Jess the wonder whippet

[Hedge]

Hi,

you may have heard about my Whippet cross dog Jess in my previous posts. Well, at the moment we are having our windows and doors replaced and for my own peace of mind and my workmen's ear drums sake, I arranged to put Jess into the local kennels on a day visit basis. This went fine on Monday and Tuesday, but yesterday she appeared at the front door by herself - no lead attached, just in her collar. The man working outside looked around for me or my son to see if we had gone to fetch her, when he realised she was alone, he got Simon to come to the door. At that moment I came in from the rear garden and was amazed to see her and said so!

She had obviously been running, she was thirsty and panting slightly. We rapidly concluded that she had run away.I phoned the kennels and only got the answer machine and left a terse message asking for an explanation.

Twenty minutes later one of the workers at the kennels turned up asking if Jess had turned up. Apparently she had leapt in the air in a seven foot high run onto the cattery roof adjoining it, and jumped down the other side and run all the way home. He had chased her but couldn't get near her and gone back for his car.

The owner of the kennels came up after evening meal and apologised in person, visibly concerned for Jess's well being.

I am not sure she had considered all the implications of an escaping dog. Once you start to think about what could have happened, it doesn't bear thinking about. She was too early to have been caught up in the school run traffic, and we live in a quiet village. But what if we'd been away, and she hadn't known her way home, or caused a fatal accident? As it is we are only a mile and a half away.

I knew she could jump, but not that high! They said she had been in that run before, which makes me think there must have been a squirrel or local cat on the cattery roof.

Meanwhile, we are just relieved to know that she loves us enough to come straight home!