Escape Artist

Da Vinci surveys the neighborhood from "his" upstairs bedroom window

I guess we should have named him Houdini instead of Da Vinci. Our dog has managed to escape multiple times in the last week or two, despite our best efforts. He is, in general, a very well behaved housedog. And he has the useful habit of being rather skittish and timid of odd things like papers lying on the floor and cardboard boxes. So we had erected a very flimsy temporary fence of chicken wire and wooden stakes around the backyard when we moved in over a year ago.

This was quite sufficient to keep Da Vinci in, although any other dog of his size and agility could have easily dug, pushed, jumped, or otherwise managed a way out. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that, while rooting around after smells and odors only appealing to a dog, Da Vinci seems to have accidentally dislodged a stake out of the ground and toppled a small section of fencing. He trotted right over it and romped the neighborhood for a while before we caught him. After that, he went looking for exits and found them at every turn.

We staked, tied, wired, and blocked each spot he found and tried to keep a step ahead of him, looking for any loose areas. But chicken wire is no match for a determined dog who has now had a taste of freedom. He never roams far and always comes back after about 20-30 minutes, but leash laws and general safety concerns still make this a problem. On weekends or long days away, we’ve been accustomed to leaving him outside with access to the sunroom and backyard, but that’s not a good option now. We had planned to take our time and build a nice picket fence one of these days, but now that day is here!