Houdini Dogs...Now You See Them, Now You Don't!

(originally written 1-10-2008)


Perhaps you have heard the term "Houdini dogs" used in connection with Siberian Huskies. If you have a Husky or know somebody who has a Husky, then you know first-hand what this means. It is quite possible to place a Sibe in a locked safe, only to return moments later to find that the dog has disappeared and is half way to Alaska.

Think I'm exaggerating? Let me relay a little story to you about Dougal and Maia.

Huskies are sneaky critters. NEVER, I repeat, NEVER become too complacent, thinking that your facilities are secure and that your canine friend has absolutely no way to get out. He or she will surprise you. I guarantee you.

You see, we have an 8-foot privacy fence surrounding our back yard. At the gate, we have an additional chain-link gate. Yes, that is TWO gates. We have the electrical wiring running the length of the fence, keeping the dogs from digging around the bottom. We thought we had all of our bases covered. A long time had passed. Our dogs were not going anywhere without us. Heck, they never even tried to get out, so we had nothing to worry about, right?

WRONG. Just prior to Christmas, these two canine Macgyvers found a way out. They had pulled the vent covers off the crawl space area in the back yard, went through the crawl space under the house, then pushed to vent covers off at the front of the house, and then they were FREE! I became aware when I looked out back and saw their puppy, Natasha, by herself, then heard a commotion out front. I walked out on the front porch to find that the two of them were standing at the foot of a tree looking up...at one of my cats. Dougal and Maia were having a ball. Ariel, my favorite kitty, was not so amused.

I spent around 30 minutes rounding up the escapees. Dougal is fairly laid back...as far as Huskies go, so he was pretty easy to capture. Maia, on the other hand, is the poster canine for Ritalin. She would run toward me, and just when I thought I had her, she would dodge away at the last minute. It was great fun for her, but as I was in shorts, a t-shirt, and Birkenstocks without socks, I reached a point where my feet were numb from the cold, and I was starting to adopt Ariel's "not so amused" attitude. After a while, I finally managed to capture her.

Dougal and Maia spent the remainder of the day in Alcatraz, aka their kennels. I think I heard the theme song for "Cops" playing in the background. This is not as harsh as it sounds. I mean, they have covered kennels with insulated dog houses, complete with fresh food and water, and they even have toys. You would think I had confined them to Dante's lowest level of Hell based on the initial howling I heard from them.

We did some temporary patching of the vents, but we kept a closer vigil after that. And we have learned something. Never underestimate a Siberian Husky!