Keep your loved ones close

Fortunately, there were only 2 or 3 cookies left in this can.
She didn't manage to open it and no one can now. 

When we first got Maya she was a scared little girl who was given up to a shelter because she couldn't be contained and wouldn't stay at home. She got away from us before "homing" here and she was on the run for four weeks, running the roads and living out of trash cans. Miraculously, she wasn't killed and we eventually got her back with a large live trap.

The plastic tub in the center of the picture holds
mixed paper for recycling and it's fairly full.
She pulled it out of the laundry room through
the open door on the left, somehow without
dumping it over. 

I kept her on a very short leash after that and she bonded, first with Trooper and then with me. This was her home now, but she would still climb the fence and roam every chance she got, being gone anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours or more. I would go insane with worry, fear, anger, and grief. My stream of consciousness went something like this:

Where is she?  Why did she take off?
We were out having a good time, and she just took off. WTF?
She's got everything she needs right here, there's nothing out there but trouble.
We have things to do today and now nothing is going to get done until she's back.
Why would she leave her pack?  She loves it here, I know she does.
There are too many assholes with cars and guns out there to be running around this redneck county.
She belongs here, there's safety here.
I can't protect her when she's not here.
Trooper will miss her and the other dogs too.
Get your ass back here and stay here. This is your home, damn it, stay here!

Opening the freezer door was last week's new
trick. The ice melted enough that when it re-froze
it was a solid block. She didn't take out any food.

I think it was last year during hunting season I decided I couldn't stand it anymore. This girl's wanderings were aging me fast, so I decided she wouldn't go to the dog yard anymore. I'd let her out into the small yard next to the house for doing her business and her exercise would be limited to leash walks like a city dog. She adjusted to that very well, actually. I regretted that she couldn't go out and play with the other dogs, but she only spent a few minutes with them before taking off anyway. She loved the on-leash hiking that we did and the fact that it was her only exercise gave me the incentive to do it most every day.

Chewed up corner of a box containing Christmas
presents. Fairly minor damage, just opened a
bag of pistachios. But to get to the box she
turned the knob on a closed door and jumped a
dog gate to get into what we thought
 was the "safe room."

Our bond grew even tighter, so tight that she would act out when left alone. I had to give up crating her because she would break out and even managed to hurt herself one time in the process of doing so. She would find something to get into, chew up, or destroy to express her displeasure almost every time I left the house without her. She would target something of mine, something I had touched. Most of her targets were in the kitchen and she was ingenious. After opening and emptying a cabinet every time I forgot to lock it, she would move on to something else, always something new.

This is not generalized separation anxiety; it is directed specifically at me. When I go out of town the behavior would abate after a day or two when she came to accept that I wasn't there. Consequently, she was very well behaved for our housesitters and rarely engaged in household destruction. No, her behavior expresses her displeasure with me. I can only imagine that her thoughts sound something like this:

Where is he?  Why did he take off?
We were out having a good time, and he just took off. WTF?
He's got everything he needs right here, there's nothing out there but trouble.
We have things to do today and now nothing is going to get done until he's back.
Why would he leave his pack?  He loves it here, I know he does.
There are too many assholes with cars and guns out there to be running around this redneck county.
He belongs here, there's safety here.
I can't protect him when he's not here.
Trooper will miss him and the other dogs too.
Get your ass back here and stay here. This is your home, damn it, stay here!

She and I are very much the same creature. Shy and distrusting of strangers. We love an adventure and being outdoors, but we are happiest at home with those we know and trust. Worry and fear can morph into anger, but it disappears in a poof when we are together again.

So Maya rides with me whenever possible now. It's cool enough that I can leave her in the van when I run errands. She's fine with that although I have to think it's pretty boring for her. It's easier than leaving her at home and wondering what she's up to while I'm away. She's coming with us to grandma's house for Christmas this morning too.