To not chase after the fucking dog

[paradisechick]

We have a little west highland terrier. He's 3 and a bit of a pain in the arse. I wasn't keen on the whole dog thing but DH convinced me. It's an escape artist. Since I've been on maternity leave (14 weeks) I've had to search for him no less than 7 fucking times. Once when I was a week of my date he got out of the garden, across the fields and some kind person had him in their garden.

3 weeks ago he got out and was in the field opposite, I had to leg it halfway across said field to get him whilst the baby was sleeping.

Last week I realised he was missing just as I was heading out. Cue a wasted hour driving round the town until somene called me (his number is on my collar) and I went to meet the man to get the dog back. He was really pissed off and shouty at me.

So, my DH assures me he's made sure the garden is secure (again) and this morning I'm hanging out the washing. Dog with me. I came in to make up bottles then went to get the dog in before I sit down for 10 minutes. He's gone.

Baby sleeping, we've got plans today and I don't know what the fuck to do.

The dog obviously doesn't want to live with us. I phoned DH, he swore at me, like it's my fault for leaving the dog outside. DH never walks the dog (as was agreed) so it's not wonder the little shit takes itself out for a run. I didn't want a dog. Why do I have to spend my days running after it?! DH is working only about 5 miles away.

Would it be unreasonable for me to get on with my day as planned, if someone phones saying they've got him I'll pass the number onto DH. Or do I put the sleeping baby in the car and spend another day looking for him?

Pande I am laughing at the image of all us terrier owners hiding in hedges so that they don't know we are on to them

Excellent advice from Rhubarb re the approach to take. Love the "Dear Me!", it's so MN

One quibble: it isn't so much that the dog won't make much of a dent in a car, more the avoiding action a car-driver might take to not hit the dog and the subsequent damage & injury. My mother, to her distress, killed a runaway puppy as it ran under the back wheels of her car, but not before it had bitten another car driver on the opposite carriageway who had stopped to try and grab it, or the car that had shunted another as they hit the brakes trying to avoid hitting it.

Report - ah yes but do people not swerve for cats? (btw Highway Code says not to swerve for animal in the road as you will only end up doing more damage to other road users) Cats are always being run over, there was one on the verge of our bypass yesterday, the driver must have stopped (on a busy bypass) to move it to the edge.

Or are cats fair game?

A long light metal chain securely fixed to the floor will fixgarden issues, unless your husband does a proper job with the fence.
A good walk twice a day is only fair. Walking my dog saved my sanity with a baby. It is very good for mental health.

It's the general mayhem, secondary accidents and awful distress that you can cause to unwitting drivers that makes it so irresponsible to allow your dog to escape. On one, terrible, occasion when mine got out when he was much younger we nearly had a small pile up in our lane and the driver who swerved to miss him was (rightfully) very upset that she might have killed him. It's not fair to put anyone in this position. I was more than mortified.

I don't know if this is of any help, but with our escape artist we had to impose a double entry terrier protection system. IE a gate beyond the door, with only one being open at a time. In the garden we have a huge extendable lead nailed to a tree. He was never allowed to roam free coz he could even climb fences.

Again - cats?
Badgers?

Think it's instinct to try and avoid something shooting out in front of your car. You register later whether it's cat, dog or, heaven forbid, small child. If you have time to work out what it is, you usually have time to do a controlled-ish stop.

Can I just ask about the tether/stake suggestions....

I woul dlike my dog to be able to bask in the sunshine in the garden, but don't trust her not to run for the hills.

Is a tether/stake option a good idea? Is there not a risk the dog might choke herself?

In my area it's pheasants - idiot things - or occasionally deer; you really want to slam on the brakes to avoid them!

To look at the fence is fine which is puzzling. It's not like there's a gaping hole we're ignoring.

You do realise that some westies are buggers for climbing fences don't you. Chain link fence types are particularly easy for them. My old westie girl would have no problem scrambling up and over a 6ft chain link.

OP, you sound suitably fed up and whilst I did raise my eyebrows a tad when you said you didn't give a shit, I do get where you're coming from. I'm a dog owner and although mine doesn't escape, he is hard work and can be draining. Your DH is to blame for a lot of this but you also share some responsibility because, although you were pushed into it, you did agree. Would you be willing to try some training with the dog yourself?

reportmenow pheasnats here too.

They seem to wait for a bloody car...then race across the road.

Local farmer has deer shaped dent in his Land-rover.

This is the point I was making.

The roads can be full of wildlife which has a habit of going in front of cars. Cats also have a habit of running across the road.
So to try and make out, as some posters did, that the OP is responsible for some theorectical road deaths is nonsense.

Car drivers should not be driving at speed.
They should not swerve to avoid hitting any wildlife.
If it is safe to do so, they should get out and remove anything they have run over from the road.

Ideally the dog wouldn't be roaming free, but then ideally drivers would also follow the highway code.

Bloody pheasants. Too daft to realise they are birds, too slow to out-run a car and only finally remember the existence of their wings when it gets too close for their comfort. We have hundreds of them out here!

Yes around here these animals have to be avoided

rabbits
ducks
badgers
foxes
deer
phesants
and finally dogs and cats.

Why is that, wordfactory? I don't get it, pheasants lurk, then jump out. Better than the farm's attack-peacocks though.

Sorry, have digressed away from Houdini Westies.

Perhaps the pheasant breeders should be charged for letting animals loose that could potentially cause an accident on the road?

And God should be sued for badgers.

I see your point Rhubarb but dogs aren't wildlife, as such are they? They are domesticated animals who are supposed to be under some sort of control. Since some dogs show a remarkable lack of self-control and a complete disinterest in the Green Cross Code, it is down to their humans to ensure they aren't a hazard on the road. Because the consequences, even for anyone driving at the correct speed and obeying the Highway Code, can be unfortunate. To put it mildly.

Same with cats.
They are domestic animals too. Someone's pet. And they have no road sense.
Around 10 cats a week are killed on UK roads according to some stats.

This was a little dog, same size as a cat. Hence my questioning about the accusations of the OP being some kind of evil witch who didn't care about the little children that would be killed if a car ran over her dog. Which kinda seems insane.

Westies are stubborn and have selective hearing when it comes to recall... The opportunity for a spot of unfettered rabbit chasing is just too great a temptation. Fence your garden securely, invest in some training classes and carry around some stinky treats with you at all times (use a pouch if you don't want to put them in your pocket). My Westie is not food-motivated at all and I've found that liver cake was the only thing that would motivate her to recall reliably).

Agree, Rhubarb it's a ridiculous quantum leap to go from being pissed off about an escaping dog straight to condoning child killing.

Cats are, however, rather freer spirits than dogs. I'm not saying that this justifies running them over but on the whole, there is a greater tolerance of cats being out and about in a way that wouldn't apply to dogs. However, as with dogs, if you want to ensure your cat doesn't run the risk of being run over then I guess you keep it inside the house or build a cat run in the garden. Because there's not a (standard) fence that is likely to contain a cat.

Or just don't get a cat.

Or a dog.

Be content with a pet-free, clean home that doesn't smell of your pet and doesn't have pet hairs all over everything.

(and you with the dogs, yes you do smell of your dogs, you've just stopped noticing!)

Rhubarb you just made me proper laugh at that last sentence! SO TRUE!!!