Determination, Thy Name is Linus
(Or, “Disobedience, Thy Name is Linus”)I was gone for two hours this morning, but I posit that it doesn’t really matter how long we’re away. I think that our beagle Linus sets to work escaping the upstairs containment area as soon as he hears the front door close. Why? Good question. He doesn’t have to pee (yet), he has plenty of comfy spots upstairs, and we’re not home, meaning he couldn’t prefer being downstairs because he’s closer to us -- unless you count the fact that he greets us sooner by being at the door when we arrive. He often gets kind of panicky being alone, so I’m sure that fuels his determination and amazing successes.
“Amazing successes”? Well, yeah. The baby gate we bought to corral him upstairs (the result of investing in new carpet downstairs) has undergone several modifications since the day Linus first decided he needed to get past it. As Dad said in his post last August, the gate at first was merely a psychological barrier, and it had worked for a good long while. Then Dad was forced to extend it, then he extended it even more, barred the gap, and hung it on hooks so that Linus couldn’t push through, and finally he placed another two hooks at the bottom, so that the gate really wasn’t going anywhere. That model lasted for a long time. But this last Sunday, Linus learned how to beat it. (And people say dogs are dumb!) Linus has simply decided that he will not be contained.
When I left this morning, I halfheartedly pushed an overturned chair up against the gate with a huge dictionary on it for extra weight. Result: Linus had gotten down, of course.
...and once downstairs, he reposed upon the nice sofa with the soft blanket as his reward.
DERN DOG!!
He’s so cute though.
posted by Kate @ 12:14 PM
4 Comments:
My Brother Joel has two pit bulls. One (Mather) is quite the escape artist. Mather learned how to unlatch the outside gate to his yard and escape. Joel added bricks so that Mather couldn't push the gate outward. Then Mather found out he could unlatch the gate and pull it inward. Finally Joel added bricks to both sides and decided he wouldn't let the dogs out of his sight for more than 5 minutes. Joel's finacee at the time (now his wife) took Mischa and Mather outside and had to run in for a minute. In 3 minutes Mather had moved the bricks, unlatched the gate, pulled it in, and escaped with Mischa. This time he wasn't quite so lucky and got hit by a car. He's all better now though and Joel and Julie's apartment has better fences and gates so they no longer escape.
Now to the point I actually wanted to make. Lately Mather has been getting up on his hind legs and eating food off the counter when either Joel or Julie is not looking. So they decided to use a gate like the one Linus gets past to keep the dogs completely out of the kitchen. Even though both dogs can get over the gate and have been able to since they were little, they respect Joel enough to obey it. Unreal that such an escape artist obeys a small gate.
I love dogs. I'm not sure if this will work, but here is a picture of them (L to R, Mischa and Mather) http://photos-571.facebook.com/ip007/v16/84/107/17207239/n17207239_30265571_7600.jpg
Fixed.
Instead of "regular" hook and eye arrangement at the bottom corners, we now hae "safety" hook and eye fasteners, which have a spring-loaded gizmo that closes the hook so that it cannot be jiggled out of the eye.
Let the cunning cur contrive to counter *that!*
Aaaaahhhahahahahahaahah!
Keith
I'd just like to report that we had a victory today which, for those of you playing at home, means that the score is now:
Humans - 5
Dog - 4
In yo' face, puppy dawg!
Cute doggies, K-Dub.
I hope I can own my own dog someday... but living by myself in an apartment and being gone for most of the day isn't really realistic. I guess I'll play the waiting game.
Aww, the waiting game sucks. Let's play Hungry Hungry Hippos!
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