Cody and I have finally moved, and have taken this last week to get settled in. We are staying at my parents? house until I start graduate school, and he seems to love it. The house is a lot bigger than our old apartment, and since there is always someone home, he doesn?t have to stay in his crate very often. Their backyard is fenced in, so he has over an acre to run around and play. He seems to be very happy here, and I think our family dog, Moe, has been good for him.
It has been an adjustment for my family though; Moe is older and very well-behaved, and they are getting used to Cody?s Basenji quirks. I tried to explain to them that he is the ultimate escape artist and that they may have to watch him while he is outside. Well, my mother quickly learned that lesson the first day we were there. She was working in the garden and the dogs were outside with her. A few minutes later, she looked up and the gate was open. Moe was standing in the front yard, just outside the gate, looking at the neighbor?s house. She called for Cody, but he was no where to be seen. Mom ran to the front and Cody was at the neighbors? house. They were having a cookout, and he decided that he wanted to go. Luckily, Cody really likes people, because he let one of our neighbors? friends pick him up and hand him over the fence to my mom.
The next day, they put board in front of the gate until we could find something better to lock it with since Cody can open the latch. Well, Cody figured out how to move it, and then he opened the gate again. This time, he ran across the street to a store to see the people there. My dad was the one outside then, and he had to run across the street to get him. Thankfully, this is a very small town than the street isn?t very busy. As soon as he got him back in the house, he decided to tie the gate together with rope, as that has kept him from opening the gate to escape. Dad said next time he will call me at work to come home and chase after Cody myself.
The third day, I went outside to play with the boys before going to work. They weren?t ready to go in when it was time for me to leave, so since my brother and my dad were outside, I decided to go. I had just turned on my truck when Cody found a small gap in the fence and ran to the truck. I guess he wanted to go for a ride. As soon as I got out to get him, he darted across the street. I chased him for 15 minutes before I actually caught him. When I got home from work that afternoon, I fixed the gap and walked around the fence to make sure there weren?t anymore that he may be able to fit through.
Thankfully, there have been no more escape attempts, although my mom swears that Cody tries to open the doors because he jumps up to put his front paws on the door knobs.
Basenji: 3
Humans: 0
