The Escape Artist

Don't look at me that way you trouble-maker!

The little trouble-maker lived up to his name this weekend. Hehe. I decided that Theo is getting to be too big for his pen, so I told Husband that I wanted to either buy the the expansion pieces for the pen to make it bigger, or ditch the pen and let him in the kitchen/family room area with the rest of the house blocked off with a gate. He agreed to use the gate instead of the pen. So on Sunday we tested out the new arrangement. We left the house for about 3 hours and left Theo behind the gate. When we returned home, there he was to greet us at the door! WHAT? How did he get out!? My husband and I pondered for some time. The gate was still closed, so he hadn't busted through it. The only other way out, that I could see, was over the gate. Husband thought there was no way our hobbit dog had jumped over a gate that high, but I didn't see another way.

We passed it off as a possible fluke and tried it again later that day. When we came home, there was Theo to greet us at the door...again. How is he doing that?! There was still no sign that he had disturbed the gate at all, so we were at a loss. We put him behind the gate again, and then went upstairs to cut Husband's hair. 2 minutes later, there he was again in the bathroom.

I had finally had enough and just had to know how he was getting over/through the gate. I put him behind the gate again and then called him to me. It's mean, I know, but I had to see it for myself. I ran upstairs and called him some more. He freaked, he barked, and eventually, he got out in a way I never expected. I could see from upstairs that he jumped up on the chair against the wall in the family room, jumped through the hole in the wall (architectural archway thingy?) between the family room and the living room, hopped down onto the couch in the living room on the other side of the wall, down to the floor, and then ran up the stairs to greet me.

I felt so stupid, I didn't even consider that opening in the wall as an escape route! All this time we were pondering the gate and how he got over/through it. The gate did its job and kept him in, it was the chair that was the problem! Tricky bastard! I'm glad we experimented on Sunday because yesterday I knew how to head him off. I put his pen on the chair! It looks like arse, but at least it keeps him in. Of course, that didn't stop the little trouble-maker from living up to his name anyway. When I got home from work, he had managed to get the ball of yarn attached to the blanket (afghan? I'm not sure what's the difference) I'm crocheting, and had unraveled it all over the place into a knotty mess. I spent the better part of the evening untangling it and trying to redo the work he had undone on my blanket (afghan?). Ugh! But I do have to say that otherwise he did fantastic! No damage done, no accidents. He's a good boy! *knock on wood!*

Also, yesterday was the first time I saw Theo do the poo dance! I got home and he apparently had to go really bad. The new cry I heard, there was no mistaking the meaning: "I have to go now!" Hehe. He did it again this morning. Dogs are so cute.