The crate escape - my brilliant puppy!

After Rudy came to stay with us, I got tired of running into an open
crate door, so I bought a new crate, with a door that folds up and in.
"can't be opened from the inside" says the ad. I always looked at
these and thought "right", but for the last few months (yes, folks,
it's been 3.5 months) it has worked great.

Christy...

That's the kind of crates I have in the car, and until the last addition, I
was pretty secure with leaving them inside unlatched (not while traveling,
but while putting things in/out, or at class.) Then pupsterella figured out
how to pull the door open and nearly escaped. She hasn't figured out how to
unlatch them yet, so I just make sure not to leave them unlatched. I love
this type of crate though.

Until Monday.

That's when Mr Smarty-pants decided he knew how to open it. And
greeted us at the door after 6+ hours of freedom. A chewed
wastebasket lid and a puddle inside the front door (he loses it if
very excited and yesterday morning I found evidence that a smallish
dog had apparently "visited" right outside my full view front door)
was all that was wrong. So yesterday, when I left for a short errand,
I made sure to clip the door closed securely. And once again came
home to an unconfined puppy.

So, today, the crate will get clips on the door to ensure this doesn't
happen again. I need him to learn that he shouldn't let himself out.
But it looks like he's going to be allowed house freedom within a few
days, and since he'll be 9 months old on Monday, that'll be the day.
I'll take the next few days to put some shoes away and check out other
things he may be interested in, and get out the bitter apple. My
house is not exactly the neatest place in the world, and there's a lot
of stuff that may be too available and interesting. We shall see.

Christy...

I've been experimenting with house freedom for a little while. Still don't
have the nerve to leave Katy loose for more than a short time unattended,
but she has freedom while I'm home and can keep an eye on her. She's going
through a 2nd puppy stage right now (10 months old today) and has decided
since she didn't chew anything up while teething that she needs to make up
for lost time. Goodbye, chapter 1 of Memoirs of a Geisha.

My puppy is growing up and too smart for his own good!

scfundogs...

And I *complain* that Fancy won't let me pack her crate away. Fancy won't
let herself out of the crate even if the door is very obviously unlatched.
Its not because she's just that obedient (ha, that'll be the day!) but
because that's her place and she likes it there. I've also found that she
doesn't much care for me leaving her loose with the crate door open. She
seems to *want* to be closed in (or at least have the door closed, doesn't
necessarily have to be latched).

One of my pups will crate willingly and stay there quietly but will let
herself out if given half a chance. The other will stay in his even if the
door isn't latched but it has to be closed to give the illusion of being
shut in.

Janet B...

It's a little weird, because he crates very willingly (too fast
sometimes even, when I'm still getting stuff ready to leave), and is
never stressed about being crated, no signs of pawing or digging, and
he's stretching and yawning when I walk in. He eats in his crate
(open), not because he has to, but because he got so used to the
routine (shut in initially) that the crate is just the place to eat -
duh! He patterns very quickly and is really a very smart puppy.

I'm just as happy if I can pack the crate up soon, but don't want to
rush him either - his lack of crate training before he came here meant
that he had little understanding of the need to "hold it" and I think
that's the primary factor in his "letting loose" when very wound up
about something outside.