Norm Stories: Norm's One Escape Attempt From His Own Backyard

In his younger years, Norm used to love to lay out in the rocks in the backyard for his afternoon sunbath. As he got older, he shifted to the flat concrete of the patio.

And speaking of Norm in the backyard, today's story is the story of the one time that Norm escaped from his own backyard. You would think given Norm's history, he would have had far more escape attempts here. He was constantly getting out of the backyard (by shimmying up the gate and jumping down) in the four months he was with his prior owner. And he was constantly jumping fences at Camp Bow Wow and, after he was kicked out of there, he would climb chain link fences at other boarding/doggie daycare facilities. Except for the part of A-VIP where they had nine-foot tall chain link fences in one enclosure. Nine feet was high enough that he didn't even attempt a climb when exiled to that section for the motivated and committed escapers.

How he managed his escape from his own backyard was ingenious. It was a Sunday morning. Spring time. Warm but pleasant. I was comfortable leaving the back door from the house open into the backyard since it was cool enough that the a/c was not running continually. Norm was quiet so the fact that I heard nothing meant nothing. Or so I thought. After he was out there for 20 minutes or so, I went out to check on him. No Norm. But the side gate was open. I was going to get some shoes on to go searching for him when the front door bell rang. A neighbor found him a few blocks away, on the other side of the busy street behind my house. She was able to lure him into their car by doing something Norm always found irresistible. She showed him an open car door. In he jumped -- she confirmed it was him by his name on the collar -- and off they went to bring him home.

So how did he escape? Apparently, the last time the bug man was here, he did not close the side gate fully. The gate is old so it can appear to be latched, but the latch is not fully closed. Norm stuck his snout between the vertical rails (or slats, not sure what to call them) on the gate, angled his snout, and pulled backwards. You cannot open this gate by pushing forward. You have to pull backwards. Which Norm did.

How do I know this when I didn't even see him escape? Later that day, he was back at the side gate and I caught him sticking his snout between the rails, angling his snout 45 degrees, and backing up with his snout still between the rails. Only this time I had made sure that the latch on the gate was fully closed and fully locked.

First escape attempt: successful.

Second escape attempt (same day): foiled.