FOUND: Dog located after opening several doors to escape from Va. animal hospital

STAFFORD, Va. - A dog that escaped from a Virginia animal hospital early Monday morning has been found and reunited with his owner.

The Aquia-Garrisonville Animal Hospital in Stafford said General, a 10-year-old Great Pyrenees, left out of the clinic's back door at around 4:17 a.m. Surveillance video from inside the animal hospital shows the dog opening the latch to his kennel and opening three other doors in order to make his great escape.

General's owner Travis Campbell said he was eventually located after being found in the yard of a home about 300 yards away from the animal hospital.

General was being boarded at the animal hospital while his family was vacationing at Virginia Beach. 

“He is very special,” said Campbell. “He is a smart dog. Getting out of doors, in a door is nothing new. I told them that when we dropped him off, but never had a problem getting out of any place that boarded him before.”

According to his owner, General got a slight nick on his nose in his attempt to get out from his kennel.

"Basically, he spent a night and a half rehearsing trying to figure out how to open the door from the inside, which is how he got a little scratch on his nose," he said. "It's a trick to lift the latch from the inside and he figured it out and pushed on the door. Pretty impressive.”

General was finally reunited with Campbell Monday night.

General is a rescue who was adopted by the Campbell family when he was 5 years old.

"Everybody loves him," said Campbell. "Anyone who sees him, especially kids, wants to hug on him because he is so big. He's very special and a member of the family. I have six children who just love him and they treat him like their own brother."