Your Dog Is Also An Escape Artist? Rules of Thumb

TEST: What is Joey thinking right now?

So your dog is another "Mr. Escape Artist".  And you want to know "How do I keep my dog in?" or "How do I keep my dog from getting out?"

The rules of thumb are:

1. Never assume that your dog will stay within the boundaries of your yard.
   
   
2. Never say "It's just for a moment."
   
   
3. Never assume that you are only opening the front door "just a little bit".
   
   
4. Never think that your dog loves you so much that he will not stray in order to follow the scent of that other love of his life, the dog that just so happens to be walking on the other side of the block right then.
   
   

5. Never assume that just because your dog is tightly tucked right at that moment inside your garage, whose door is wide open, he is going to remain there.
   
   
6. Never assume that just because YOU cannot see another dog nearby, that your dog cannot SMELL another dog nearby.
   
   
7. Even though your dog weights 80 lbs., never assume that he can't get through a rabbit hole.
   

Do you notice the number of times that the word "never" appears?

Which brings us to our next comment:

Make sure that your dog's name and your address and telephone number are clearly etched onto the dog tag

... and check the tag from time to time to make sure that the phone number and names are clearly legible to somebody who does not know your dog.

So while we have all these rules of thumb squared away (right?), at our next in this 2-part series let's look at a few other things we can do to keep your dog IN the yard and OUT of the street: