I have a climber!
 

Well, my 4 1/2 month old puppy Chewy is such a dollbaby when he is around us and he does good inhis crate at night. I am trying to leave him in a smaller size xpen during the day. Well we have figured out that he is a climber! He is always escaping. I dont want to leave him crated all day and night because I think it is too much. I have found a nylon crate cover that can be strapped over the top of the xpen. has anyone ever used this and what was your results?? I had thought about buying one of those soft nylon xpens that has a zippable top, but am afraid that he would chew a hole thru it. I have let him in the bathroom the past couple of days while we were at work. But this is really a pain because we have to take everything out of there so he doesnt chew on anything. I do have another xpen that is 4 feet high, but am afraid that if he climbs it he will fall out and break his little neck! :eek: Any auggestions??

I too have a climber. I tried the nylon expen & he chewed through it. Poor baby was so traumatized & wet from saliva when I got home that I felt horrible :(

I ended up keeping him in the kitchen & purchased an extra tall gate that has horizontal bars so that he wouldn't be able to get enough traction to climb up. Unfortunately, my crazy puppy figured out the perfect distance to run & jump to a height on the gate that he would be able to climb over. I now leave his toy box in front of the gate so that he won't be able to run & jump to get over. I leave a sticky yoga mat under the plastic toy box so that he can't move the box. He's moved the box before. Fortunately, the toy box (a plastic under the bed storage box without a cover) is the exact length of the door opening where the gate is. So far, he hasn't been able to get out with that set up. But I'm pretty sure he'll learn how to bypass the toy box one of these days.

If I know that I'll be gone longer than 2 hours, I put 2 dining room chairs against the other side of the gate - with the chair backs facing the gate. That way, even if he manages to bypass the toy box & jump and climb to the actual gate, he won't be able to get over the gate because the chair backs are in the way. I also put a 20 pound dumbbell on each chair so that he can't move the chairs.

Now that I've actually written this down, I can't believe that I go through all this trouble!!? But I have 2 puppies & they fight sometimes. So I'm still afraid to leave them alone together when I'm away for over an hour.

I'm going to keep watching this post. I would love to be able to find an easier alternative :confused:

Right when I got to this part that was exactly what I was thinking! Sounds like an impenetrable fortress to me! :thumbup:

The only suggestion I can give if you want to try the ex pen cover. Try it when you are home. Them you can make sure he is safe and if it will work or not. And if you get it from Petsmart ,If they have it, they take everything back. if not then you are just going to have to keep him barricaded in the bathroom. And for now put everything that you don't want him to get at in a plastic bin. It is easy to move. Good luck

ZoE was a climber too! Thankfully, she potty trained very quickly (& didn't chew my stuff) so I was able to leave her with free run at a fairly young age.

I have a friend that has chihuahuas that are crazy climbers. She uses a extra-large (like Great Dane size....) crate as a playpen for her dogs. It's big enough for potty pads at one end & a bed/play area & food at the other.

I do have an extra xpen that is over 4ft high, that I have thought about using instead. But, I am really scared that if he trys to climb that one, that if he may fall and break his little neck. Going to get a crate cover today and try that out.