They have their moments of boneheadedness, but yesterday the dogs convinced me that I haven’t been giving them enough credit.
They were running around like nuts, so I put them out in the back yard, where they have about an acre of land surrounded by a 6-foot solid wood fence. They don’t jump out, they don’t dig out, and no one else comes in, so we feel safe letting them play outside as long as we’re home and can check on them periodically to make sure they’re drinking enough to stay hydrated in the heat.
Usually they bark and yip and run back and forth across the patio sounding like a herd of elephants until they decide it’s time to come in and start throwing themselves against the door. But yesterday, things went suddenly quiet. And just as I got up to see what was going on from my office in the front of the house, something caught my eye through the window to the front porch.
It was Murphy. Murphy, who was supposed to be confined to the back yard.
I ran to the front door and threw it open. And much to my surprise (and relief, at that point), Pickles and Ty were just on their way up to the porch after him. I was baffled. They’d never gotten out before, but at least they came looking for me instead of wandering the neighborhood in search of kitties to chase.
It took me a minute to round them up (Ty thinks we’re playing when we try to lead him inside, so he takes off) and get them in the house, and then I went to investigate, at which point I found the gate swinging in the breeze.
Now I KNOW that gate was shut earlier because we were playing ChuckIt! all morning. As near as I can figure, Murphy used his nose to open the gate. He’s he tallest one and the one most interested in poking at things with his snout, and Pickles and Ty have been going in the yard for 6 months with no escapes, so it’s got to be the new guy.
I left them inside while I busted out the drill and made some modifications to the latch to make it harder to open, and I’m keeping an eye on them for the next few days to make sure he hasn’t bypassed my safety.
I wish they weren’t so sneaky…
Awwww! My Newfie mix does that. It started as soon as he was tall enough to reach the latch with his nose.
Ut-oh, that doesn’t bode well for me. :] Any tips for keeping them inside?
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haha..just be glad you don’t have a dog that can climb/jump the fence!!!
Tell me about it! The rescue organization we got Ty from told us about a dog they couldn’t place because it routinely jumped over its previous owner’s 6-foot fence, and they needed someone with a 9-FOOT FENCE to take him! Who has a 9-foot fence? And what kind of superdog can DO that? Ugh, I hope mine don’t get too ambitious…
kk ;]