We had a Lab/Retriever cross when I was growing up in rural Gloucestershire called Tammy, and it wasn’t so much a case of letting her roam free, but rather one of trying to stop her escaping.
Once she discovered that the neighbourhood presented many opportunities for delicious treats (you know, trash, cowpats, dead sheep), her determination made it almost impossible to stop her from escaping unless we kept her locked inside.
I think the pinnacle of her achievements was when we discovered her in the garden one day with an entire home-made birthday cake.
It conjured all sorts of horrifying yet hilarious scenarios in our heads of her acquiring it; snatching it from an unsuspecting party and being chased by howling party-goers, opportunistically snarfing it through an open window, wresting it from the clutches of some unfortunate child…
We never did find out exactly how she got it.
