Indie has always been an escape artist. When living in Moosonee it became a daily game and there was little risk because in a small, isolated northern community she could do her rounds, visit folks and then meet me at home at the end of the day. Each year I put an additional foot on the top of the fence and tried to make it unclimbable. It got to about 9 ft tall and every few months she figured out how to climb it and get out. Eventually I began tying her up to a dog house while I was gone during the day. During this entire time I fostered puppies all the time (strays from the community) so she had lots of companionship. When tied up she managed to get herself off her tie-up periodically. Every morning she was given the option of staying inside while I went to work or to stay outside. She usually chose outside unless the bugs were bad. She enjoyed watching the kids catch the bus and get dropped off.
When I moved to Midland ON I was terrified of what would happen with Indie. The house I initially moved into was on a busy street and I started tying her up on the front covered porch with her dog house. The neighbour who worked shifts would come and get her around noonish and keep her in his workshop with him for a few hours before he left for work. She has that effect on people. She “trains” them rather quickly.
After moving I tried tying her up at the new house, but she was never quite happy. I’m not sure if it was the squirrels or the walnut trees, but she eventually convinced the neighbors that they should come and let her off her leash too. She would spend some time with them. Eventually she began choosing to stay inside for the day. I assumed this was just a part of age. When new neighbours moved in next door she trained them rather quickly and they began coming over, letting her out and taking her to their house for parts of the day. Within that time frame the window ordeal began.
It started once or twice with screen doors. I left one door open and just the screen door there. She pushed it open and left. Once I learned my lesson she targeted an open window. She simply pushed the screen out and jumped out. Every once and a while I would come home and the plants and variety of things on windowsills were on the ground. She clearly was trying to find a way out. Oddly though, during this time she developed a fear of being outside at my house. She would go in the dog door or try to walk down the driveway when we were hanging outside gardening, working or socializing. This was a completely new behaviour. Up until now she always spent her time outdoors. Even still, when we visit family she spends all her time outdoors there by choice. Basically only comes in at night. I’m still not sure what it is outdoors on this property that freaks her out. I thought perhaps bees, but she doesn’t seem to bothered by them other than trying to bit them, a habit from Moosonee where the horseflies were the size of a small child. The only thing I’ve been able to piece together is that one of the houses backing onto my yard has a screen door that slams shut really loudly. When kids are playing outdoors there and the door slams, she automatically goes to her dog door and goes inside. Acts very nervous. This is weird because she hasn’t been too upset by loud noises before (she is a certified therapy dog and never acts weird with any other noises).
Then she tore her ACL. During the two weeks waiting for the surgery (tightrope repair) she was on complete limited movement. I bought a stroller for her and took her on walks with that. It did not compare to her usual 1-hour afternoon walk, but gave her some outdoors time. About a week and a half into her two week waiting period before surgery I got a call at lunchtime saying that my dog had been found sleeping in the garden at the retirement home she does therapy work at. She had clearly been on quite an adventure with the smell of skunk on her (no direct spray though) and had been swimming. I took her home, realized that I had left a window open slightly and she had pushed it open, pushed the screen out and left. Not good for her supposed “bed rest”. After closing and locking the window I went back to work. When I came home at the end of the day and she was gone again! This time she had figured out how to unlock and open the window. In the process she had ruined the trim to the window and mangled the little plastic ledge piece that you use to lift open the window. The damage can be seen in the image. 
During this she tore out a dew claw and tore a piece of her gum. At this point I started crating her while I was gone. I managed to find a friend who came in every lunch hour and let her out and visited with her. In the meantime I worked on solutions to make the house dog-proof again. I also bought a 6 x 10 ft outdoor dog run to consider transitioning to after she’s healed.
After the surgery I had her in the kitchen with cameras focused on her. They have a motion detector and so I get an email with a picture if she is moving around. She generally slept all day. Barely moved. Sometimes she slept in her cage (which I left open in the kitchen). She never once went to the baby gates (two, one on top of the other so she couldn’t jump out of the kitchen) or tried to get out of the kitchen. She also had an inflatable collar on during this time to prevent her from biting at her staples from the surgery. After 12 days we had the staples removed and I gave her access to the full downstairs of the house again. I put the baby gates over the two windows she would try to open and the motion detectors focused on them.
Everything went well for a week. She slept on the couch all day every day while I was at work. No trying to get out. Then came the weekend. I was home all day saturday working because it was raining out. I took her for three walks. One for about 10 minutes (breaking the vet rules of 5-min max walks), one for about 5 minutes and then another where I took her for a stroller walk for 20 minutes and then let her walk in the park for 5 minutes. I left the house around 3:30 pm and kept checking the cameras as the evening progressed. Around 7:30 I looked at the cameras and noticed the baby gate missing from in front of the window! I couldn’t believe it! She had within a few minutes, removed the baby gate, pushed the screen out of the window and gone wandering. I had left the window open behind the baby gates, assuming that there was no way she could get it down. I was very, very wrong.
Luckily after busting a move home I got waved down by the new awesome neighbours. They had been downtown getting groceries and noticed her walking down the street. Thank goodness. She was easy to recognize because of the limp and shaved leg from surgery. They held on to her until I got home. Wonderful people! Unfortunately, India is now limping more than she has in quite a few days and using the leg a lot less. Its only been a few hours, but I am very worried that she has re-damaged the knee and the surgery will have gone to waste.
The benefits of being a teacher is that I finish work in a few days for the summer. At that time I will have most of the summer to focus on her and work out whatever the issues are. She will also hopefully be healed by the fall and I will be able to walk and hike her for longer periods of time to “get her crazies out”. She has never destroyed anything in the house other than the window trim trying to get out. She has never chewed anything. Well, once she chewed some Tamarack birds (birds created out of tamarack branches that I left on the floor when she was 8 months old, but I can hardly blame her for that. I left sticks on the floor! This lack of general destruction leads me to believe that her behaviour is not some sort of anger or resentment, but more a complete boredom or something is wrong with her? Maybe a bladder infection or she has to go pee or can hear an animal outside? She is a hunter and catches all sorts of animals when they are here (rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks, groundhogs, skunks, mice, etc.).
How do I figure out what the problem is? Is it simply because of a lack of walks? Do I just need to crate her until she is completely healed and getting regular proper walks again (few months)? I don’t think its very fair to crate her all day every day while I work. I don’t think its fair that I leave her alone while I go to work. If I thought getting another dog would solve the problem, someone to keep her company, I would gladly do it. But, one of the times she jumped out the window was when I was dog sitting another dog that she loves. He was here with her that day. If it’s not going to help, then I don’t want to have two dogs I can’t manage to take care of!
My plan is to arrange for dog walkers next school year (once she is healed and can go walking) during the day. I will also try putting pepper on the windows. Someone told me to put cayenne pepper on the window ledge so when she bites it to lift it she gets a burning in her mouth (making sure that I leave BUCKETS of water out too). I’m going ask my vet about this option. I don’t think bitter apple will do the trick. Just not strong enough. I suppose I could try it, but I can’t risk her actually getting out again while still healing. I will have to crate her until she is completely healed.
Maybe she just needs a job. She would make an excellent store owners friend. If she could hang out at a store or business for the day, she would be happy as a clam. She is very social and I think that is all she may need. Everywhere I’ve lived she had her “own friends” who she visited without me. She needs a better social (human) life.
Any suggestions? I’m at my wits end!
The brace is like two neoprene sleeves that go up both back legs. It has little metal stays on the outside of each leg (articulated at the knee) to support the legs and allow bending. I have the brace on her for most days and take it off in the evening after her last walk.
port the good leg just as much as the poor leg. There are statistics (that change every time I find them, so I’m not so sure about the validity) showing that the majority of dogs who rupture their ACL will rupture or tear the other leg within a year. This is likely because they always favor their bad leg, putting most of their weight on the good leg. This brace may prevent that. Even if it doesn’t, it at least keeps her quiet while she is wearing it. The brace came from http://animalrehab.on.ca .
