Dog runs 2 miles back home after busting out of doggy day care

If you’re a pet owner but haven’t taken the plunge on a video doorbell, this story might convince you to cave in and get one.

Sarah and Jeremy Henson’s dog, Dexter, was smart enough to use the family’s Ring doorbell to let them know he wanted in. The problem was that the Hensons were on vacation about 1,000 miles away and 5-year-old Dexter was supposed to be at the boarding facility where they had left him.

“So, we’re in Zion National Park/Vegas this week & Dexter is staying at a local doggy day care. Imagine our surprise when he rang our Ring doorbell,” Jeremy Henson wrote in a Facebook post that also showed pictures of the lonely pup taken by the security gadget. “He’s safe, but look at that second pic! He was trying HARD to use that doorknob. I’m glad I walk him all over our area so he knew how to get home [because] it could have turned out WAY worse with the blizzard approaching.”

When the Hensons got a notification from their doorbell, which has a motion-activated camera built in, they looked at the Ring app to see Dexter scratching at the door and whimpering. The couple contacted the doggy daycare, which was about 2 miles from their house, and talked to their furry friend via the doorbell’s intercom system until someone arrived to retrieve him.

“It didn’t surprise me that he was on our front steps. I was just concerned that they didn’t know, so I called them,” Jeremy told Kansas City’s WDAF-TV.

The pet-care service told the Hensons that they believe Dexter jumped a 6-foot fence to get out and go home. Echoing what Jeremy Henson wrote in his Facebook post, Sarah Henson said her husband takes the dog for long walks, which she thinks helped him become familiar enough with the area to navigate a route to the front door.

Dexter is now safe at home with his humans, who gladly let him through the front door this time. Jeremy Henson posted a picture of himself with his beloved buddy on Facebook.

“Dex was a little skittish at first,” he wrote, “but once he realized it was us he was VERY happy to see us.”

The couple doesn’t plan to take any legal action against the boarding facility and apparently harbor no bad feelings toward the business. In another post, Jeremy Henson stated that they intentionally did not name the kennel because the couple believes its workers did the best they could.

“This is a story of a good boy who just wanted to come home and make sure we were ok,” he added. “Because that’s his day job and he’s extremely dedicated.”