Staying Out Late

I just shut, locked and dead bolted my front door. I may have to write that every night after walking the dog so I can hold myself accountable. There may have been another incident with Tugger and the front door. And I mean that literally because I'm not even sure if anything happened.

Here are the facts...

1. I was sick most of the day Sunday, pretty sure I had locked the door earlier, and so I stumbled up to bed. Didn't give it another thought.

2. Watched The Next Food Network Star, realized I was starving, made emergency bag of popcorn and finally fell into deep heavy sleep of exhaustion.

3. Dog woke me up at 5am with some strange noises. Sounded like she was excited about something. I immediately pictured the front door open and her running out of the house. Didn't hear any wind so I decided that hadn't happened and went back to sleep.

4. At 7:30am, found the front door blown open a couple feet. Sighed a huge sigh at the prospect of hunting down my dog again. Fed Jack his breakfast and went upstairs to put some shoes on, wondering whether I should drive around in my car to try to find her.

4. Neighborhood looks so calm and quiet. No one is out. I peered out the window for several minutes trying to seeing Tugger running around.

5. Thought I should go yell for her and offer her breakfast in hopes that she would come running but then decided I would check the guest room instead, just to make sure that she wasn't sleeping in there.

6. Intense relief when I found her passed out on the bed. She could barely open one eye to acknowledge me she was so tired.

7. Tugger slept all day long...she barely moved. Acted like she'd been running for maybe hours.

So...I suspect that she may have gone out for a nice run under the cover of darkness and just let herself back in through the front door, which was still open. And maybe I'll just leave the door open for her next time and that will be the trick to getting her back inside. It's worth a few extra bugs and the AC working a little harder if I don't spend hours chasing the dog around the neighborhood. Because I'm just going to face the fact that even though she is in no way an escape artist, she will eventually get out again. But I will once again vow not to let it happen.

Anyone who has read my blog knows that Tugger has already gotten out a few times in the past, like on this day in May and this day in May. But, to be honest, I didn't even post about a day recently where she got out twice in one day. And right after I finally got her back in, Animal Control drove by. That could be a story for another day...or not.

Looking on the brighter side of things, it was an escape-free June. And we're sending her to Matt & Kelly's during our upcoming vacation. Good luck to them. The ironic thing is that she didn't get out as much until she got her own backyard in which she can run around at any time. Then again, there weren't any three year olds who were able to open doors and crates either.

I also just added a picture of Tugger on the side, since she stars in so many of these posts. I thought it best to go with a really cute one of her with Jack as a baby. Despite her desire to run free as often as possible, she really is a great dog and she has always been wonderful with the kids, even in the days when Jack thought it was great recreation to hit her often with a hockey stick.