The End of an Era

[jodi0553]

It has been almost a year since Currey came into our lives. We've had some wild puppy times, and he's growing up to be a great young dog, most of the time. Part of the harmony-keeping force in our home has been our baby gates. We limit access to places where he can just get in trouble, such as not allowing him upstairs when all the people are downstairs. Well, tonight DH ran up the stairs to grab something, and next thing he knew, Currey was upstairs with him. He either jumped or climbed the gate! We tried to goad him into doing it again several times while we were watching to see what happened, but either he hasn't connected that he can do it yet, or he just is messing with us!

I don't know what I'm going to do without baby gates as an option. I know some folks set up x-pens near doorways, but unless one is latched in a ring, he can easily "dig" his way out of one of them. Any of you folks have alternate solutions? I'm hoping he'll just never do it again, but I know that's wishful thinking!

Thanks!

Jodi

[bradl]

What kind of baby gate, Jodi? Is it one with a criss-cross pattern? Although many have tried, no one's climbed this model at our house yet:

(Not our house, our gates are silver, but this model anyway. Kidco G15).

[sanford]

Are you sure he climbed over the baby gate? My little rascal is so sly (and quiet when he's up to no good), that he actually is able to quickly slip by me unnoticed as I'm passing through the baby gate. He stays close enough behind me so I can't see him as I open and close the gate. Even though I'm wise to him by now, he still manages to put one over on me now & then!

P.S. How tall is your gate? The first gate I bought was only 2 feet high. My Cairn is small, so I figured it was all I needed, but I quickly learned that even little Cairns CAN jump! I exchanged it for a 3 foot high fence.

[sanford]

"I exchanged it for a 3 foot high fence."

Oops! I meant to write "gate" not "fence"...I wasn't desperate enough to install a fence inside the house!

[jodi0553]

We have the 2 ft tall ones with the crisscross pattern. Cheap ones. I'm still hoping that they are temporary in our lives - we've already expanded his range to the whole ground floor of the house, and he can handle that. I'm pretty sure he jumped it rather than climbed it. He hasn't proven himself to be a climber at all yet, but jumping is something he occasionally impresses me with. Sanford, DH is tall enough that when the gate is on the first step, he can step from the foyer to the second step and never opens the gate, so I know he didn't slip by. The funny thing is, since the gate is on a step, I have troubles stepping over it without first stepping up on t othe step on which it is located, but I'm awfully short....I just can't believe that he can clear it!

3 ft gates...I'll never be able to step over one of those!

[jetersmom]

Your pup is too cute! I am certain you won't get mad at him!

[mrskti]

Ellie can jump up on our bed and it's at least 3' high, dont be surprised if he made it over.

[kcsdogs]

four foot solid concrete and razor wire................... I don't know it seems once they conquer the baby gates extreme measures must be taken. I know some who have actually had to train their dogs to stay on one side of a baby gate so obviously there is a time committment involved and I am not sure how that works when they aren't there but it may be worth a shot.

[bubba]

Our gates are similar to the one Brad has, except they are white in color. Also, I can tell in the picture if that one has it, but ours has a pedal you step on and it then swings open. I found them first at a pet store where they were well over $100, but then went to BabysRUs and got two for the price of that one. They are held in by pressure to the door frame. Our daughter had a baby this past year, and after moving into their new house, he became mobile...funny how they do that! Anyway, last time I was down to Oregon, her and I went to the Target near her house, and they had another gate that looks alot like mine, but instead of the pedal, it has something on top you move. That one was only $29 and was made of wood, where mine is made of metal. Some of them may be pricy, but I figure it's cheaper than new carpet, furniture, shoes, underwear, and surgery!!!

pat.

[Teri9672]

We got tired of the baby gates so hubby built this. I love it because it swings open and I don't have to ask guests to "step over" the gate. The girls only have access to the back of the house which includes kitchen, living area and bedroom.

I also never have to worry about them darting out the front door.

[jodi0553]

Teri,

The door your husband built is beautiful! I love it!

The gate jump-over has not yet been repeated. My husband says that maybe, just MAYBE, when he stepped over the gate, the dog was hanging off his leg (by his teeth of course). I have no idea how you can go without noticing that you have gone over a two foot gate with a 17 pound DOG attached to you leg. To me, that'd be a little obvious, but he just cannot recall if that was the case. 30 seconds after it happened, Andy was sure he had jumped. Weird. Of course, the dog latching on to pants/shoes with his mouth is another post topic all together...sigh. Yesterday we left the gate down all day and shut all the doors upstairs to see what he'd do. He only went up there once when we weren't going up. It seems that upstairs has reached a status of "only iteresting when humans are there" which is ideal in my mind! Maybe someday we'll be gate free!

[we love izzy and ollie]

Ollie mastered climbing the baby gate a couple of months ago and Izzy can now jump it.. I love the one your husband built for you, Teri. I'm gonna show that to my husband, he needs a project anyway, hehe. The darting out the front door is the worst thing with the kids coming in and out i'm always afraid of that.

kasey

[savannahsmom35]

When Savannah learned to jump the baby gates, we put a blanket over the gate so that she could not get her feet in the criss crosses as this is how she was getting over. We recently have been able to let her have free run of the house so the baby gates are gone now, but while we used them with the blanket over them, she never climbed over again. She was like your pup, she only climbed over when her people went out of sight.