“He’s smart and determined to be with people!”
Tiki is a dog who knows how to get what he wants. And what he wants is human companionship 24/7 — even if that means breaking out of his kennel and opening locked doors.
The 9-year-old senior dog was picked up as a stray on a road near Ann Arbor, Michigan, on July 4th. When rescuers couldn’t track down an owner via his microchip, he went into the care of the Humane Society of Huron Valley.
“He arrived with a wagging tail and was more than happy to be petted and loved on by staff and volunteers — and did not want to be left alone,” Wendy Welch, director of marketing and communications at the Humane Society of Huron Valley, told The Dodo.
Due to the shelter being overly full, Tiki had to stay in a crate in one of the administrative offices instead of a kennel.
But he soon found a way to get out.
“He broke out of his crate, opened the door of the room the crate was in, toured the shelter for a bit, then went out our front doors and right into the arms of one of our amazing veterinarians, who was coming in at 6 a.m.,” Welch said.
The shelter staff initially thought they just hadn’t made his crate — and the room he was in — secure enough. But when it happened a second time, they started to think Tiki was some kind of Houdini.
The next time, Tiki not only managed to escape his crate but opened the locked office door and located the shelter’s front doors.
Security camera footage, which the shelter posted on Facebook, showed Tiki casually wandering down the hallway before letting himself out the front door.
“It’s not obvious where the front doors are,” Welch said. “Tiki had to wind through several hallways and doorways to find the front door, which is amazing. And, from the video, it looks like he just knew that stepping in front of our automated front doors (locked from the outside, obviously) would make them open from the inside, which is also amazing.”
After breaking free, Tiki sauntered into the nearby Matthei Botanical Gardens. Luckily, the staff at the gardens realized Tiki had come from the shelter and safely returned him. “He’s smart and determined to be with people!” Welch said.
About two weeks after being rescued, Tiki did find a home, but unfortunately he was brought back due to his separation anxiety. Now, Tiki is getting a second chance and it seems to be a perfect fit.
“A few months later, [he was] adopted again, and it looks like it’s a forever love,” Humane Society of Huron Valley said in an update.
