The Great Escape (Attempt)

Derrick's other dog, Lucca, moved in with us recently. It's kind of a weird situation, but she's been living with Derrick's friends (and our neighbors) since he got her (since that was where he spent most of his time anyway). Recently some things have happened to disrupt our living situations and Lucca ended up moving to our apartment.

Lucca is a cute little pup. She's about 6 or 7 months old and very loving and friendly. She's got a lot of energy and loves to play "chase the kitty" (much to Esther's chagrin). She loves to lick faces and will lay contently on any lap that is accompanied by a belly rub. She's like a hyperactive teddy bear.

It's taking some adjustment on all our parts. Jade and Esther had worked out an understanding which Lucca refuses to adhere to, Jade isn't used to sharing me with Lucca, and Lucca isn't used to obeying me. I'm used to a quieter house with a calm dog and a declawed cat, so Lucca makes me feel a little exhausted. And Jade has grown out of the chewing stage, so I don't have to worry about kicking off my shoes and returning to find a pile of pretty leather in their place. But Lucca cannot be trusted with my pretties.

The hardest adjustment for all of us has been what to do with the girls during those few short hours that neither of us are home. Neither girl has spent much time without human company and like I said, Lucca has a chewing problem. We decided that the best bet would be to make the back room doggie proof and utilize the baby gates I got when Jade was still a puppy.

The first day, Derrick put the girls in the back with some toys, their water, and a doggie bed and set the little wooden gate up in the hall and left for work.

I arrived home a little over three hours later. I walked in and was greeted at the door by a very happy Lucca and the very unhappy whines of a still locked up Jade. I also found a pile of wood shavings next to the gate, which had been severely chewed on. I sent Derrick a text telling him that we would have to rethink this for some reason.

The next day, Derrick took the girls back to the back room and pulled out the other baby gate. Both girls sat and watched him set it up, Lucca looking rather cheerful and "innocent" with her tail wagging. Then Derrick picked up the wooden gate and started to set it up on top of the other gate. Lucca's tail suddenly stopped wagging and a fleeting look of panic crossed her puppy eyes as Jade gave a sideways smirk in her direction. Derrick had a suspicion of how Lucca might have gotten out the day before.

When I opened the door that evening, there was no dog to greet me as I walked in. They were both safely confined in the back where they belong. Jade seemed a little more satisfied with the arrangement, but Lucca was so anxious to get out that the second I took the wooden gate down, she hurdled the other gate (confirming Derrick's guess of her means of escape).

It seemed that we had found a satisfactory way of keeping the dogs confined while we are gone.

The third day, Derrick stuck them in the back, set up both gates and left feeling perfectly confident that I would have no problems when I got home.

I got home to find . . . .

Lucca was so insistent to get out of her confinement that she dug her way through my wall. In three and half hours time, she made a bigger mess than I had ever worried that she would do by running free.

So now Lucca has to be put in a kennel while we're gone. That's what the brat gets for being a bad doggie!