After Rudy came to stay with us, I got tired of running into an open
crate door, so I bought a new crate, with a door that folds up and in.
"can't be opened from the inside" says the ad. I always looked at
these and thought "right", but for the last few months (yes, folks,
it's been 3.5 months) it has worked great.

Until Monday.

That's when Mr Smarty-pants decided he knew how to open it. And
greeted us at the door after 6+ hours of freedom. A chewed
wastebasket lid and a puddle inside the front door (he loses it if
very excited and yesterday morning I found evidence that a smallish
dog had apparently "visited" right outside my full view front door)
was all that was wrong. So yesterday, when I left for a short errand,
I made sure to clip the door closed securely. And once again came
home to an unconfined puppy.

So, today, the crate will get clips on the door to ensure this doesn't
happen again. I need him to learn that he shouldn't let himself out.
But it looks like he's going to be allowed house freedom within a few
days, and since he'll be 9 months old on Monday, that'll be the day.
I'll take the next few days to put some shoes away and check out other
things he may be interested in, and get out the bitter apple. My
house is not exactly the neatest place in the world, and there's a lot
of stuff that may be too available and interesting. We shall see.

My puppy is growing up and too smart for his own good!
--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

"Janet B" wrote in message
...

My puppy is growing up and too smart for his own good!

And I *complain* that Fancy won't let me pack her crate away. Fancy won't
let herself out of the crate even if the door is very obviously unlatched.
Its not because she's just that obedient (ha, that'll be the day!) but
because that's her place and she likes it there. I've also found that she
doesn't much care for me leaving her loose with the crate door open. She
seems to *want* to be closed in (or at least have the door closed, doesn't
necessarily have to be latched).

One of my pups will crate willingly and stay there quietly but will let
herself out if given half a chance. The other will stay in his even if the
door isn't latched but it has to be closed to give the illusion of being
shut in.

--
Tara

On Wed, 5 Apr 2006 12:21:03 -0400, "scfundogs" ,
clicked their heels and said:

One of my pups will crate willingly and stay there quietly but will let
herself out if given half a chance. The other will stay in his even if the
door isn't latched but it has to be closed to give the illusion of being
shut in.


It's a little weird, because he crates very willingly (too fast
sometimes even, when I'm still getting stuff ready to leave), and is
never stressed about being crated, no signs of pawing or digging, and
he's stretching and yawning when I walk in. He eats in his crate
(open), not because he has to, but because he got so used to the
routine (shut in initially) that the crate is just the place to eat -
duh! He patterns very quickly and is really a very smart puppy.

I'm just as happy if I can pack the crate up soon, but don't want to
rush him either - his lack of crate training before he came here meant
that he had little understanding of the need to "hold it" and I think
that's the primary factor in his "letting loose" when very wound up
about something outside.
--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

[]
I suppose it's falling upon me to point out the obvious,
which is your use of the possessive personal pronoun "my" in
the subject header. Is it official?
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

Melinda Shore wrote:
[]
I suppose it's falling upon me to point out the obvious,

Only because you read it first. :-) I was just getting ready to
ask...

FurPaw

which is your use of the possessive personal pronoun "my" in
the subject header. Is it official?

--
"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent."
Isaac Asimov, _Foundation_

To reply, unleash the dog

On 5 Apr 2006 12:49:11 -0400, (Melinda Shore), clicked
their heels and said:


I suppose it's falling upon me to point out the obvious,
which is your use of the possessive personal pronoun "my" in
the subject header. Is it official?

nope - not yet. I went through the motions of going to an adoption
day on Saturday, and when I got home, DH didn't ask "did you get rid
of him yet?" - his usual comment. I think he's becoming
resigned........ At some point I'll make the comment that it break my
heart, his heart, as well as Lucy's and Franklin's hearts, for him to
go anywhere else, and the rest will be history...

The extra clip worked today though.....

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

On Wed, 05 Apr 2006 13:07:40 -0400, Handsome Jack Morrison
, clicked their heels and said:


Sounds like you've worked this plan before?

Heh.

variations on such. a few pets came to live when he was out of town
(or out of the country!). I remember answering "can't you find him a
good home" with "I did - he loves it here!". He's whined about a few,
but ultimately is incredibly sad when they've gone to the bridge. He
adores Rudy (and vice versa), so this one shouldn't be too hard in the
long run......

--
Janet Boss
www.bestfriendsdogobedience.com

In article ,
Janet B wrote:
variations on such. a few pets came to live when he was out of town
(or out of the country!). I remember answering "can't you find him a
good home" with "I did - he loves it here!". He's whined about a few,
but ultimately is incredibly sad when they've gone to the bridge. He
adores Rudy (and vice versa), so this one shouldn't be too hard in the
long run......

Someone on one of the mushing lists worked out a deal with
her husband where every time she added a dog he was allowed
to buy himself a new toy (quad, jetski, tools, etc.) but by
the time she got to 20 dogs he gave up.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community

"Christy" said in
rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

Goodbye, chapter 1 of Memoirs of a Geisha.

Remember my _Count of Monte Cristo_ story from a handful of
years ago? The dog is still alive and has no longlasting
effects from eating 100+ year old paper.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

"Rocky" wrote in message
...
"Christy" said in
rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

Goodbye, chapter 1 of Memoirs of a Geisha.

Remember my _Count of Monte Cristo_ story from a handful of
years ago? The dog is still alive and has no longlasting
effects from eating 100+ year old paper.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

ours was a 3.5 yr old pom deciding that plastic video tape covers were what
she wanted to chew on just after we brought her home... had the vet check
her teeth, turned out she still had impacted puppy teeth that her previous
owner didn't bother to have pulled.. she still has bad teeth and may one day
wind up toothless.. but... we try to make up for her bad start as much as we
can...

anyway.. if they start odd chewing habits past the normal teething times,
always have their teeth looked at... could be a bad tooth causing it..