This Lewis story actually begins with one of his predecessors.  Her name was Ariel.  She was an Australian Shepherd.  Like Lewis, she was both a rescue dog and too smart for her own good.  She was one of the most humble and loving dogs I have ever known.  Hated thunderstorms and would crawl up in my lap and cover my face with her paws.  I think it was her version of “Don’t look, Ethel!”

This almost picture-perfect dog had one slight issue.  She was the Houdini of the dog world.  She got out of the fence once and was gone for five days.  Not exactly an earth-shaking, nor unique shortcoming in a dog. But the following is.

We had taken Ariel to be boarded while we were scheduled to be out of town for a couple of days.  When we returned, we went to the vet to pick her up, and we were met with a most interesting story…to say the least.  It seems that the staff came in one morning to find all of the dogs out of their pens, running about, willy nilly. To show how smart she was, the staff said that she opened the cages of all the dogs except the mean one she didn’t like. They looked at their CCTV footage to see what happened, and there was Ariel, going from cage to cage, opening the doors.  When we checked out, we saw Ariel’s file on the desk in front of us.  There in big, bold letters were the words, LATCH LIFTER.  Oh, the shame….

Fast forward to Lewis.  Granted he’s never been singled out by the vet as being an outlaw, but I’m not taking any chances.  We keep three latches on all outside gates, one of which is a carabiner through a dead bolt.  Unless Lewis grows opposable thumbs, I think we have the latch (potential) problem solved.

Upon reflection, I doubt Lewis would ever turn to a life of crime as a latch lifter.  Food thief, definitely, but not a latch man.  The reason being, Lewis tends to be a big chicken around other dogs.  Okay, not a chicken, but at least cautious around other dogs.  Sadly, Lewis is skittish in most situations, resulting from his being deaf.  Since he cannot hear, he doesn’t notice people or things until they reach his peripheral vision, which can startle him.  In any event, according to the vet, the felonious side of Lewis is buried WAY deep beneath the sleeping and eating Lewis.

About the only thing Lewis is guilty of is stealing your heart….and well, food.  When he looks up at you with that face and those brown eyes, you find yourself giving him both.