HaHa! I thought early on that he might have been locked in a room. The only reason I say that is that I have done that with the cats. They make very little noise when I accidentally lock them in so sometimes they don't get discovered right away. Thankfully they have always been able to "hold it" until they can get to their litter boxes. Actually I haven't done it that often myself, but other family members have done it as well. The dogs certainly would have let me know.....especially Ripley! LOL!