Emma came into my life when she was a puppy and her owner was leaving Valdez, AK. She joined my little family at the time- two large dogs, Kenzie and Vixen, and one cat, Hou. She became our "little" dog, as her 80# were much less than Kenzie and Vixen who were each about 2x her weight. Though despite this weight difference, she was the top dog of our little troupe.
Since she was a pup, Emma has had a definite talent for wiggling out of any collar or harness, no matter how tight. In our last house, her escapes were focused on the fenced-in back yard. Her ability to wiggle through the smallest of spaces is truly incredible.
Recently Emma has upped her game. In the past year, my morning routine before work included shutting all bedroom doors, turning up all our sofa's cushions, picking up all throw blankets and pillows, and making sure the stove is cleared of all pots and pans...all necessary precautions as Emma knows beds and sofas are quite comfortable to lie on and any pans left on the stove are a tempting treat. (On two occasions, Mike has come home for lunch and found the stovetop on...obviously by Emma as the thoroughly licked pans were evidence of her presence there.)
Then a few months ago in mid July, Emma discovered she could open our arctic entry way door (round knob!). She obviously was quite determined as seen by the claw marks on the metal door and door knob. She has since mastered opening the sliding door to the back porch and kitchen window (above the kitchen counter) which has helped her escape outdoors while we're at work. In response to her devious escapes, I've begun locking the back door. Yesterday, Emma slept on all the sofas leaving plenty of back hair behind as well as 2 messes on the floor (I'll let you guess what she left :((( And then today, she decided the sofas weren't comfortable enough. So she opened Cece's bedroom door, turned on the lights and slept comfortably in her bed all day long. Sigh -R
