They're calling Jack, a German Shepherd from Oregon, a "canine Houdini" for the amazing skill with which he broke out of the veterinary hospital where he was being treated for a severe and mysterious flu.

He'd attempted three late-night escapes that night, the Medford Mail Tribune reports, each time tripping the clinic's alarm system. The first two times police responded, and found Jack running around the building. They hadn't realized he was the culprit.

The third time, Jack managed to not only open his kennel cage, but to trip the dead bolt that locks the clinic's back door, and pull down the lever handle to let himself outside. He then ran seven miles in the direction of his home. A nearby homeowner called animal control after he tried to get into her house, and soon after Jack and his worried owner were reunited. The hospital calls his flu recovery "impressive," and is now putting locks on every cage to prevent any similar incidents.

Locks? Jack snorts in their general direction. You can't contain the canine Houdini with locks. [Mail Tribune, screengrab via Mail Tribune]