Houdini dog.

Grizzly bear. Lion. Sweetheart. Cuddle bug.
All describe our dog Sammy. 

But most of all he is Houdini dog. 

Sammy came to us from our good friends the Fealas. When they moved and didn't have a proper yard for the big ol' bear, they asked if we would like to take Sammy. They didn't have to ask though - they knew we'd LOVE to have him. We fell in love with Sammy the first time we saw him. 

Our first night with Sammy at our house was an interesting one. Mat and I sat on the floor trying to get to know the new member of our family. I decided to rile him up a bit (one of my favorite things about giant breeds -which I VERY strongly prefer over tiny little yappers- is that you get to run around and wrestle them). I got more than I bargained for. Sammy looked right at me at began to do this howl/growl similar to that of a bear -and chomp his teeth together snapping at me! I am not scared of dogs. EVER. The bigger, the tougher, the better. But I gotta tell you - I jumped back a bit, and I was nervous.

Suddenly we had this giant lion dog in our living room and I realized - I know nothing about this dog. All of my other dogs  (yes - there were MANY) had come to live with us as a puppy, easily trained and taught wrong from right. I knew their personalities. Their quirks.  Sure we had seen Sammy at the Feala's - and he seemed wonderful -But who was Sammy the dog....really? This huge beast could rip us all to shreds if he wanted to.

  It didn't take long to learn that Sam's grizzly impression is actually his own adorable way of telling us he wants something. That night, he was only responding to my quick back and forth movements - my invitation to rough house. He wanted to play. I haven't been nervous around our big teddy bear since. 

'Bart the bear' would show up any time Sam wanted go for a walk, rough house, go outside, and most of all - climb onto our bed. I don't think I can describe to you this event. Our dogs know they are NOT allowed on the furniture. Still, both of them (we also have a jack russell named Chloe) would die for the chance to lounge on our king size memory foam mattress. Chloe is no problem, if she sneaks her way up (which is a whole other story) we can just push her back down. Not so easy with Sam. If he wants up - he is coming up. So we will be lying in bed, watching tv, and all of the sudden at the foot of the bed - there is Bart the bear. First one paw. "No Sammy." Then the other. "No Sam!" Then in one slow, determined, predatory crawl....NO! SAM! NO! and he is on the bed. Bear growling and rolling around to get comfortable. At this point it's too cute and funny to do anything about it - not that we could if we wanted to.

SO... now that you have a good image of our adorable guy, let's get down to his tricks.

Last summer we decided to put up a temporary fence blocking off a small portion of our back yard to create a dog run. We used wire fencing that is sort of in between chicken wire and chain link in strength - more than enough to contain our beasts. About 5' high. Plenty tall to keep them in. Metal posts about a foot down in the ground. We even used 'yard staples' to hold the bottom of the fence to the ground. After about an hour, maybe two, Mat and I stood back looking at our caged dogs - and were pretty proud of ourselves. 

The next day, Mat put the dogs in their run, and we went on with our day. Then I got a call, "I think I found your dog..." So, we pick up Sam, reinspect the run - find no evidence of his escape, and lock him up again.

Everything seems fine for a few days until...the call. "I have your dog." 

Pick up. Inspect. Lock up.

Then the next day, the call.

Pick up. Inspect. Lock up.

How is this dog getting out?! Finally Mat decides to sit and watch. 

Now that he's got a routine down, Sam wastes no time and runs straight to the back corner of the fence - and crawls UNDER IT! Our 100 pound dog is squeezing UNDER the fence. And if your thinking he dug a hole - you're wrong. He would just SHOVE his way under, pulling up all of the staples as he went.

Assuming we were smarter than a dog, we put new staples down and covered them with big heavy rocks that lined the bottom of the fence.

The next day, dogs are in their run, and then.....the call.

Pick up. Inspect - Sam had moved the rocks out of the way, and once again SHOVED his way under the fence. We need a new plan. Complete overhaul.

So Mat's dad John came over and spent hours putting up a new taller beefier version of the fence, including running the fencing along the ground - so there would be no crawling under.

Until.....the call. 

Pick up. Inspect -Now Sam's found a short, weak part of our neighbors fence, and jumps over. 

John offers to fix the fence, but can't for a few days. We decide to tie the dogs up to a tree within the run. Problem solved.

Until....the call.

Pick up. Inspect - Sam snapped the dinky rope from the tree. ok.....

New, stronger rope. Problem solved.

Until.....(No call this time) Mat goes out to the run to bring the dogs inside. Sam is missing. But the rope, still intact, quickly lead Mat to the dog. Apparently Mat had given the rope a bit too much slack, because Sam had JUMPED THE FENCE into the neighbors yard - and was just standing there - still tethered, waiting to be rescued. Of course, when Mat plead with Bart to jump back over the fence into our yard, the bear just froze. He refused. Mat had to climb over the fence and lift the grizzly up and over.

John's back, putting up new fencing to block off our neighbors yard.

Finally success!

Until....Rain. and Snow. The dog run was like Woodstock. There was no way I was going to have 2 muddy dogs in and out of my house all day. So we started leaving the dogs just free to roam in the back yard - no big deal, we weren't using it during the winter anyway.

And then....the call. 

Pick up. Inspect - Sam has found a way to push open the HUGE iron gate that runs the width of our driveway.

Easy fix. Lock the Gate. Houdini dog - contained. Also contained, Missy and Katie. Both of us had a VERY hard time getting the gigantic gate unlocked, but once we do, locking it again (the crucial part) -IMPOSSIBLE. 

We need a new plan. So we don't lock the gate. Since Sam is pushing the gate open, we can just push the locking mechanism in front of the fence post, rather than through it - that way we don't have to deal with the locked gate - and Sam still can't push it open. Problem solved!

Until Today....the call.

Pick up. Inspect - Sam has figured out how to PULL the gate (Remember! HUGE, very heavy,  iron gate!) t o w a r d him just enough to get out. 

No solution yet, but you've got to admit, the dog is impressive. 

He's got places to be and he WILL find a way to do it. 

Houdini dog.