 8 weeks old, but I dunno how she managed jumping off the deck without breaking something.

I also heard from a friend at my apartments that she saw Bella on Sunday afternoon running loose and chasing one of the cats from the apartment directly below ours. I really do hate that cat...it's charged us from the bushes on several occasions, and I stepped in between to prevent a fight. The next time it happens, I'm gonna let Bella have her way with it. It's always trying to pick fights with all the dogs and cats in the neighborhood and it was probably taunting Bella from the ground, which is what made her jump. Oh yeah, and Bella only stands about a foot and a half tall, if that.

So, Bella has confirmed that pits are indeed excellent escape artists. I guess that's her best trick so far, other than turning off my alarm clock before I wake up, dragging the covers off the bed and going to sleep under them in the middle of the floor at 3 in the morning, and hiding stuff under her tongue when she's chewing on something she shouldn't be and I pry her mouth open to get it out.

I'm just very thankful she wasn't hit by a car or ran away, and I'm glad I got her a nametag that had my name and phone number on it. It scared me to death to think if things had been a bit different I might've never seen her again, or found her a half mile up the road, dead on the shoulder. But from now on, she's not staying on the deck. I've been leaving her loose in the apartment when I leave, and I think she's past the obnoxious stage. She just whittles her nylabone down and sleeps on the couch, and gives me a warm greeting whenever I come home.