Escaped dog captured at Logan International Airport after 3 hour pursuit

A 2 1/2-year-old German Shepherd puppy was caught by the Boston harbor three hours after bolting from his carrier. (iStock)

A 2 1/2-year-old puppy caused a stir at Boston’s Logan International Airport Friday morning after escaping from his crate.

The German Shephard, Ronin, had just landed after taking a redeye from California to Boston. The pup was in his crate when his new owner, Nick Kaneiff, picked him up at the airport. However, once Kaneiff opened the door to put on Ronin’s leash, the dog bolted from the carrier.

Keneiff and his 8-year-old son, James, stayed in pursuit of their pup as he eluded them and members of the State Police, Boston police and Massport Fire Rescue for nearly three hours, according to the Boston Globe.

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At 8:20 a.m., Ronin was reportedly spotted in shallow water outside the airport by State Police Lieutenant Nunzio Orlando, the Boston Globe said.

The chase continued down at the harbor, where Ronin continued to evade capture.

“Every time they tried to approach the dog he would run from the shore into the water,” State Police spokesman David Procopio told the Boston Globe. “When it got to the point where the water was over his head and he had to swim, he would return toward the shore, and this went on for more than 2 ½ hours. It was like cat and mouse . . . er, cat and dog . . . or something.”

Finally, after hours of chasing, the police managed to surround Ronin on the rocky harbor shore and try to coax him toward them.

Trooper Randall Enos of the K-9 unit held out a tennis ball toward the stubborn dog, but Ronin stayed away. Then Enos tried a squeaky toy, with which Ronin was unimpressed.

The police seemed to have exhausted their efforts of convincing Ronin to come back to his owners, when Kanieff’s son, James, had a brilliant idea.

The boy reached into a take-out box and produced pieces of bacon and sausage for the dog.

“C’mere, Ronin,” James said, the Boston Globe reported.

Ronin tentatively approached the boy and took the meat.

While Ronin was distracted with the protein-packed snack, Kaneiff ran up to his vehicle and brought out the pet carrier.

Working together, the group lured Ronin into the crate with scraps of the meat.

“Let him take his time,” Trooper Steve Culver said.

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Ronin managed to make his way back inside his pet carrier and James closed the door, ready to bring his new dog home.

Ronin is not the first four-legged friend to get loose at Logan Airport. In fact, Enos said it happens every couple of months.

Usually the authorities are able to corner the runaways in the fire station parking lot nearby, he said. But other times, the pursuit can take much longer than the 2 and a half it took for them to catch Ronin.

The publication reported that in February 2008, a cocker spaniel-poole mix wandered around Logan for three days before it was caught. And in October that same year, a poodle name Choochy got loose on the tarmac and caused several flight delays during the 17 hours it took to capture the pup.