I wish Ross hadn't figured out how to open the doors, now 8 out of the 9 can do it .. Nico never needs to as his best mate Jezi does it for him! It's quite funny really she opens the door and hangs back, he runs in first, so if anyone gets shouted at it's him not her. I've never seen him try really, maybe he would if she wasn't always there to do it for him?
What could be dangerous here is that Jezi and Ross also succeed in opening doors between rooms. These are different handles, the old fashion cottage type handles which are much higher up the doors. Luckily for us, though Jezi opens the door it opens towards her and catches slightly giving us time to close it again. If it opened outwards she'd just shove her way through into disaster. Ross is opening the door from the middle room into the utility room, he catches the clip and pushes the door .. bingo he's in. So far it's hit and miss but with continued success he'll perfect it.
I remember Blade going to stay with Gaynor because we had bitches in season and he was very stressed here. She had round wooden door knobs between rooms, not something he had ever come across, but my god he figured it out. He was only there over night, even though he loved his "Auntie Simpleton" (don't ask!) he was in a worst state being away from home. I felt so guilty, all her door knobs had teeth marks and spit all over them!
All we can do is continue to lock the outside doors when there is any danger of the 2 groups colliding, or of course if there is a bitch in season. It is routine here as we've had dogs opening doors for 25+ years. It usually works well, but human error is always a risk .. I suppose you shouldn't get yourself a clever breed if you're not willing to think things through and sometimes have to outwit them.
Kaiah's behaviour had been getting out of hand and I started to feel quite a resentment towards her. I guess because of her sweet confident nature she had been getting away with too much for too long. But some recent changes to her routine do seem to have improved the situation. It's not going to be an instant fix but I'm willing to do the work and hope that bringing her down a peg or two will improve relationships within the pack. Her treatment of Sammi had got totally out of hand, separating them on daily walks was easy, but maybe that was avoidance rather than dealing with the problem? When Kaiah started treating Ross and Loki in the same way I knew I had to fix the problem or she would end up an unacceptable pack member. So far just some basic rules seem to be helping and I feel maybe she's starting to show some respect towards me. I've always said Kaiah gives the impression that life is one big joke .. but sometimes things have to be taken seriously.
Sammi and Ziva seem to have rekindled their bond, which is lovely to see. All it took was one special toy and now there is a great relationship between them on the walks. If Sammi has gone out with the others then Ziva follows her own mother, Asha, though Asha is not really that interested. Asha loves Loki and always has done, and of course she has the sweetest relationship with her own mother, Tali.
