6-Month Old Goldendoodle Clearing My 24" Pen

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

So this week I found out that Teddy, my 6-month old Toy, can get out of his 24" (actually, it's 23") IRIS plastic pen.  When I would go out, he'd climb up and cry and then bark a few minutes (or less) but then he'd be OK with sleeping and resting in his little cage.  I have a Nest Cam on the playpen and it's a little 6' x 3' square or rectangle or other shape that gives him enough space (he's 11 pounds).

Now....he gets out of the cage (which he knows I don't want) and then he has free access to the living room (potential problem), kitchen (potential problem), and bathroom (I don't care, nothing bad can happen there).  Worse, he barks longer at the door to my apartment.  I guess he thinks if he could escape the playpen he should be able to get out of the apartment too or at least call me back.  

When he was in his little playpen, he kind of accepted the situation.  Outside it, at least right now since it's new to him, he has access to most of my apartment save the bedroom and he's not as quickly accepting the situation.  I can't tell exactly what he is doing because I haven't re-configured the Nest Cam to tell me what he is doing when he escapes the pen and for how long.  But yesterday I went to lunch with a friend and he was still barking in the apartment 15-20 minutes after I left.  In the 4 months of using the playpen I would say 99% of the time he was quiet within 5 minutes.

I just ordered the higher 34" IRIS playpen.  I'm hoping that the extra 10" gets me to about a year or so when he'll be older and either (1) not want to leave any pen, even if he can jump out of it or (2) I can leave him in a portion or the entire living room/kitchen area or a fenced-in portion because when I leave he won't bark forever with separation anxiety.

How do some of you handle this ?  I work from home now so being home with him pretty much 24/7 has been good but if I get a normal job (I'm looking) I will have to playpen him or give him access to most of the apartment or a section of it that is fenced-in/off.  To date, he's been in the playpen for a few hours at most when I do lunch/dinner, shop, or attend a sporting event (these are the longest, about 5-6 hours alone).  If I get a normal job, aside from being let out or walked as per any arrangements I make, he'd be alone 12+ hours in the playpen or apartment (I'm single).

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

Well, That Was Quick:  Just great....Teddy was able to somehow climb out or jump out of the 34" pen on the 1st day. Quickest $60 I ever flushed away.  LOL

I didn't see him do it -- he was near the apartment door when I returned twice -- but he either jumped up and pulled himself over the 34" clearance or climbed up the segments.  I think it's the former -- I've seen him jump outside and he's jumping pretty high.

What makes this frustrating is that he JUST got out of the 24" pen last week so I figured the extra 10" would give me a few months or so.  It didn't give me anything.  That's what is so strange.  He went from just being able to get out of the 24" pen last week to being able to get out of the 34" the same week.

And there's a big difference between the 2 pens, I can't even bend over to reach the water dish or drop treats with the 34" pen.  

I'm really shocked he can get out of the 34".  Have to put him in while I'm there and see how he does it because my Nest Cam look-back has expired.

[Stacy]

I suspect that it's not so much that Teddy couldn't get over the 24" pen until last week, but it's more that he didn't *know* he could get over the 24" pen until last week. Once they've made that discovery all bets are off. 

At the risk of sounding like a broken record - a third option is still to cover the top of his pen. I've never seen a dog who would tolerate a pen suddenly object to having a roof over his head. I have found once they realize that there is reward to be had by escaping that determination is going to make him hard to keep inside anything else. 

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

You may be right, Stacy.  IRIS has a cover for the 4 panel 24" but not the enlarged 24" with extra panels or the 34" which also has different dimensions.  I guess I can always improvise and try a bed cover or something.

My other options are (1) use the 24" or 34" as gates and cordon off the living room and give him 1/3rd of it including the doorway/entrance where he seems to want to rest/sleep while I am gone and (2) keep trying to get him to NOT hop out of the 34" (but leaving his treats and water behind doesn't seem to be much of a deterrent) and (3) covering the top if I can improvise something.

Final option would just be to get a really big cage that gives him some space, something built for a much bigger dog.  He'll have much less space than the playpens, but I will know where he is and he'll be safe.  A cage for a labrador or German Shepard or Golden Retriever or something.

[Carolyn Shusterman]

We have a 26" tall X 23" wide X 36" long crate for our mini's.  This is where Sydney goes when we want to secure him.  

Putting any kind of cover they can chew could be dangerous. 

 

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

I guess I either have to section-off part of my 1-BR apartment....and trust he doesn't hop the barriers to the parts I want him kept out of....or get a bigger cage.  Maybe he'll stop getting out even if he can do it.  Now I have to leave a 2nd water dish in the kitchen because he can't/won't jump back in if he needs a drink since the water dish is in the playpen.

[Rex & Zofi]

Zofi was clearing our 2 ft gate at 4 months old, I had to extend it up another foot but, at 5 months she was clearing that. Took it up another 6" and that lasted about 3 days.  I finally broke down took out the child gate and extensions and built a new gate just to keep her downstairs. She has not had any luck clearing this 5 ft gate...LOL.

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

POST SCRIPT:  My playpen was at the back end of the living room, near the sliding doors.  Teddy was escaping and staying near the main door until I returned.

So....I now just use 4 of the panels to make a "gate" that cuts off the living room.  Teddy has access to about 1/5th of the living room, basically the entrance way/hallway to bathroom/kitchen. Doors to my bedroom and the bathroom are shut.   He mostly rests/lays down next to the door on a bathroom mat or on a blanket my aunt made for him.

If I had built the playpen circle closer to the door I bet he wouldn't have sought to escape.  Oh well......anyway, hope this is useful to others who don't want to give 100% room access to their Doodles when they are out.