Bo Peep Posted December 10, 2007 Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 Today was Santa day for my boyfriend and since Bailey has been growling and snapping at Usher, we couldn't leave them both in the car, so we had to decide which one to take- What a delima. Usher is trustworthy at home, yet .....why should he be punished for ....the new comer. So, we exercised both dogs and decided to leave Bailey in her crate. I got home 4 hours later to find Bailey loose in the house. No potty mistakes, nothing chewed. But the door to the crate was locked and the door still shut. It had been moved out about 5 inches from where is was, yet no sign of how she got loose. The front hinge to the door had been chewed off. From the inside? How did this little escape artist get out of her crate? Pic below- oh her crate is in the laundry room and Usher's is in the walk in closet- Didn't know if you noticed my wonderful furniture from the other pics- can't afford any, so it's lawn chairs and a moving box for a coffee table. LOL. Should I ask Criss Angel about this trick? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SweetJordan Posted December 10, 2007 Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 I had a smarty pants who use to escape from her wire crate as a puppy so I had to put a lock on it. She had a car carrier like the one above and when it wasn't in the car I use to put her toys in it. She use to spend time opening and closing it. Then when I got her a new wire crate she studied it so that she knew how it worked. Though by then she was trustworthy enough that I was able to leave her loose, something she enjoyed so she could patrol the house and watch out the window for my return. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaggieDog Posted December 10, 2007 Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 If you look carefully, one of the pins for the door is out of socket - she must've bent the plastic around the door and squeezed out! Maggie did almost the same exact thing in a wire crate, but the airline style would hold her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted December 10, 2007 Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 I have a good friend whose dog killed itself trying to squeeze out of a crate in a manner Erin described (during a thunderstorm--this dog was extremely thunderphobic). If she's escaping that way, she's putting her life at risk and you might want to consider a different containment system (maybe just baby gate her in the kitchen or bathroom). J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bo Peep Posted December 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 Well, this rescue weighs in at 66 pounds with a low thyroid. So I doubt she's squeezing anywhere. However the front latch was chewed off. Did she get her teeth in and "gimme" it open without springing the door, or did she close it? got me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaggieDog Posted December 10, 2007 Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 Don't be so sure - Maggie squeezed out of her wire crate thru a hole probably about 4" wide. They can really be flexible. I'd bet the latch was chewed on from inside, and somehow a tooth popped the cover off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bo Peep Posted December 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 But how'd she get the door open? I need a nanny cam!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyoBC Posted December 10, 2007 Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 Did you check her for any cuts or scrapes? With her short hair she could have cut herself, or even just kind of scraped herself. My bet is that she chewed the corner off, crawled out the top, and caught the lock with her foot. Just a guess though. We had a dog at the shelter that would chew her way out the side of a crate to get out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest SweetJordan Posted December 10, 2007 Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 But how'd she get the door open? I need a nanny cam!! For that type of a crate my girl used a comb. of her paws and her nose. Though the little black rubber things were still on the tips of the latch thing, otherwise it may have not been so comfortable for her to play around w/ it the way she did. Of course your foster was inside the crate, so don't know. I wouldn't count anything out. My girl certainly wasn't squeezing her way out of her wire crate and she left the door wide open. However, I'll probably never come across a dog that smart in all of my life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barb Scott Posted December 10, 2007 Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 Our 2 year old BC Bryte has learned to open our wire crates with the spring latches from the outside! She doesn't have a mat in her crate so she simply opens up a crate with a comfy mat and goes in for a np. Barb S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bo Peep Posted December 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 An answer at last. OK- color me blond. That old old bag on top of the crate holds extra pins and I was looking at the back and guess what- no pins. She must have lifted the top and broke one of the other pins that was secure to get out. My other dogs were so well crate trained I only needed a few to keep them in. Well, I put extra screws and pins on them and she stayed in for the night. Now, I know she's good in the house for a few hours. Bedtime doesn't seem to bother her. No cuts or scrapes. But I have figured out her little trick- hehehe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted December 10, 2007 Report Share Posted December 10, 2007 Ya know, when I first looked at your picture, I noticed the missing screws on the side, but figured that with the one at the front still there, there would be no way for her to squeeze out of the side. But if all of them were missing in the back, she may well have gotten out that way. Good detective work! J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WyoBC Posted December 11, 2007 Report Share Posted December 11, 2007 Ahh Ha! Isn't it great when you out smart them for once? I still remember the first (and only) time I out smarted Black Jack. It was the first day I had gotten him home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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