A student was filled with worry when her family’s dog ran away while she was looking after him – only to find out he had walked himself to his favourite local pub, again.
Emily Dixon was at her family home earlier this year with her boyfriend Lewis Makin, 22, when they noticed that the much-loved King Charles Spaniel, named Bertie, had vanished.
The pair immediately started looking for the dog. After an hour of them running around the village trying to find him, Emily, 21, says they discovered the dog had taken himself back to his favourite place – the village pub.
The cheeky 11-year-old dog had dug his way under the gate and casually strolled down to The Mytton Arms.
According to The Mirror, Emily said: “This has happened before when we first moved here. He ran to the pub before we’d even been there ourselves. We found him sat with a group of people being fed little crisps.”
Emily, who studies at the University of York, said the dog has become such a regular that the pub owners now know him by name.
The dog sitter from Habberley, Shrewsbury, Shropshire, said: “He’s full of character but quite a lazy dog. However, once there’s food involved he’s a whole different dog which is why he went to the pub. I think this is why he went back again, he enjoyed it so much. The pub owners know his name now and they love him there.”
Emily was in charge of looking after Bertie and her other two dogs while her family were at work. She was so happy when they found Bertie again.
She said: “My family were working when it happened this time, but they are in the village group chat. They were getting so many texts and photos of Bertie sat at the pub. They found it hilarious, as did the village.”
Emily was really worried because Bertie is an old dog and she loves him a lot. She explained: “I was very worried, he’s an old dog so I was quite upset because it was just me and my boyfriend, Lewis, at home. We’ve had him for 11 years so I’ve grown up with him.”
She talked about how Bertie managed to escape: “I didn’t think there was any way he could’ve gotten out of the garden. I was scared he had gotten run over as it’s a busy road. I walked further down the road whilst Lewis walked into the pub.
“When I turned around, I thought I’d lost Lewis too for a minute. Then I found them sitting at the pub laughing with the [pub] owners. I was so relieved to see Bertie.”
Now, Emily says they’ve made sure the fence Bertie dug under is fixed. But she thinks maybe they should take him to the pub more so he doesn’t go by himself.
Emily added: “From now on, I think we’ll definitely have to keep more of an eye on him.
“We’ve fixed the fence that he dug under but I think we’ll take him with us to the pub more to stop him going on his own. My advice to others would be to always check your local pub.”
