I have these gates at the bottom of the stairs and in the hallway leading to the front part of the house and my little "wild woman" Maggie May has figure out how to get past them!!! :eek::eek: She has always found some way to get thru gates at the most narrowest points. I've always said that she has a small head- when we first got her at 11 weeks old, she was able to get thru the center of an expanded wooden gate...I couldn't for the life of me figure out how she got thru. Her lastest things are getting out of her pen and thru 2 of these gates and going upstairs.

We've always had gates, but the one we have wouldn't do when we get a Yorkie, it could get through the bars, we will have to sort something else out.
In our past houses, we've had stable type doors(they look like normal doors), so that we could just open the top section to take parcels etc. It also meant we could leave it open to let a breeze in and not worry. When home alone, I felt safer with this type of door.
In our first home, we had a doggie room, where they slept and where we put them when we had lots of visitors (especially when there were lots of children and we couldn't watch, every move they made) My husband, converted that door to a stable door, which meant the dogs could get a breeze, see the guests, be talked too, but not touched. He made the bottom section a bit taller than usual. It had a low lock on the inside, which an adult could reach, but not a child.
All the dogs, would sit stay, when the door opened, but I liked the added protection.

Mine are trained to sit & stay, they also know the hand sign but Momo ran out once when we 1st moved in. I followed him to see where he would go & he ended up in the elevator room...nowhere to go loll. So I ended up putting up an ex-pen gate, works like a stand free gate. Attachment 374488 The right side is our restroom so a regular gate wouldn't work for us. This seems to be the best option, so I ordered a small pet gate that's only 15" high. It will be so much easier to walk over the barrier than to swing one part open.

Princess has a really small head too & she can squeeze through a child gate. I was looking for her everywhere & finally saw her peeking through the gates from the other side! widdle monkey:p

That delivery guy is an imbecile! grrrrr

This story reminds me of Turbo's little adventure. When I left Turbo & Princess w/my aunt, he got out the front door. My uncle went after him & he said Turbo just took off running (TG it's a quiet residential street). While my uncle was running after him, he said all he could think about was how upset I would be. Finally, after running about 2 blocks, Turbo suddenly stopped. I guess he realized that he was alone. Once they got back, my uncle gated off the foyer entrance w/the ex-pen I gave them. My aunt thinks he took off looking for me.:(

We currently live in a high-rise, so there isn't really anywhere for Rory and Lane to run unless they can push the elevator buttons, though I do make them sit and wait at the door. That being said, I always swore when we finally settled in a house I'd have one of these swing gates put outside the front door: Safety Gates for Home or Business - Gatekeepers, DeForest, WI. I saw another yorkie friend with one of these, and I thought it was such a great idea! You can still open your front door as normal, but they can't get out the swing gate unless you open it. :)

We have baby gates and use a kennel.

Since baby Marek got here my dogs have become defensive of people comming in so they get kenneled in the living room guest come in once they see all is well and are calm they join us.

Ooooh! Those are nice gates. Thanks! I have a white one but would like something more sophisticated for my new house. Yay! :D