Evading Arrest

I don't know if people from other parts of the country have his as a common occurrence, but here in SoCal we have a regular feature on the news- Ridiculous Car Chase. It's something we treat with reverence and watch obediently. We always wonder though "where does he think he's going, there are helicopters over him....." You just know no matter how he runs, he's gonna get caught and arrested, and running just made it 40 times worse.

Now, when a small dog finds a way around your leg blockade to break out of the yard and take off down the road like his butt is on fire- it's a different thing altogether.

I say this because that is exactly what happened with our little felon yesterday.

As I was going to the front yard to get something out of my car, Odie leaped over my leg and took off. I took off after him in my bare feet as fast as I could, figuring I'd catch him before the end of the block as I have a couple of times in the past. Not this time, he was bound and determined to explore the world on his terms and at a speed I have never seen him accomplish before.

My initial annoyance very quickly turned to flat out fear as he got closer and closer to the very major 4 lane road we live off of. Especially since the further he got from me, the less energy I had to run full tilt (I'd already done 4 miles that morning, and was not able to hit fill speed for very long). Thankfully my much sprier husband had heard me yelling and taken off behind me. Even in flip flops, he was able to catch up and surpass me when my lungs failed.

Odie miraculously made it across the 4 lane road at full tilt with out being hit by a car- we have no idea how. I turned back and went for my car, my husband ran with him and tried to catch him still.

You know how dogs love to play chase by stopping for a second, and then as soon as you get within arms reach, take off again? That is way less charming when you are terrified they will be hit by a car or you will never see them again. This is the tactic that was used for a good quarter mile.

Fortunately his male dog need to pee on something every 30 ft kicked in and he got nabbed. It was an absolutely anxiety ridden, adrenaline pumped 5-7 minutes. I didn't know if I should be glad or furious when I drove up to see man carrying dog, both looking peeved for different reasons. I was exhausted, scared, and disappointed in my ability to keep up, because what if I'd been alone and this happened?

New policies have been put in place within our household to make sure the likelihood of this happening again is lessened. I will work on my sprints at the gym a bit harder now that I have another reason for it. The escapee had a grand old time exploring and running unhindered for a little while. My husband had one hell of a sore leg after running that hard and fast in flip flops (not advisable BTW). We all survived, but if I never have to do that again, I would be just fine with it.