A good guy I know used to be a vet in Las Vegas. He said that the vet's greatest nightmare is a dog escaping his care. Well, it happened one day when a Doberman made his break, out the door and into downtown Vegas traffic.

My friend was an active marathoner at the time. The way he tells it, he set out at a moderate pace, just keeping the dog in sight. The dog would sprint, then stop and look around. Each time he stopped, the vet steadily made up ground, never losing sight of the animal.

Three hours later, the Doby gave up. His sides heaving, he just stopped in the street, letting his doctor walk right up to him, take his collar and lead him back to the hospital.

The owners never knew what happened, and the probably wrote off their pet's fatigue to anesthetic, or merely stress.