# Soooo........



## Looney (Sep 28, 2011)

short story....
Laszlo hates the crate, dog walker came saturday to meet with us starts today at 11:00. she mentioned if we were okay with it to leave him "gated" in the kitchen for a hour or so to test out. He did GREAT!!!! Next day did great again. Today Stephanie left at 9:05 Nanda showed up at 11ish for his break.
She texted some pics and said "i'll put him back in the bedroom BEHIND the gate where i found him chilling with Heinz *cat*.
I was a bit befuttled......bedroom??? kitchen???
So i call her, i say where did you find him? she said lying on your bed behind the closed gate......
He's in the crate now until i get home....
what do we do now??? I want him to be free roaming someday but at 4.7 months???? he basiclly had full reign of the house...couch chair all the pricey things...he choose to lay on the bed...but he had to CLEAR both gates to do so.....

we are both super happy he can be trusted but i'd like to keep him to the kitchen only while we aren't there....need to find something to keep him in there tho??? a taller gate? why can't he clear a 5' gate though?

advice comments welcome...aside from you should crate him this or that...this is the situation only helpful comments please!

thanks!


----------



## adrino (Mar 31, 2012)

To be honest we keep Elza in the corridor and we have two gated rooms where she can come in but only if we are there too. One gate is very tall about a meter I think, so she can't jump that!
You could try that, how tall is yours? 
Can't you close the bedroom though? We keep all the doors closed where we don't want her to get in. 
The other gate is not that tall but she seems to be ok with it. Oh I think you can extend them to be taller. 
If she jumps through the gate next time and sees that the bedroom is closed she doesn't have the temptations to get through since obviously thats where she wants to be. 
Good luck!


----------



## Looney (Sep 28, 2011)

well a meter is what 3.28 feet? not sure....
i'm 6'4" and the gate (not adjustable up or down) comes to my hip, so...about 3 feet.
He cleared them both i guess without touching them, and the bedroom one doens't have a clear path to get a running start, he figured out something else.
we have a cat that roams the house so the door stays open that's why we got the gate....now he's thrown a new piece of the puzzle in there....

this is what i'm hoping..since he's so smart he does this math....

i was in the crate, i hated it
i was in the kitchen not the crate loved it
i was in teh kitchen not in the the crate so i went to the bedroom and LOVED it
i was in the kitchen not the crate now i'm in the bed but now i'm in the crate and not the kitchen or the bedroom....

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.....now he needs to figure out why i'm hoping!! lol!!! dog math 101 baby!!!! :-\


----------



## Suliko (Sep 17, 2011)

Metal gate with bars has worked for us great - it's slippery and there is no place to step on to get a good push to jump over.


----------



## Looney (Sep 28, 2011)

he CLEARED the things!!!! they are metal!!!! and you can't stand on them they are rounded and narrow!!!! He had to have cleared them and the one into the bedroom isn't a clean shot...he must have done it from a stand still!

he's not even 5 months old!!

the good and bad is, he didn't ruin anything, the bad is, dang we let him beat us to death on the crate gave up give him the kitchen and he wants the bed!!!! 

the cat dwells in the bedroom primaraly so he can't just be in there but i guess he can! i may have the one and only v that can be free roaming at 5 months? i just can't believe that no matter how much i want too!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## Lincolns Parents (Aug 6, 2011)

Can you stack gates? Im not sure how you have them but one on top of the other would be what...6'? In a doorway i can stack them.... not sure if you have that available but its a thought.


----------



## Looney (Sep 28, 2011)

That's the next step! Lol


----------



## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Just because he didn't tear anything up the first time doesn't mean he won't the next. I have forgotten to shut a crate door and came home to a vizsla sleeping on the sofa. Everything else looked like I left it. Two months later my daughter leaves one of them out and I come home to a window sill, and leather chair that's been chewed


----------



## kristen (Oct 18, 2011)

They are little escape artists... Mine has figured our how to open doors. (round door knobs) He's figured that if he jumps and hits the handle while smashing his body into the door it will usually pop open (seen him do it on three different doors in the house!)

As for our gate, if he wants over it, he just knocks it down (no matter how secure we put it, he knocks it down like it was lego.)

I tried putting it up higher the other day, and the escape artist went UNDER it. I don't even know how he did it as his ribcage is bigger than the gap. And this isnt us leaving him at home, this is when we are trying to contain him into one area of the house....


----------



## jld640 (Sep 29, 2010)

At 6 months, Savannah was routinely clearing a 5 ft retaining wall in the yard (she did have a running start, but it sounds like Laszlo is going to equal her without the running start). If yours wasn't challenging a 3 ft gate at 5 months, you have a patient dog. That's good. Hopefully he will be patient until you get home, but I second TexasRed's comment that just because he didn't tear anything up this time doesn't mean he won't the next.

A 5 or 6 ft gate may be a good answer (in one of the books I read, it said a 6 foot backyard fence was insufficient for a V - we've never tested that). Boundary training may be a good answer. Installing an interior door may be a good answer. Free roaming actually may be a good answer if he really is that patient at 5 months. Perhaps it is worth trying Kobi's web cam in the kitchen idea to see how your escape artist operates to determine which option will work best for you both.

In the meantime, I would make sure the cat has clear access to the top of the refrigerator and some really high place in the bedroom to get out of the way in case Laszlo has an attack of the zoomies after escaping the kitchen.

Good luck!


----------



## Linescreamer (Sep 28, 2010)

Just keep him behind bars. It's not a crate but heck, whatever floats your boat.


----------



## Crazy Kian (Aug 10, 2009)

We keep our guy in a crate, if he gets out of that then all the power to him.


----------



## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

Ditto what TexasRed and jld640 said. I started letting Jasper have his roam of the apartment when he was about 8 months, just for a couple of hours. He did great. Then, after the novelty of not being crated wore off, he started realizing he could get into things he wasn't normally allowed to touch (and then he'd hide when he heard my keys in the door). Now he can't be left alone for more than about 20 minutes uncrated. They're still technically puppies until they're two, and though they can sometimes convince you otherwise, don't let them fool you!

They're really good jumpers and general escape artists. I'd say if doubling up the gates doesn't work, then you might have to start shutting doors (restricting access for your kitty, unfortunately), or just getting him to accept that the hated crate is where he has to be. Is there a bathroom or laundry room you can close off to the cat? It might not be as much room, but still be better than his crate. Or maybe install one of those doors that comes in two separate pieces--you can close the bottom to keep the dog in the kitchen, but the cat (if it's quite the leaper, like most cats are), should still be able to get into the kitchen if it wants. And looks-wise, a solid door is more intimidating than the "open" appearance of a gate--Jasper thinks twice about trying to run into/jump over those, as opposed to gates and short chain-link fences.


----------



## Looney (Sep 28, 2011)

Well turns out that the big puppy can Laszlini his way thru that tiny cat door!!!! 

closed it off today let's see what happens.

3 days of 3 hours of alone time with the house and he chooses to sleep with it......for being a puppy i'm pretty happy.

I'd def like to keep him in the kitchen so i hope today will be the day he can't "escape".

Love that guy, he COULD have caused 10K plus in damages if he wanted to be a jerk.


----------



## Looney (Sep 28, 2011)

so walker report is......he was in the bedroom again...tape still intact....dog with grin...... 

he is such a good boy....if only he would just stay in the kitchen! again i'm just glad he's a good puppy...that's 4 days 4 escapes nothing chewed and not a single accident.....

i know he COULD do something but it's got to be a first that a V PUPPY can be free roaming.....

going to set up a camera tomorrow to see how Mr. Laszlini is doing this...


----------



## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

Looney said:


> going to set up a camera tomorrow to see how Mr. Laszlini is doing this...


Post the footage on YouTube! I'd love to see it.


----------



## Looney (Sep 28, 2011)

Wife was too lazy to hook it up sooooo.....

i'm thinking he's bieng good so he may think that since he's breaking one rule (kitchen) and not getting in trouble that he isn't chewing things up....

so if he continues his escape and chews nothing...more power to him but everyday he'll be in that kitchen till' he Laszlini's his way to the bed room......

if he's happy i'm happy!!! if she's happy i'm happy!!! :-\


----------

