Houdini?!
We have always known that Liva is sort of. hmm. how shall I put this? Creative. Yes, I guess creative is the word that covers her actions the best.
It started at Dania Cup when she constantly let her self out of her soft crate. She didn't damage the crate, she simply figured how to work the zipper from the inside. Every time I left her in her crate, she would sit if front of the tent when I got back. fortunately her leash also was staked to the ground otherwise she would have been joining me on course. Good thing she hasn't figured out how to chew the leash -yet...
A couple of months ago my mom left the dogs home alone for a couple of hours. Quit exceptional as she usually bring the dogs everywhere. When she returned home both dogs (Liva and Bob) greeted her at gate. At first she thought she had made the mistake of leaving the garden door open, so when she left home afterwards she made sure the door was closed. Nevertheless both dogs were waiting for her at the gate when she came home.
The handle on my parents garden door, is one of those you have to push upwards to open the door. Genie is the only one of our dogs besides from Liva who figured how to open it. Genie opened drawers as well, so we expected Liva would come up with more tricks. It turns out that there's a pretty easy solution to the door problem - you merely have to remember to LOCK the door at the bottom. She hasn't figured out how to work a key yet!
We haven't caught Liva in action as she won't perform her tricks when someone is watching.
The solution to one problem unfortunately let to the evolution of another. One morning, when the dogs were out doing their doggybuissness in the garden, someone rang the bell at the front door. When my mom opened the door she was surprised to see a woman with a dog and Liva! She had been out walking her dog when Liva decided
to jump the fence that surrounds the garden to greet her dog. Ever since that day my mom has been collection Liva in the street repeatedly. We've been making sure there aren't any wholes in the fence. We even put up a taller fence, but Liva can still get out!
Just like the thing with the door she somehow manage to work her magic when no one is watching - although my mom has been keeping an eye on her.
Since Liva can jump 150 cm straight into the air without much of an effort, we all thought that she jumped the fence. Finally this week my mom caught her in action. She doesn't jump, she climbs! No wonder the extra high fence didn't work.
The fence is now moved so close to the hedge that it is impossible for her to climb it (or at least it should be...). She did try though, but got caught between the fence and the hedge. Hopefully this will keep her from any further dangerous outings.
I wonder what will be next? Maybe a name change be in order as Houdini would suit her better.
I have decided to compete with Liva this year. She still needs a bit of training, so I probably won't compete with her until the BCK class 1 trial in August. One thing is for sure; don't be fooled by Liva's small size!