The photo above is of our patio. We tend to enjoy sitting out there with Sadie, reading, talking with neighbors and just hanging out. Sadie also enjoyed walking out there, sitting down, watching the squirrels, and just getting some fresh air. A few weeks ago, Sarah was inside and all of a sudden, she heard more barking than normal, and she ran out there to find Sadie on the other side of the patio fencing (not a good sign) and barking with another dog that was out. I immediately realized how bad that was. She now knew that it was possible to get out – and once she knew that…this was not going to end well.
So we kept her inside for a few weeks. But then, little by little, we started to give her some more freedom, and we finally started leaving the screen door open and she could walk out to the patio and hang out. And she was doing good.
Until yesterday. Yesterday as Sarah was about to leave for work, Sadie made the jump again. This time she was hunting – she had seen a squirrel and she was going to get it. She took off after it and luckily stopped to watch it climb the side of the building long enough for Sarah to grab her. Needless to say, Sarah wasn’t happy. Two times now.
Last night, we were hanging out on the porch and a friend came by and we were talking. I stepped in to the kitchen to check on the brownies and all of a sudden I heard, “Oh! Adam…! She’s out!” Right there. With Sarah and our friend on the porch – Sadie made a leap for it and jumped off the patio. The nerve! Now that this is the third time, some of you may be asking what she does when she experiences these moments of freedom? She runs. I strongly believe my dog could beat any of my readers’ dogs in a dog-race. She’s incredibly fast – which makes me feel like a proud parent at the dog parks, and the super slow kid in a junior high 100m sprint when I’m trying to chase and catch her. And she just takes off. Sprints. This time she found another dog in another apartment complex and as she was sprinting by me, I was able to tackle her and drag her home. Needless to say, Adam wasn’t happy. Three times now.
And then this morning – as if she hadn’t experienced enough freedom, she did it again. Sarah was on the porch. I had just gone outside to set up her tie-out so she could run around and play outside – and she jumped off the patio. And this time, she BOOKED it. She made it the furthest yet, and I found her in front of another apartment, a few blocks down. Again, she tried to sprint right past me and I was able to get a hand into her collar. I was not happy at all. Four times now.
So, we’re not really sure what to do. At first we thought we just couldn’t leave her out there unsupervised. But now it appears she can’t be on the patio at all – which sucks for her. Does anyone have any ideas as to how we could make this work? Or let her know that jumping over the patio is not something that’s acceptable? Surely it’s not a reflection of how she feels living with the Walker Cleavelands…
[Some of you were asking for some more photos of Sadie – we’ve included some great new shots here]