Look at that face starring at itself in the mirror! How could you not just love that cute face. That face is of my dog Zero. Some of you have probably seen me tweet about her previously or even post twitpics in parties. Let me tell you that little angel of a mug is far from innocent! She is a people dog, she gets along better with people than with other dogs. Her and my other female boxer Lucy, do not get along at all. At one point they did, when the big male was still alive, but two days after he passed away Zero decided she wanted nothing to do with Lucy being in the house. After that point in time the girls have lived their lives separated by a baby gate of sorts. I used to live in a one floor home and it was rather easy to put a gate up in the middle of the house and one was in the front and one was in the back of the house, but now... well now I live in a two floor jobber and had to find a solution to the problem of keeping the girls apart.
I took the recommendation of my sister (who has a baby and two dogs) and bought the Evenflo Summit Gate. It was easy to put up and literally has a gate to walk through. This solved my problem of climbing over a baby gate to go down the stairs or having to move it to go down the stairs. There were a few times I almost fell down those stairs climbing over that gate. So problem was solved with the Summit Gate or at least I thought it was.
Here the gate had been up for a few weeks, keep in mind I've only been living in this new place since July 1st of this year, and it worked great. Zero respected the gate and didn't try to climb over it, but rather choose to lay infront of it and put her nose through the bars making you go on some guilt trip that she was behind it. I kept telling her she was in jail! So one night I was out with friends pulled up and swore I saw a white ass go flying up the stairs and thought naaaa she wouldn't be downstairs with the other two dogs or there would be blood someplace. How would she get through the gate? Was I seeing things? The gate was shut and she was at the top of the stairs with her pink stuffed pony in her mouth greeting me hello! I thought nothing of it. The next day I took Lucy for a walk just to come home and YEP there was Zero standing at the sliding glass doors all excited like look at me! I'm downstairs! Yep you guessed it this dog is smart, like really smart, she goes above and beyond normal dog thought patterns and will sit and stare at something to figure out a solution to the problem she is facing. I've previously seen her stare at her dog crate door because it would not close (yes she gets in her crate and closes the door behind her) due to something blocking the door.. she watched and looked and you could see her hamster wheels turning. She then grabbed a hold of what was blocking the door and pulled it with her teeth over to the side of her crate where then she could get into her crate and close the door! This dog is too smart for her own good!
This little thinking pattern of Zero has again given her the opportunity to prove to us that she is far more superior of a dog than anyone thought. She figured out that if she pressed her nose at the bottom of the gate it would make it swing and loosen the latch at the top. Are you kidding me right now! As I type right now my precious face little Houdini of a dog sleeps calmly and quietly behind me.. she is probably dreaming of how she is going to open that gate tomorrow and go downstairs. Much to the surprise she was found sitting on the couch this morning looking like OK my turn to go out.. yep just sitting there like an angel. Now if you tell her to stay and close the gate she will push it open, but will at least stay at the top of the stairs. She is very well trained and listens to her commands. How is it that a toddler can not get through those gates but Zero can? I sit here giggling to myself just thinking of her proud moments of accomplishments! She wiggles so fast her back legs barely stay on the ground. She is so proud of her act of escaping the upstairs.
Ahhh sigh... I just had to share my story of Zero the Houdini dog who can now open a baby gate! Let me mention she also closes it behind her after she goes through it, hence trapping herself on the stairs if the other gate is at the bottom. This being trapped on the stairs is not a pleasant thing at 5am when she stands on the top stair and sings her heart out to wake someone up to let her back through the gate! She hasn't quite figured out yet they she can push the gate in the opposite direction when she is stuck on the stairs! Ohh My Zero what would my life be without the love and affection I get from you, not to mention the pure entertainment your smarty pants antics give me!
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