Experiment failed/Friends who listen

We had to return Jojo to K9 Rescue and Rehab and his amazing caretaker. He was a very even tempered dog and was in a lot of ways a good dog but we couldn't take care of him. Once he figured out he could escape easily from our house and yard he would try to get out as often as he could.

On Sunday afternoon Cannon thought Jojo was upstairs. The girls went outside but left the back door open. Jojo happily escaped the confines of our house and ran around the neighborhood. This time he didn't go far and we found him on our street even though he had been gone for 20 minutes or more.

On Monday evening, Cannon brought Jojo inside through the back door to get his dinner ready, not realizing that the girls had just gone out the front door and left it open (see the pattern here?). Jojo promptly ran out the front door and by the time Cannon had the food ready the dog was long gone. Really long gone. Tamera, the owner of K9 Rescue, was really understanding and positive and worked with us to find him. All her dogs are micro chipped and on Tuesday morning she got a call from an animal surgery center not very nearby, where Jojo had been dropped off.

Here's where I was so grateful for my friend Marie who listened to God's whispering and came to my house. I was on the phone with Tamera, trying to figure out how to go get Jojo, when Marie drove up with a present for me -- souvenirs from her Hawaii trip. I explained to her what was going on and she offered to pick up Jojo for me. She was truly Heaven sent.

So she brought Jojo home to us, let him run inside the front door but the girls had just ran out the back door and left it open. I had just changed Massi's diaper and was still buttoning up is onesies when I realized what had happened. Marie chased Jojo out the back door, I ran out the front door, baby in arms, Sommer chasing me, and up the driveway in time to see Jojo disappearing into the neighbor's yard across the street. I yelled to Marie to grab the leash from the kitchen counter and I chased the dog who evaded capture for a bit but then got too curious about a smell and I was able to grab his collar and hold him until Marie got his leash on.

So Jojo had to spend the rest of the time at our house on the dog cable. Except when Cannon unhooked him to get untangled from the trampoline poles and Jojo realized he wasn't leashed and dragged Cannon toward the house. Cannon was yelling at me in panic so I ran to the back door, no baby in hand this time, and took Jojo's collar from Cannon while he grabbed the leash. Jojo used his strength to muscle me a few feet toward the freedom run that is the driveway until I straddled him and grabbed his collar with both hands. Plus, when inside, Jojo had taken to standing at the front door, head down, just waiting for someone to open it and let him loose.

Obviously we have a problem closing doors around our house.

So Jojo is a no-go. Cannon cried and cried on Monday night when Jojo was lost but he had come to terms with giving him up by Tuesday afternoon and helped Eric return him that evening. So someday Cannon will get his dog but we have to wait a bit longer.