From the book

He ran away seven times

Oliver, black lab

A beautiful black lab kept showing up at a neighbor's door. His name was Oliver. His person worked long hours, and while she was gone he got out of the fence, crossed several major roads, and walked five blocks to that same house.

They found his family and brought him home. Within days he was back. Same roads. Same five blocks. Same porch. They returned him again. Then a third time. A fourth. A fifth. In all, Oliver ran to that house seven times.

After the seventh trip, everyone could see what Oliver already knew: he liked this new family better. They adopted him. Once he was there, he never chose to leave, even when he had every chance. Oliver wasn't "bad." He faced a problem. His needs weren't being met, and so he built a plan with many moving parts and solved it.

From Three Dimensional Dog, A Unified Theory of Canine Behavior, by Aaron McDonald.

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