For the past few days, Ayla has been breaking out of the backyard and going to visit the neighbors. I wasn’t quite sure how she was accomplishing it but I thought she was jumping over the small fence by the back door. But I was rather surprised that I never heard or saw her do this since I usually sit about 10 feet from the back door and can see at least part of the back fence from here. But today I actually caught her in the act so now I know.
I haven’t let Ayla out in the yard for more than 5 minutes at a time today and then she was being watched very closely. And she only gets to go outside about half as often as usual since she was usually just out there digging holes or watching people or whatever. All of these things are fine, of course, as long as that is what she is doing and not trying to make a break for it. I also took her for an extra walk around noon today just so she could get some fresh air, do any business she needed to do and play a bit in the fields. When she came back from that excursion, she was very worn out.
Just a few minutes ago, I let her out because I thought she might need to pee since she’d been napping for a while. I stood by the backdoor, only half watching her because she’s just been so good today that I started to trust her a little. Obviously that was a dumb idea. Not two minutes after she’d walked out there, I look around the yard and don’t see her. So I glance around the corner where our makeshift fence is and she’s on the other side of it. So I go inside, grab her leash and walk around from the front of the house to meet her in the backyard. The second she sees me, she dashes under the fencing and back into her part of the yard.
She got to spend about 15 minutes in time out after that. I don’t know if that is exactly how I should have dealt with her but she clearly knew she was caught in the act and not supposed to be over in that part of the yard so I feel like she can probably understand why she was put in time out and why so many of her privileges have been revoked lately. Or maybe I give her more credit than I should 🙂
Hopefully we can do something about the fencing this weekend which will keep her in the yard for at least a bit longer. Since we’re moving in a few months we’re not willing to make a huge investment but allowing her to run around the neighborhood is not an option either. She’s just too smart for her own good lol.
