Pets
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Locking a Dog Gate? Need advice!
Hi there.... I have a dog gate on my deck, the same one we use indoors as well (picture below).
We have been using it for a year since we got our first dog (Foster- a 1.5 year old, 55lb Australian Cattle Dog/Australian Shepherd/Lab? mix), and several months ago he ran so hard into it as a cat strolled down the driveway that he busted it down and got loose! Luckily we caught him pretty quickly and it never happened again.........until this weekend. My hubby and I were sitting on the deck with the two dogs as we do every weekend in the morning drinking coffee.. and then the mail-woman came. I've been making it a habit to grab him and let him know "I got it" anytime he barks at people passing by so as to correct him. My husband thinks I over exaggerate and that he "can't break it down again"... but, he did...... I couldn't get to him to correct him as I usually do in time before the door flew open, he went running and our new 3 year old Australian Cattle Dog/Corgi rescue dog followed after him. I'm super glad the super freaked out mail-woman didn't mace him... he had no interest in her, he ran up, sniffed her for a second and then continued trotting down the street with his little big-new sister behind him.
My husband walked calmly behind them until I came with the car (they went about 2 blocks and stayed on the sidewalk the entire time thankfully) and scooped the two dogs and my husband up.
We are going to have a wooden gate attached to our deck installed maybe next month, but I am looking for a quick fix so that I don't have an anxiety attack any time I sit outside with the dogs! Foster runs with us about 3-5 miles a day so he is very muscle-endowed and strong... my husband tries to prove to me that the gate is secure by pushing his own weight into it... yet somehow when Foster tries once, he busts it through! I don't want him to learn that the door will open if he runs hard enough... he is a very smart dog but thankfully he hasn't caught on to that yet... both times were accidents as far as he is concerned.
My idea for quick-fix right now is bungee cords.... thoughts? I should also mention that we use the dog door daily (we meaning us Humans!) as we use the side-door to get in/out of the house since it has the deck/extra dog door for security in case a dog wants to try to slip through our legs. So it has to be something that can be unlocked/locked at least 6x a day between us going to work and going out for walks/runs.
Re: Locking a Dog Gate? Need advice!
If it were me, I would put a leash on the dogs while I am sitting outside with them until a permanent solution can be made. That would at least make Foster easier to catch if he suddenly runs at the gate and breaks out again. I'm not sure how much they cost, but what about one of those electric fences? Where the dog wears something on their collar that gives them a jolt if they leave the yard.
I have a funny dog gate story with my little Izzy girl. She is a 20 lb. Terrier Extraordinaire. A breed I made up to describe her unknown origins, lol. The door for our bedroom used to not have a door (I know, weird). And we used to keep her in there if we were going to be out for a few hours. So we put a baby gate in the doorway to keep her in.
It worked for about one month. And then one day she figured out she could jump over it. We blame her cat sister Nip, who could always easily jump over it. Once she knew she could jump it, it was totally useless, lol. And we finally had to finish and cross off our "install door for master bedroom" off the honey-do list.