Escape Artists

Shiba inus are clever escape artists who will go over or under fences in search of adventure. As for Chloe, she's living up to this phrase. I guess setting boundaries is not working at all. There are five instances that Chloe made an escape from me. Three of her escapades happened while I was away from home. When I open the door to my apartment as i came home, there's always a happy Chloe greeting me as she roams around the living room and bedroom. She always finds a way to escape from her crate and pen. I kept on changing the set up and placement of her pen, but she outsmarts me every time and always finds a way out; Clever pup.

I was thinking that this is one of the ways of how she got out, by slipping through this tiny hole here. I also found out that she uses her mouth to move the crate and create enough space for her to go through. She might be climbing it too, who knows. Either way, I guess setting boundaries is not that effective at all. I came to the conclusion not to use the pen to restrict her movement around the house. I don't want to risk Chloe getting hurt or injured by getting stuck on the wirings of the pen or something just because she wants to be out and free.

So what's next? Puppy proofing the whole house I guess.

Setting Boundaries

February 18, 2011 - Friday

(entries were dated by the time it was composed)

When I brought Chloe home, I have certain areas on my apartment that I don't want her to have access to some places like the kitchen, bedroom, and the bathroom. So I bought a crate and an exercise pen for her with the goal of crate training her as well.

This is ideally what I want to happen because i don't want Chloe running around every part of the house. I''ll let her stay inside her own little space whenever I'm away from home, then have her run around the house with  my supervision if I'm around. Let's see how this works.