[PyrNet-L] Re: Care, Chat: Willow's behavior

["Matt Rausch" <mrausch@evansville.net>]

Well, if this makes you feel any better, Noah is not an escape artist.  For
all  Noah's intermittant alpha behavior, he is not an escapist.... he
doesn't usually even try.  We have a 4ft. chain link fence and Noah has
never tried to climb it.  We do have to keep the gate locked because he
knows how to open it.  When he opened it previously he only went one of two
places:  around to our garage to scratch on the door to be let in or next
door where his buddy the lab or boxer lives.  Now, if he were loose and the
UPS man was coming by, I would probably never see him again.  He is never
off lead.  When we are walking home after a walk, I can let go of the leash
a house away and tell him to "go home" and he heads straight for the door.
You see, Noah ADORES being inside (he is mainly an outside dog but he does
get to come in (usually once a day unless he's decided to roll in the mud).
Noah hops in the door and flops down behind the sofa (moving it about a foot
but it's not carpeted so it slides easily).  The difficult part is getting
him back OUTSIDE!!  The gate has accidentally been left unlocked twice and
each time all I had to say was either "noah want to come inside or want to
go bye-bye in the car" and he's in the house or van in an instant (the
fastest you'll ever see him move).   The only time he doesn't want to stay
indoors for very long is when the heater is on in the winter... then he has
"short visits' and I'm sure he's thinking to himself "gee mom, do you think
it's HOT enough in here???  Why don't you turn down that heat thing and put
on a few dozen sweaters"  --- which strangely enough, is the same thing my
husband is usually thinking.   You just can't be a  "neat freak" type person
with an indoor pyr.... they shed, drool, and sometimes accidentally knock
things over simply due to their size.
Cheryl R and Noah