Hyper Piper

We had just barely entered the kitchen after our walk when she bounded through the screen door, knocking it out of the track.  Her buddy, Kozmo, was close behind.  And then they were gone.  Sigh.  This was the second time in a week that Piper had escaped.

Last time she slid by my husband while he was taking out the garbage around midnight.  We knew it was hopeless so we just went to bed.  Chasing her does no good (especially in the dark).  Piper is just too fast.  And she simply doesn’t care.  While Kozmo’s goal in life is to be a “good boy,” Piper really doesn’t care.  She does care that we love her and is very sad when we get mad at her.  However, she doesn’t put the two together.

The morning after Piper’s midnight escape, my husband found her on the front porch.  But when he tried to coax her in, she ran the other way.  She was on the run for another few hours.  She didn’t go far, running through our yard, and stopping on the deck to check on us.  When we called to her, Piper would cock her head, and then with a look that said “but I don’t want to” she would run off again.  Oh, and did I mention she was muddy?  When she escapes, she inevitably takes a dip in our stream.  Piper eventually tired of this game and when my husband sat down at the patio table, she joined him so she could be petted.  At least she didn’t bring home a chicken this time—another story.

So, after the screen door escape, we called Kozmo back fairly quickly.  Piper, of course, was on the run.  My husband worked to straighten out the bent screen door.  I listened to the early Fourth of July firecrackers going off and wondered if they would freak out Piper.  Sometime later I heard a couple barks at the back gate.  Piper was ready to come in—perhaps she wanted to spend the night in her bed.  And, of course, she was wet.

Piper is about 8 or 9 years old now; we have given up hope that she will ever be anything but a puppy.  She often carries a toy around the house, looking for someone to play with her.  Kozmo will sometimes play with her, but she wears him out.  I have owned a few dogs in my life, and I must say that Piper is certainly not the smartest.  In fact, I think she might have been gone (running through the neighborhood?) when the brains were passed out.  For example, we can rap on a counter or other surface while she is watching, yet she will think somebody is at the front door.  Sigh.  But Piper can be a sweetheart.  She really wishes to be a lap dog, and it’s taken her a long time to understand that she’s too big.  A border collie / shar pei mix, she weighs over 50 pounds.  When she is asleep, she is really out; we can step over her, move her around—no response.  However, when the border collie part of her kicks in, watch out!  She has been known to do a flying leap over the entire couch.  Our hyper Piper dog definitely keeps our household lively.