How much trouble can one dog cause?

I have come to the conclusion that my dog, Dillon, has truly mastered the art of manipulation. He knows exactly what to do to get exactly what he wants - which is usually a sympathy pat (or 10). He has a daily pat quota which is rarely reached. My theory is that he does not actually realise that he is a dog, and instead he thinks that he is a terribly maltreated human.


Though he is skilled at getting what he wants out of people, he is not the brightest of animals. This can be a dangerous combination. Last night Dillon was either feeling particularly vindictive or particularly stupid... or both! The gate was left open for a moment and he figured he'd make a break for freedom. Nevermind that he is 15 years old, blind, deaf and quite feeble on his legs - off he went.

We had little over 20 minutes of daylight left to look for him and without success. He is a dark dog and basically disappears into the night after sunset. And then came the rain. He hates rain. I think he was probably starting to regret his escape at this point. It was cold, it was wet, it was dark and he was far too blind to figure out where the hell he was!

Fortunately he chose to give up hope on the driveway of a fellow dog-lover, who took him in overnight. After much stress, worry, phoning and flyer posting we finally heard the good news that he had been found, and picked up a very tired staffy from this lady's house several kilometers away.

Yes, it was an ordeal... but he has now received lots of pats and attention from relieved family since his return home. And so, his manipulation worked on us.

Dillon: 1
Us: 0

Perhaps he is not so stupid...

Though he has caused us huge amounts of worry and he is a massive pain in the butt I wouldn't have him any other way. Glad to have you back, Dillon!