The Great Lillini

When we adopted our golden/lab/maybe chow dog, Lilly, her foster parents told us that she was a little escape artist. Little did we know that he great escapes would be so clever, brave, bold, and simply amazing, that she could probably put a great one-dog act together and headline in Vegas. A summary of her escapes, in no particular order:

1. As a wee pup: She was gated into the kitchen, and climbed over a safety gate.

2. Next day we raised it up a bit to make it harder to climb. So she went under. (Apparently she is much like a mouse.)

3. Day after that, we fitted an extra 2 foot board below the gate. She still climbed over the extra-tall gate. Then, get this-- She opened a window, and punched through the screen to get outside. I'm serious.

4. Numerous times, she has dug under fences.

5. One of my favorites: From the fenced backyard, she pulled off the crawlspace door cover thing, went under the house via the crawlspace, pulled off another door cover, this time at the unfenced side of the house, and voila.

6. Another favorite: Over a 6-foot fence. Yes, over. I think she jumped up on the roof of her doghouse, then just went for it. Down 6 feet on the other side.

7. She can open any standard gate. She'll bat at it until it opens a bit, then grab it and open it more.

8. Most recently, she let herself out our kitchen door. We found her wandering the neighborhood, and were quiet confused as we knew we'd left her inside and that the doors were closed!

9. She has gone through a fence. She whacked at a picket until it snapped, then went on through.

Other strange Lilly facts:

1. She can open the lever-style door handles, and does it frequently. We have to make sure to lock the backdoor when she's outside, otherwise she'll let herself back in, bringing whatever other creatures with her.

2. She used to come to me whenever I sneezed. This was not a good thing when she was riding in the car with me. 70 lb dog on lap = not so safe.

3. Now she's afraid of coughs. I fake cough when I want her to go away.

4. She loves laying on our porch table. And standing.

5. She used to climb up on our outdoor grill a lot.

6. She curls herself up on our deck chairs, and rests her chin on the armrest.

7. She loves the snow. She would stay out in it all night if we let her.

8. She is super sweet with the baby and kids. She lets them climb all over her. She's very maternal like that, it seems.

9. Nickname: Whirl, Lilly Girl, Lil, Willy Wirl, Lal

This is a photo of our circus dog with Baby Buddy, who was probably about 8 months.