When Laika adopted me, she moved into my apartment with a gifted crate from a friend. It was pretty big, but not especially solidly constructed. After helping to crate train our family dog Buddy, I was familiar with the process. At first, the crate was kept in my room because she was sleeping in it at night, just to make her comfortable. After she woke up, ate and went out, she was only in the crate during times that I was away. Luckily, I lived close to work, so I would return on my break each afternoon to feed Laika, play with her and go for a quick walk together. Things were going pretty well with her training, despite the fact that she wasn't always super excited to go in the crate. As noted in earlier stories, her loved of treats was harnessed to reinforce this process.
Soon, Laika graduated herself to sleeping outside of the crate in my room. She was very good at night and loved to snuggle in bed with me. After this, I moved the crate to the dining room, as it was brighter, had more windows that could open and was generally a better location. For a while, Laika was tolerant of this set-up, but after a week or so (if my memory serves me correctly), I came home to find the crate completely mangled! Laika was still inside, wagging tail, happy to see me and acting as if nothing happened...but she had used her powerful legs, jaws and head to render the crate totally and utterly useless. Goodbye, crate #1.
Enter crate #2. This crate came along with a pitbull named Kenyon that Missy had liberated from a family in Toronto (after the pitbull-ban had taken effect). He was re-homed to another, very caring family in our local area, but they didn't need the crate. Luckily, this came around the time that Laika destroyed the first one. Crate #2 was a bit smaller and had a plastic tray at the bottom, but was still roomy enough for Laika. The bars were thicker, so it gave me a false sense of security that it might last...
The first few days were fine. Laika seemed to accept her new "home" as she routinely did, with a look of slight defeat. She did like to nest in the blankets at the bottom, though. I think around the 3rd or 4th day, I came home from work only to be greeted by a wiggling puppy at the top of the stairs! Yes, Laika had somehow broken out of the crate...eaten a few apples and pooped on a powerstrip! Upon inspecting the crate, it looked as if she somehow opened the latch from the inside. I was baffled at how she figured it out, but determined to outsmart her, I put extra hooks and latches on the front door. We both knew that I was challenging her! How could she escape maximum security?
Well...apparently, it was pretty easy for her. Laika was a problem-solver and when she was confined suddenly became Houdini-dog. I got the feeling that when she was not in her crate, she was constantly thinking about how to get out...and what she would eat or play with when she did. Since the front of the crate was reinforced, Laika did the not-so-obvious thing next. She flipped the crate over, bent the lower edge and actually surfed out of the crate on the plastic tray! Again, she was happily waiting for me at the top of the stairs the next day, leaving me a nice poop in a not-so-obvious location. The gleam in her eye when I got home told me that she was ready for the next test.
My next move was what I hoped to be my checkmate. I reinforced the front door with extra hooks and latches. Laika watched curiously, thinking and figuring how she would win. That day, I came home and she was again waiting for me. But, this time, under the computer table among huge piles of debris shaking with fear. She knew I would be upset, because not only did she break out of the crate, but she thrashed every last bit of recycling (bottles, mail, circulars), tore-up her pillow and broke into my roommates room, feasting on some food in his trash. (Why my vegan roommate had half-eaten chicken wings in his trash is still a mystery to me.) I was more frustrated that Laika had out-smarted me by flipping her crate again and more concerned about what she could have eaten than I was mad at her. She already was scared, so I just cleaned everything up and we went on with life. The whole time, I was thinking of how to win the crate battle.
The slightly mangled crate was then fortified more. All corners and joints were reinforced with "endless links," which are chain links that unscrew in the middle to allow a chain to be linked to itself. I think they are rated at like 200 lbs test load. The last round, Laika got the best of them, though! This time, was different. For my finale, I screwed large eyelets into the baseboard behind the crate and anchored it to the wall. Laika looked on with a curious, icy stare stare...I could see the wheels in her brilliant mind turning. The next day, I came home to find Laika still in the crate. She was asleep and secure. It looked like she had tried her old trick to escape, but gave up after she realized she could no longer flip it. Victory was finally mine! Laika gradually warmed to the crate and would even hang out in it on her own when she was tired.
Around this time, she started to get more comfortable in the apartment and with me, too. It was awesome to feel that she was trusting me more and as a result, she got more freedoms in the house. I think Laika finally knew that our battle with the crate was to help her and she no longer schemed her great escapes. Instead, she moved her attention to more important things....squirrels. To be continued tomorrow...
Enter crate #2. This crate came along with a pitbull named Kenyon that Missy had liberated from a family in Toronto (after the pitbull-ban had taken effect). He was re-homed to another, very caring family in our local area, but they didn't need the crate. Luckily, this came around the time that Laika destroyed the first one. Crate #2 was a bit smaller and had a plastic tray at the bottom, but was still roomy enough for Laika. The bars were thicker, so it gave me a false sense of security that it might last...
The first few days were fine. Laika seemed to accept her new "home" as she routinely did, with a look of slight defeat. She did like to nest in the blankets at the bottom, though. I think around the 3rd or 4th day, I came home from work only to be greeted by a wiggling puppy at the top of the stairs! Yes, Laika had somehow broken out of the crate...eaten a few apples and pooped on a powerstrip! Upon inspecting the crate, it looked as if she somehow opened the latch from the inside. I was baffled at how she figured it out, but determined to outsmart her, I put extra hooks and latches on the front door. We both knew that I was challenging her! How could she escape maximum security?
Well...apparently, it was pretty easy for her. Laika was a problem-solver and when she was confined suddenly became Houdini-dog. I got the feeling that when she was not in her crate, she was constantly thinking about how to get out...and what she would eat or play with when she did. Since the front of the crate was reinforced, Laika did the not-so-obvious thing next. She flipped the crate over, bent the lower edge and actually surfed out of the crate on the plastic tray! Again, she was happily waiting for me at the top of the stairs the next day, leaving me a nice poop in a not-so-obvious location. The gleam in her eye when I got home told me that she was ready for the next test.
My next move was what I hoped to be my checkmate. I reinforced the front door with extra hooks and latches. Laika watched curiously, thinking and figuring how she would win. That day, I came home and she was again waiting for me. But, this time, under the computer table among huge piles of debris shaking with fear. She knew I would be upset, because not only did she break out of the crate, but she thrashed every last bit of recycling (bottles, mail, circulars), tore-up her pillow and broke into my roommates room, feasting on some food in his trash. (Why my vegan roommate had half-eaten chicken wings in his trash is still a mystery to me.) I was more frustrated that Laika had out-smarted me by flipping her crate again and more concerned about what she could have eaten than I was mad at her. She already was scared, so I just cleaned everything up and we went on with life. The whole time, I was thinking of how to win the crate battle.
The slightly mangled crate was then fortified more. All corners and joints were reinforced with "endless links," which are chain links that unscrew in the middle to allow a chain to be linked to itself. I think they are rated at like 200 lbs test load. The last round, Laika got the best of them, though! This time, was different. For my finale, I screwed large eyelets into the baseboard behind the crate and anchored it to the wall. Laika looked on with a curious, icy stare stare...I could see the wheels in her brilliant mind turning. The next day, I came home to find Laika still in the crate. She was asleep and secure. It looked like she had tried her old trick to escape, but gave up after she realized she could no longer flip it. Victory was finally mine! Laika gradually warmed to the crate and would even hang out in it on her own when she was tired.
Around this time, she started to get more comfortable in the apartment and with me, too. It was awesome to feel that she was trusting me more and as a result, she got more freedoms in the house. I think Laika finally knew that our battle with the crate was to help her and she no longer schemed her great escapes. Instead, she moved her attention to more important things....squirrels. To be continued tomorrow...
I want to note that this is the first picture I ever saw of Laika. It was love at first sight. This was taken shortly before I met her, while Missy's boss was taking care of "Baby Girl" (a.k.a. Laika).
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