Once when Sam was an adolescent and I was working full time and it was going to be 40 c. day so I decided to leave Sam loose in the backyard. Gates locked of course. When I got home I found a hole with splinters and tell tale white hairs (Sam was pure white) on my timber porch,.it looked like someone had taken to it with an axe.
I went straight to the backyard and Sam was not there however, I found the gate to the man-hole under my house was open. I ran around the neighborhood desperately looking for him and asking anyone who was home if they had seen him because everyone knew I was the lady with the huge white dog. Nobody could help. I rang the ranger, the vets but no success. I started to drive around the streets but that failed too. I knew he had a microchip & a tag but the rangers were pretty dodgy in this particular town.
Then I saw the lady who lived opposite me arrive home, so I went over and asked her if she had seen him. She told me he was locked up in her pool yard and the florist who was doing deliveries had dropped him off a couple of hours ago. She told me the florist, whilst driving down a busy street, saw Sam nearly get run over by a concrete truck so he pulled up and opened the door and Sam jumped into the passenger seat. This was in the morning.
Sam apparently spent the rest of the day accompanying the florist on all of his deliveries. The florist knew where Sam came from because he still had his tag on with my address inscribed on it, and when at the end of his deliveries he knocked on my door, but of course I was not home. The florist also saw Sam's incredible little hole he had eaten through my hard wood boards to escape. So he took him over the road and my neighbour recognised him of course and locked him in her pool yard.
I went to the florist the next day and thanked him, I was so grateful. The florist thought it was really funny a) Sam's way out of the yard and he said Sam was a delight to drive around with for the day and if I ever wanted him to take Sam along again I was welcome. Apparently Sam was a good listener.
I do not know how my gate to under the house got opened, its slip lock and hinges were rusted and it was hard to open. I knew Sam was smart but that was pushing the limits. I think it was someone in my life who preferred me not to have a dog at that time. But that is another story.
I got the porch fixed, a couple of hundred dollars, thanks very much Sam. I put a lock on the man hole door. That he had an enjoyable day delivering flowers was hilarious, just one of many adventures with my friend Sam.
blackemerald1