PANIC!!

It just goes to show that you can never, ever let your guard down.

I'd been playing with the pups and looked up to notice the postwoman coming up the drive carrying a large package. (It was my copy of 'Safer Food, Better Business' but that's by the by.)

To save her having to ring the bell, thus incurring the wrath of the Westies, I went out to meet her, but completely failed to notice that she had already loosened the catch on the gate.

Obviously you'll have guessed what happened next.

I put the girls out for a while and settled down to read the (quite lengthy) documentation, only to realise a few minutes later that all had gone very quiet outside.

That was because there were no Westies outside my house, the gate was wide open and there was no sign of them.

In a bit of a state I grabbed their leads and a box of treats and ran out to search.

Fortunately they hadn't gone too far and were busy sniffing around next door's garden. They DID come when I called them, but then jinked away at the last minute and disappeared round the side of the house again.

However, once they realised that I was bearing treats, they became significantly more biddable and returned home with their tails between their legs, leaving me with greatly raised blood pressure no doubt!

But honestly, if you've got a gate and there are clearly dogs in the house, you would expect a responsible person to check that the gate is secure. Wouln't you?