The Great Escape

The other evening, I got home before the Hubster and did him a favor by de-pooping the yard.  After I opened the gate and deposited said poop in the garbage, I played with the dogs in the backyard for a while.  A big dark cloud was gathering above head so I opted for some fetch and chase play rather than trying to squeeze in any walks before the rain hit.

After our play session, it was dinner time, the Hubster arrived home much to the joy of everyone and I settled downstairs in our den with a beer and the computer.  A few minutes later I hear him call Hurley inside.  Then I hear him stomp across the floor.  Then I hear the front door open.  Then I hear him call Hurley again.  Shit!  Hurley's not in the backyard!  I run upstairs, confirm gate door was left open by me trying to do everyone a favor by de-pooping, grab a leash, some treats, my shoes and fly out the door.  I yell to the Hubster "Go towards Lombard!" (the big busy everyone drives too fast on it road 1 block away from our house that I'm eternally terrified will be the death of my dogs should they ever get out) and start jogging in the opposite direction.  My heart is racing a million miles a minute and all the terrible possible scenarios start sprinting through my head.

"I got him!" the Hubster yells in my direction within 30 seconds.

I return to the house to discover where Hurley ran off to:  the opposite side of the gate at the side of the house where he sat patiently waiting for us to find him.

Note to self:  Next time you think Hurley got out, check the front yard before tearing off to search the neighborhood. 

Monday Fun Day: Coastal Hiking

Sadie and I recently drove out to the Coastal Range here in Oregon for a nice day hike for our Monday Fun Day adventure.  It was breaking 80 degrees in Portland and man, we just had to escape the heat!  (yes, I'm being sarcastic)

We decided to tackle Saddle Mountain, the highest peak en route to the Coast from Portland.  One review of the trail mentioned hurricane fencing used as trail maintenance in the latter half of the trail, which may not be good for dog paws, but I decided to risk it anyway.

 

Sadie approved and off we went!  The trail was a little more difficult than I had thought, or rather first hike of the season, I'm a little more out of shape than I realized.  But Sadie was very patient with my frequent stops to catch our breath and have a sip of water.


As we got up to the fencing as trail portion, out of shape Mom was huffing & puffing and decided to use Sadie's gentle paws as a reason to be OK with only doing half the hike Sadie decided she had better things to do.

The Summit we never reached...

So back down the mountain we headed and spent the rest of our afternoon at Cannon Beach.  And guess what?  No Sadie Water Crazies!  At all.  She didn't start whining once she smelled the ocean air.  She didn't pull when we parked the car and walked towards the beach.  Hell, she even walked excitedly but relatively calmly (for her) down the beach until we got to a less populated section where she could run.

And run she did!

Seeing her not get so crazy around the waves was totally worth a little bit o' shame regarding the unfinished hike.  I'm glad we took the time to reward her with a beach visit; would've been a shame to be just a few minutes away and not get to see her zoomies in the waves. 

Happy Memorial Day! May it be filled with sunshine, waves, BBQ and a wee bit of zoomies.