For those of you who “like” the Oh My Dog! Facebook page, you already got a taste of what’s going on, but here’s a recap with a little additional detail:
A few weeks ago, Ann – who visits with the boys on my long work days – said, “Are you not crating Cooper anymore?”
Um. We sure are! But there he was at the door, happy to see Ann! Oddly enough, the front of his crate was still latched…
When Ann put him in, he popped out the back, where the metal latches were mysteriously unlatched!
I’m sure he was smug about it, too! (Ann, can you confirm his smugness?? 🙂 )
She kindly fixed the latches, but the next day, the same thing happened.
Important sidenote to this story: For several months, Emmett has been tormenting Cooper. In an attempt to swipe his Kong, which we leave in his crate whenever we leave, he’s been dragging Cooper’s crate by the bed, apparently trying to pull the Kong out of the crate? We tried separating the big boys from Cooper when we’re gone, but Cooper goes bonkers.
Turns out, all of Emmett’s dragging dislodged a couple of the key metal clamps. So, as he would drag, it would create an opening between the back and side, which Cooper wriggled through.
It happened again on Ann’s watch (so, so sorry, Ann!) and she sealed the crate shut with masking tape.
Cooper diligently unpeeled all the tape.
So I attached zip ties around the whole thing.
Cooper diligently chewed through most of the zip ties, meeting me at the door the very next day!
So that brings us to this week. I mentioned the situation on Facebook, and several wise souls suggested carabiners.
Aha! Perfect!
I latched carabiners around the crate. It was perfect for a few days!
Today, I come home to this:
The crate is about 3 feet from where it started this morning. The blue blanket wedged in the corner? It’s from the sofa that you can see the end of on the right-hand side. Those broken pieces of metal at the foot of my bed? That’s a carabiner snapped in half.
My guess? Emmett started pulling the crate from the front. Cooper grabbed onto the blanket with his teeth (maybe in an attempt to not get dragged halfway across the room?). The blanket wedged into the metal, creating a slight opening, which Emmett tried to leverage. Instead he snapped the carabiner in half.
By pulling the blanket all the way through, Cooper bent the metal bars of the crate. There is now a much bigger opening than there was before.
I rearranged – the crate is now in the corner, blocking the back and side with the bent metal, and I put shelf liner underneath so that it’s (hopefully) too difficult to slide.
Although, I’m curious: What are they going to do to outsmart me next?? Sigh.
(As a final note, to our wonderful, kind neighbors who so generously lent us their crate for Cooper’s puppy stage… we’re buying you a new one. Stat.)
I laughed my way through this, sorry. They are so smart.
Wow…that is Most Impressive! They sure are busy while you’re gone.
Maybe you could latch the crate to your bed somehow. At least then Emmett couldn’t rearrange the crate. Oh, and then maybe you could gives Cooper some whiskey before you leave so he’d be sleepy. What? Oh. Mom says that’s a terrible idea. I dunno why.
Wiggles & Wags,
mayzie
What about a closed crate with windows on the sides and the front latch gate? This was a funny story and goes to show just how smart they really are. I leave two crated and one loose but have never had this problem.
Gweat going Coopew!!!
You know what? my angel sissie Nowa was the best escape awtist awound..I’m glad someone is cawwying on hew skill
smoochie kisses
ASTA
Oh my gosh, I laughed through this. They are so smart and so determined. I imagine this as a fun game to them. I picture them being anxious for you leave in the morning so they can get started – and Lucas is timing them to see if they can beat the previous day’s record. I can’t wait to see what happens next. I think I’ll be bringing my camera for the next visit to show either success or just what masterminds they are.
As to Cooper’s smugness when he got out just after I put him in the crate — OH MY GOSH! He was so proud of himself he was about to burst.
Haaa!!! Thanks for the update on his smugness, Ann. It’s just as I thought…
Huge Mr. B did something like this when we first got him. I had only latched the top, and somehow he squeezed his huge body through the small opening–like a mouse. Then once he figured out he could escape, it became like a game for him. We started using twist ties and carabiners to secure the doors, but then he used his head as a battering ram until he bent the crate enough to get out. I think he was only able to do that because he’s so big.
Ha ha ha! Thanks for the laughs! They are marvelously!!!!
And good luck!!
Oh, Mr. B! I’m sure you were really frustrated, but I definitely got a kick out of picturing him using his head as a battering ram to break through twist ties!
LOL this reminds me of my battles with Holly and the dog gates. We don’t crate her when we leave, but we do leave her confined to “her room” (the office). We went through a whole houdini phase. Must’ve spent over $500 in gates and gear. Two she learned to jump over. One she learned to wriggle past. Then we bought carabeeners and clipped the gate to mounts that I screwed INTO THE WALL. We came home to find her in her room, napping, but with clear evidence that she had been “out.” I looked and she had removed the screw mounts from the wall– without damaging anything else on the wall or gate! (How she did this without opposable thumbs or a screwdriver…no bleepin clue) She looked at me smugly as if to say, “I stay in this room because it pleases ME. I can leave anytime I want.”
WOAH. How on earth did she get the screw mounts out of the wall?! That is seriously amazing! I’m sure you were going nuts, but that definitely made me laugh (and feel a little bit better). Thanks for sharing Holly’s adventures!
Oh my gosh – you need a nanny cam! The videos would definitely go viral in YouTube.
Amy, you’re a genius! Maybe my webcam can record! I’ll try to figure it out this weekend.
Too funny, Maggie. I’m smiling just imagining Cooper’s puppy smugness. I don’t have any crate Houdini stories, except for the time I was SO EXCITED to fine a soft-sided pop-up crate for Ernie. I thought it would be great for travel, and didn’t so a good job of training Ernie to respect the somewhat flimsy crate. The first time I used it was at my aunt’s house, and I came home to find he’d moved the crate all the way across the room and down a flight of stairs – from inside.. Luckily he wasn’t hurt, and after some work he’s fine with his “tent” crate
Oh my gosh, Sarah! Thank goodness Ernie wasn’t hurt, but that’s pretty funny!
OK…so Kole escaped with the carabiners too. So now I have at almost every joint of the crate carabiners plus fasteners that look like the ones on dog leashes. This has worked so far but like some of the other dogs…he is starting to literally tear the crate apart. Soon there will not be a need for any sort of latch b/c the crate will be in many pieces. 🙁
A plastic kennel may be your only option. I’ve had fosters that couldn’t be contained by the wire crate. My only other suggestion is trying a drop pin rather than a collapsible.
That is hilarious! Mickey used to try to break Kayloo out of her crate I SWEAR TO GOD. I am really not sure what you should do! Have you already tried the “run the pants off Cooper before heading into the crate” bit?
Maggie- Things got better once I accepted that Holly is going to go where she’s gonna go if she wants it badly enough. I stopped trying to out-engineer her and started managing her state of mind. When she’s had enough exercise, isn’t anxious, and doesn’t think it’s “a game” (ie as long as I don’t go bananas when I catch her out), she tends to stay in her room. Also, she got older and more mature– I’m sure Cooper will too.
I had ALL of these problems down to the broken carabiner! Even after we contained him on the sides he just started unlatching the door. My boxer would not stay in his cage! We ended up having to go to the hardware store and buying heavy duty things that are like carabiners but they screw closed. While Filbert still moves his cage and pulls blankets in through it if he gets the chance, he can no longer unlatch the sides OR open the door.