Scarlette, aka Houdini - Paw Talk

**Scarlette** · #1 07-27-2006, 10:54 PM

Monday morning the alarm went off at 5am (I had to go to work). I hit the snooze and hear the distinct sound of dog toe nails tapping around in the kitchen. I got out of bed and there is Scarlette standing at the baby gate wagging her stub. She somehow managed to open the door of her large metal crate.

Tuesday morning I get up to find Scarlette snoring on the couch.

Wednesday morning, same scenario.

Today I took Mirra and Sydnee for a walk. Since Jeff was at work and I can only handle 2 dogs at a time (Mirra and Syd can be little brats when we're walking) I left Scarlette at home and figured I'd walk Mirra and Syd, then bring them back and take Scarlette for a walk. Scarlette got out of her crate and was digging at the carpet in their bedroom when I got home. The carpet by the bedroom door is damaged but not totally destroyed.

I'm going to buy some metal clips to make sure she can't get the door to her crate open again.

RSbunny · #2 07-27-2006, 10:58 PM

So glad I'm not the only one with this problem! Biscuit breaks out of her metal crate too...we have three metal padlocks to lock the door to the frame now so she can't get out. We've been dealing with this for a few weeks. Even with one just one padlock on she manages to bash it hard enough to bust it open (the whole crate gets moved in the process)

Chrisanne · #3 07-27-2006, 11:03 PM

LOL!!! I know it isn't funny but i still had a small chuckle. She just figures she's old enough to be with the grown ups mom!!

Nara · #4 07-27-2006, 11:25 PM

I hope you figure out a way to keep her in her crate soon.

**Scarlette** · #5 07-27-2006, 11:31 PM

I don't think she'd get into trouble if I let her roam the house while we weren't around. I'm just afraid she'd have an anxiety attack if it were to thunderstorm and we weren't here. She might run around destroying stuff...like the time it stormed when we were gone and she destroyed her fairly new orthopedic foam bed.

I'm glad I made you chuckle Chrisanne!

Leo · #6 07-28-2006, 11:31 AM

Yikes! I know I could probably leave my older guys out when we were gone, but don't because I have the same fear of them possibly destroying something out of fear (when they were little and we didn't have a crate for them they damaged where we were living to the tune of a couple thousand dollars). Hope the clips work on her cage... otherwise a lock of some sort as recommended above would probably be the best thing.

**Scarlette** · #7 07-28-2006, 09:23 PM

I got a call from Jeff while I was at work today..."Sydnee either vomited or pooped all over inside her crate when I went out grocery shopping and I have to leave for work in a few minutes. She and the crate are both covered in....... whatever it is."

Me: "Ya, and what am I supposed to do about it?"
Jeff: "I don't know what to do".....

Um, maybe clean up the crate?

I had him put Syd in Scarlette's crate and just leave Scarlette loose in the house. I was dreading coming home because I wasn't sure exactly what I was going to find. I knew I would find Syd and her crate covered in poop/vomit/mystery body fluid, but wasn't sure what type of surprises Scarlette had in store for me. Would the carpet be totally destroyed? Would we have any furniture left? Of course they were calling for thunderstorms today so I was pretty sure I would have more than one type of mess to clean.

Surprise! I was met at the door with Scarlette wagging her stub and nothing was touched. Whew!

Now if I can figure out why Syd had tummy troubles I'll feel much beter.

Nara · #8 07-28-2006, 09:26 PM

Aww, I'm sorry Sydnee's not feeling good. I hope it's nothing too serious.

Leo · #9 07-28-2006, 10:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scarlette


	I got a call from Jeff while I was at work today..."Sydnee either vomited or pooped all over inside her crate when I went out grocery shopping and I have to leave for work in a few minutes. She and the crate are both covered in....... whatever it is." Me: "Ya, and what am I supposed to do about it?" Jeff: "I don't know what to do"..... Um, maybe clean up the crate?

LOL ... I have had this conversation before only I was the one calling my husband telling him to come home and clean the mess.

I hope Sydnee feels better

it is awful when our guys or girls are sick.... You must have been so proud of Scarlette for not destroying the house... I know I feel this way if forget to lock them in their crate (they will automatically go in their crate if the see us getting ready to going away, and we have forgotten to lock the door before because we see them in their room).

**Scarlette** · #10 07-28-2006, 11:42 PM

Every once in awhile Sydnee will have a day or two of mushy poop. It's not watery diarrhea, more like soft mud. Right now she's wrestling on the floor with Mirra. She doesn't act like she's sick but I'm still keeping an eye on her.

Leo · #11 07-28-2006, 11:52 PM

My sensitive stomach guy Ed has the same thing.

Formula86 · #12 07-29-2006, 05:02 AM

That's kinda funny, sorry.

Scarlette and Biscuit could compete in some sort of Survivor challenge or something!

Sorry about Syd not feeling well. Ki-Adi (Jen's big dog) has a really sensitive stomach, too.

Vanilla_Rat · #13 07-29-2006, 10:13 PM

Have you figured out what to do about Scarlette yet? Or are you just gonna see how long you can trust her out of the crate? Maybe have a kong or something to keep her occupied so she won't dig the carpet!

How is Sydnee now?

HappyDancer · #14 07-29-2006, 10:19 PM

my cat likes to sleep in Lady's cage so she will let the dog out so she can get in her crate...lol we will be sound asleep and then get pounced on by a very loving puppy all full of love and kisses lol and the cat will be asleep in the crate...we even tried getting the cat her own crate, but she wants Lady's...so we are thinking of getting something to keep it closed from the cat lol

I hope sydnee is feeling better

**Scarlette** · #15 07-30-2006, 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vanilla_Rat


	Have you figured out what to do about Scarlette yet? How is Sydnee now?

I bought 3 metal clips, the kind that you use on leashes. I clipped one to the middle part of the top of the crate to keep the lid on and clipped 2 on the door. So far so good. She will fuss for 5 minutes or so but then she calms down. I don't know why she's fussing and throwing a fit now. She hasn't done that since she was a puppy.

She does have a peanut butter filled Kong in there every night but she ignores it until she's done whining.

Sydnee's poops are back to normal. I think it's just another episode of mystery diarrhea. She does that every once in awhile....but usually not in her crate!

We took all 3 swimming yesterday. It was quite hot and muggy out so we loaded them up and took them to the beach. Scarlette has not been swimming in years because every time I took her she wouldn't go in the water. She went right in yesterday and LOVED it! I took my camera with me but didn't get any pics because Mirra and Syd kept trying to swim out too far. We keep a 50 foot floating rope on Mirra and Syd had her retractable leash on. Since they kept trying to go out too far we had to hang on to their leashes, especially the retractable leash. I don't think it's a good idea to let the handle part float around in the water...so my hands were full and I couldn't get the camera out. It's supposed to be in the high 80's-low 90's all week so I'm sure we'll go again. Maybe I can get some pics then.