“I thought I was seeing things.”
A few years ago, Vanessa Marquette was home with her dog, Nola, when she saw something that seemed to defy the laws of physics. While Marquette wasn’t looking, Nola had somehow managed to scale up the 6-foot-tall fence surrounding their yard.
Baffled, Marquette called her husband and explained what she’d witnessed — even though it seemed impossible.
“I thought I was seeing things,” Marquette told The Dodo.
The Marquette family had adopted Nola as a puppy a few years prior. Blind in one eye, she’d been overlooked by people passing through the shelter for months.
Right after the couple adopted Nola, they started getting reports from her dogsitter that she was climbing the fence in their yard. They had trouble believing the sitter’s story, as pups aren’t known for being the best climbers.
Soon after, the family moved to New York, where they got a backyard with an even taller fence. The Marquettes’ new neighbors let them know that they’d spotted Nola sticking her head over the fence and peeking into their backyard.
Again, the couple had trouble believing the story — until they witnessed Nola’s gravity-defying stunt for themselves.
Over the years, Nola has perfected her climbing technique. She wedges herself between the tree and the fence, shimmies her way up, and then perches on top of the wall, keeping her back leg pressed against the tree for support.
“She does this about five times a day,” Marquette said.
It turns out that Nola is motivated to climb the fence for the sweetest reason: friendship.
“Sometimes, she says hi to the neighbor’s dog,” Marquette said.
Additionally, she likes to spy on the neighbors. Her busybody ways have earned her the nickname “Nosey Nola.” Thankfully, the neighbors don’t seem to mind and even look forward to Nola’s visits.
“The first thing Nola does every morning is run outside,” Marquette said. “She literally can’t wait to do it.”
