Prison Break Pooch: Dog Cleverly Escapes from Animal Hospital and Goes on the Lam

When the family of 10-year-old General went on a vacation, they didn’t realize that the Great Pyrenees they left behind was going to have a getaway of his own.

Last week, the Campbell family decided to take a trip away from home for some relaxation. Since there was no one around to care for their dog, he was brought to the Aquia-Garrisonville Animal Hospital, where he was meant to stay until they got back. However, it seems General never agreed to that plan, as evidenced by his successful escape from the facility.

It’s hard to say whether the dog was feeling particularly lonely, anxious, or just plain bored, but something certainly made him to want to leave. In the stunning footage taken by the animal hospital’s security cameras, you can watch General unlock the latch on his kennel door before making his way down the hall, past the other (likely shocked and jealous) dogs, through the building and out into the parking lot. Not only did General manage to find his way out all by himself, but he opened three doors in the process.

When General’s family heard the news, they immediately took to social media to plead with people around the area to keep an eye out for their dog. Aquia-Garrisonville staff also took to their own Facebook page to urge locals to keep their eyes peeled for the mischievous Great Pyrenees. “Last night at 4:00 a.m., one of our boarders opened his run door and managed to open the back door to the clinic to escape. Stafford County animal control and sheriff deputies as well as staff members are looking for him,” they said.

Thankfully, this story of a dog on the run had a happy ending. General was found seven hours after his escape resting on the lawn of one of the nearby houses. His family returned home to see him, overjoyed that the prodigal Pyrenees had safely made his way back to them.

“He is very special,” Travis Campbell, General’s owner, told Fox 5. “He is a smart dog. Getting out of doors, in a door is nothing new. I told them that when we dropped him off, but never had a problem getting out of any place that boarded him before.”

However, this time things were different. This time, General was absolutely determined to get out.

“Basically, he spent a night and a half rehearsing trying to figure out how to open the door from the inside, which is how he got a little scratch on his nose,” Campbell said. “It's a trick to lift the latch from the inside and he figured it out and pushed on the door. Pretty impressive.”

Now that General’s adventure is over, he’s back at home with the family that loves him. But let’s just hope they seriously consider bringing him along for the next vacation.