We are giving the term, “Gated Community” a new meaning in the Lewis household.
Chewy.com
After my friend, Cathy, told us about this ingenious gate that keeps doggies in and allows people to walk through, we got one and installed it in the doorway between our living room and the back porch. This has worked wonderfully for us, allowing us to go in and out freely without falling on our heads. The back porch has been Amber’s area, with a box of toys, water dish, food dish, crate, etc. since we brought her into our family mid May.
We soon bought another gate that we installed in the office doorway so that we could keep her in here with us while we worked on our computers. She loves being with us, so she’s very happy with this arrangement. (One interesting thing, if we don’t click the top shut, she uses her nose to flip it up and open the gate now.)
We’re having a cold front move through overnight, taking the low down to 45. Since our temperatures will only continue to cool between now and winter, we decided that now was the time to allow her to stay inside when she sleeps. We have a huge dog bed in the utility area on which Molly and our pit, Bambi, slept. Now it’s just Molly, so today we moved Amber’s crate into the utility area and moved the walk-through gate from the doorway on the back porch to the doorway to the utility area.
Molly and Amber have been doing much better lately – even playing some! – so we’re hopeful this move will be an uneventful one. We’re mainly moving the crate as a comfort thing, just in case Amber wants to actually use it. We have been leaving the door open on her crate at night for quite a while now. She gets into it, gets a cookie, and we go inside. We aren’t really sure if she sleeps in there. If she does, she can continue to do it as long as she wants. If she doesn’t, we’ll move the plush liner we put in the crate to on top of the huge dog bed as a transition. Maybe we can remove the crate, fold it up, and store it at some point.
Since Amber gave us yet another lesson last night on the fact that she isn’t to be trusted (particularly since her owners are too doofus to pay attention) sneaking into the kitchen and managing to steal my just baked, cooling low carb loaf of bread from the very back of the stove and into the living room on her bed without my husband being aware – we’ve just ordered a THIRD walk-through gate. We’ll install it in the doorway between the living room and the dining/kitchen/pantry area so she can’t sneak out and ravage our food.
Labrador Retrievers are said to still be ‘puppies’ until they’re at least 2 years old. Amber is 7 months old now. She has made more progress than her owners on adapting to her new situation and learning to take advantage of any opportunities for chewing, digging, fun or food. It’s a really good thing she’s so lovable, companionable, and cute.
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