Weekend visit and bolting out door...

[Darsey]

Hello again, we were gone this weekend to my MIL where Toto was spoiled over the weekend, I also had my first experience with him bolting out the door. Boy was I scared but my cousin chased Toto down for me. He was "heckled" into it by the neighbors freerange puppies. Should I be worried about this more in the future? He doesn't try to run out the door at home, he usually sits or stands against it. Thanks in advance! To Joanne "Scully's mom" I am going for my Bachelors degree in Fine Arts for Interior Design. - Darsey

[kayharley]

Not only do I get major anxiety attacks about Elliott and Madison sneaking out the gate from our back yard when someone opens it, but I have the same level of stress when it comes to our front door. So, just how does one prepare for the uncertainty?

Once the snow clears and my Cairns will be using our fenced in yard alot more, I'm putting my ex-pen in front of the gate. It can be straightened, curved and secured and unfortunately for any guests or even myself, they/I will have to learn to step over it after opening the gate...a double security.

As for the front door...excuse me if I'm being silly but I've yet to show Elliott, 6 months old, how to go down stairs. He's great flying up them but he'll sit at the top and just stare downward. I know either he will eventually figure it out or I'll teach him but in the meantime, it's so much easier when I have to answer our front door. We have a raised-ranch so the front door area is between staircases. If the UPS man is ringing the doorbell, I have 3 Cairns going beserk. One of them is trained to stay put, the other is trained to just be a pain in the neck but stays put, the puppy would bolt out the door without a moments hesitation. He's due for obedience classes in April.

My next purchase may be one of those wooden gates that fit on top of staircases and have easy one-hand openings. I've seen a few that actually look decorative and will give me the peace of mind I crave.

I love my dogs too much to trust them to temptation.

[Guest webstar]

Molly runs out the door when we open it to let someone in but runs right back in with them. She don't bother to see if anythig more interesting is out there. Once when it was the mail man she stayed out long enough to make a quick poop but ran right back in. MG

[hallswel]

When we first started training one thing we worked on was sitting at the door before it was opened even on a leash. I am always very careful but they tend to sit at the door and wait. If someone is one the other side the have to wait until the dogs are put up before the door is opened. We put a lock on our gate because the neighborhhod kids like to come over and they forget to shut the gate sometimes.

[wheezie23]

Yes, you need to be concerned. I highly recommend getting a babygate for your front door. My first cairn, Zoe, was killed when she ran out into the street and was hit by a car. We never let her outside w/o a leash, and were very careful with her. It only took one or two seconds of not paying attention for her to dash out the open door. I will always remember that moment and wish I could take it back. So please, don't take chances with these kids. They like to run, they love to chase, they are easily distracted and it only takes a few seconds.

thela

[Scully'sMom]

I've had WAY too many experiences with Scully bolting out the door. I've been working with her on sitting and waiting at the door. She's starting to get the hang of it but I'll never trust her. I'm always SO fearful of her getting out. I barely caught her the times she did get out.

The lead that we use to put her out front for potty is hooked onto the railing. We hold her by the collar and hook her up inside.

Congrats on what you're studying. Make sure you pay attention 'cause I have a decorating problem and I can hire you to help me figure out furniture layout.

[MikeC]

I wholeheartedly agree with Thela and Joanne. Cairns will bolt. They are notorious for it. I had an experience with mine when we was only five months old. We thought we had lost him forever but thankfully he did not make it out of the gated complex we were living in at the time and we found him hiding in some shubbery near our condo. Be concerned..........be very concerned!

MikeC

[sbudd]

Boy, can I relate to that! I had a similar experience right after I got my 1 1/2 year old Cairn rescue. It was last Thanksgiving & we were over at my brother's. My DIL accidentally let him out when she was going outside. We spent the next 20 minutes trying to catch him. He sure had fun!

Such a little angel?!

[ballast]

Marmalade, our first cairn, was a runaway. He could be on the other side of the room and instantly out the door when it opened. We worried a lot, since we live in the city just off a major 4 lane street and the street in front of our house gets a lot of diverted traffic traveling a lot faster than we would like.

He would not 'come' when called and generally showed no intrest in returning for food either. Just looked at us and thumbed his nose at us before strolling away. I spent several month's trying to corner him, chase him down (you will never outrun a cairn), following him slowly in the car hoping to catch him in a dead end or waiting for him to tire of exploring (never happened), and generally losing site of him. Then returning home and worrying about him.

We usually got a call from someone (frequently someone who lived several miles away) that Marmalade was in their yard playing with their dog and would we like them to hold him for us while we came and retrieved him.

We never yelled at him or punished him when he came, but he dearly loved to play with other dogs & explore, so it was almost impossible to convince him to return when we called him.

Anyway, after several months of worrying ourselves sick every time he escaped, we decided that other than doing our best to prevent 'prison breaks', we would just have to wait for him.

Once we stopped trying to retrieve him when he got out, he stayed within a block of the house, never (as far as we could tell) went in the direction of the major traffic, and would return home on his own in half an hour or so.

On the other hand, Brodie, our last cairn showed no interest in making the great escape. If he did go out the front door, he just wet on the tree in the front yard or investigated the vacant lot next door. If we told him not to go out the front door, he actually stayed in. In the last few years he was so trustworthy that we would leave the front door open when we we carrying groceries in and never worried that he would bolt.

Dogs are like people... all different.

Ballast

[Baerchen]

Enya escaped from the house just the other day and I almost died from fear she'd get hit. We have her at my mother in-laws while we work. And I've told her before that she's older now and stronger, that she should have a leash on Enya when she brings her outside to wait on us to the house. Well, what happened? She opened the door and Enya squeezed out the door and ran ALL over the street - from one backyard to the other. Finally, we were able to catch her as she was playing with another dog in a neighbors backyard. I was SO upset. Enya knows exactly when we're coming to get her - so she's standing at the door waiting. So, now she must wait in the kitchen until we are in the house.

[Milopup]

Our cairn would most definitely run away, so every time we need to open the front or back doors (even to take out the garbage) we have to put him in his second crate temporarily. This way, we ensure that he is safe, without having to rely on how quickly we can open or close the door.

[ballast]

We had the same problem with our Welsh Terriers too - they usually gathered at the door when the doorbell rang, so we screwed an eye-bolt in the wall next to the door and kept a 12 inch lead permanently attached. Before opening the door, we attached the dog(s). With our Cairns, though, they may well be clear across the room but materialize at the door when it opens.

Ballast

[kayharley]

To recap my previous post regarding this topic...

Yesterday I purchased a very nice looking wooden gate for the top of my staircase that swings open either way and has a latching device. Elliott just learned how to go down stairs today and it has become his new obsession...."Watch me, Mom...I can fly down those stairs now in record time".

Once he gets in the downstairs area that contains our family room, he could cause major havoc....my son's $1500 drum set that I'm not even allowed to touch, (but I do when he's not home ), the pool table, the workroom (better known as the "junk/can't throw it away" room) and neither are what I'd call a safe haven for dogs unless someone is there to keep an eye on them. There is access to outside from that area and it's not fenced in.

Call me a worry-wart, call me overly cautious but I love my Cairns so much that I feel it necessary to cover all the bases regarding their safety and containment.

[Pepandfriend's mom]

Just want to add my two cents' worth even if this is a little late. I am so paranoid about having my dogs escape out the front door that I go in and out the carport door, which just opens to the utility room, and I get friends/repair folks to come in the same way. Seems to work for me ok - but even with that, my Westie managed to walk out with me once.

Pam

[Toto times 2]

I don't even open the door except when the boys are coralled somewhere else. They are so curious if they see something interesting (and most stuff is interesting to a cairn) they will be off like a shot. Smokey will come back if I yell right away but Ghillie is very independant - in other words he obeys "Come" when he wants to not when I do. We also have escape cats which makes things doubly interesting. Yesterday my intrepid cat bolted out the door when I opened it to bring the boys in. Our yard is fenced but she can climb. I was out after her like a shot in my barefeet and bathrobe - clutching it shut. Thanks goodness the neightbours weren't around. It was -15C with a strong wind chill and believe me that wind went places I don't even want to discuss.

[Scully'sMom]

This is one thing I am absolutely TERRIFIED, in no uncertain terms, when it comes to Scully - running away. I had several of those episodes and I have literally never been so frightened. If only I had a way to fence in the front so she couldn't get out, but I don't. It's not really myself or my husband I'm worried about - it's my 82 year old mom that sometimes doesn't pay attention mainly when UPS or someone comes to the door. Every morning, as weird as it sounds, when I leave I pet Scully, tell her I love her and ask her "guardian doggie angel" or SOMEBODY, to please keep her safe. ~~Putting on dunce cap for being so weird~~

[Darsey]

Joanne you put that dunce cap away right now! Before dogs (and my husband) I was a cat owner, I had a cat whom meant the world to me and she had a special tag I ordered for her from Avon. This tag (which I still have even though she passed away 4 years ago from an brain annurism.) is a cat with wings and on the back side is the following inscription.... If I'm lost or have gone astray, my guardian angel will show mw the way. So you are not alone in wishing or praying for the safety of your pet. Its no more ridiculous than doing the same for a child. So don't worry, I think we all can relate in some way or another! - Darsey

[Guest webstar]

My DIL had a yorkie that bolted out the door every time it was opened and we had to chase her all over the neighborhood to catch her, so before we brought Molly home I asked the breeder how to cope with this and she told me to keep a short leash on her to be able to step on it when I answer the door. Molly is fine when anyone goes out, she sits way back from the door if she knows we are coming right back in. She knows when we are leaving in the car and tries to come with us so I give her a treat when we can't take her and she knows this means she can't come she takes it and goes lay on her pillow, but she won't eat the treat until we come home. MG

[Scully'sMom]

Thanks Darsey! After I posted that I thought, "these people will think I'm insane or something." I feel better.

[jlr79]

Joanne,

You shouldn't feel weird at all. We all love our babies and are terrified at the thoughts of something happening to them. I think what you do is sweet and it just shows how much you love her!!

Jan

[kayharley]

I always include my Cairns in my nightly prayers....sometimes I mention them even before hubby.

[Scully'sMom]

sometimes I mention them even before hubby. 

My lips are sealed Kay, I'm not telling!