Julia Zwar is used to her dog, Billy, getting into good trouble. The 5-year-old pup is obsessed with adventure and is known to do pretty much anything in the name of adrenaline.
“Billy will stop at nothing,” Zwar told The Dodo. “He’ll take any opportunity he can get.”
Usually, Billy’s mischief is harmless — like when he helps himself onto the couch when no one’s looking. But recently, Zwar left Billy home alone for a few hours and returned to a note tucked in her front door that left her speechless.
“Hi, we found your dog on your roof …” the note started.
Zwar first adopted Billy when he was 15 months old. The rescued puppy was underweight and anxious, but Zwar and her housemates showered Billy with love, and he quickly started to thrive.
“He soon regained his confidence and weight,” Zwar said, “running at the park at any given opportunity.”
As Billy grew, so did his curiosity about the world around him. The intelligent pup spends every day looking for something new to discover, which is what led him to the roof nearly four years later.
It was a warm summer’s day in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, when Zwar decided to go out with her friends to their favorite pub. Billy was already used to staying home alone without a problem, but on that day, something in the house was different.
“My housemate, Jess, had just rearranged her room, pushing her bed up against the wall with the window (or in Billy’s world, the door),” Zwar said.
The housemates didn’t realize it yet, but the new design provided direct access to the roof.
Luckily, Billy’s roof exploration happened during the day, and right in front of a park where people from the neighborhood were having picnics. As soon as the people in the park saw the dog on the roof, they rushed to help him.
“[We] climbed up and put [him] back into the house and then closed the window,” the note read. “Cheers from the park people.”
Zwar had no idea about Billy’s adventure until she found the note on her door. When she went inside, she found Billy safe and sound in the living room. The happy pup wagged his tail in delight as if nothing had happened.
“He was excited, but then when I said his name in the ‘you’re in trouble’ tone, he dropped his head and I’m sure flashed back to moments earlier, when he was standing on the roof,” Zwar said. “If puppy eyes came from anywhere, they came from his face that evening.”
Zwar couldn’t believe that Billy had made it onto the roof, but she was so relieved that he was OK. She gave him a big hug, then immediately came up with a plan to ensure he’d never walk onto the roof again.
“We had to make sure the door to Jess’ bedroom was shut or the window shut so he couldn’t attempt another escape,” Zwar said. “So far, so good.”
Thankfully, Billy hasn’t attempted to get back onto the roof since his first incident. The adventurous pup is now back to his usual routine of running around his favorite park or barreling into the nearby ocean, all under his mom’s supervision.
Zwar hopes that Billy’s roof surfing days are far behind him, but now that she knows the lengths he’ll go to for the sake of adventure, she expects the unexpected.
“And if climbing out onto the roof isn’t the end of it,” Zwar said, “I’ll keep you posted.”
Source: The Dodo
