in which we discover kai is houdini

A new fence, eh? Not so fast!

One minute the dogs are on their side of the fence, barking at a woman walking her dog past the house. The next minute, Kai is playing with the dog, on the street.

Of course Kai completely ignored our calls. Her training is going really well, but it would be too much expect her to come back in these circumstances -- training too new, distraction too interesting. So we have to run in the back door, grab her leash, and run out the front door. By the time we got outside, some of the excitement had worn off, and she came running back.

We called out apologies and explanation ("We didn't know she could do that!"). The woman had very kindly stopped walking so Kai didn't follow her home.

How did she do it? Over or under? We weren't completely sure.

In one area, the wooden fence -- the original fence already around some of the yard -- doesn't completely reach the ground. The ground is depressed, likely where there were once shrubs or plantings, leaving a gap of about six inches. We made plans to chicken-wire the gap.

This morning, I'm having my first cup of coffee while Kai zooms around the yard. A neighbour walks out with her dog, and before I can even think, Kai shoots under the fence and runs at them like a bullet. This person was afraid, which I totally understand! She called out, "Is she nice?" I yelled, "She's super friendly!" I also yelled, "Kai, come!" but she ignored me.

Ran in the backdoor, grabbed the leash, ran out the front door. By this time Kai may have been wondering where I was. I yelled, "Kai, come!" and she turned and ran towards me at full speed. Training is paying off.

(If this ever happens to you, do not yell at or reprimand your dog when you get her back. That teaches her if she comes back, she gets yelled at -- so you are training her not to come back.)

And now for that chicken wire. She can't be loose in the yard until that gap is closed.

So far she does not seem to be a jumper. So we think if we plug the gap on the bottom of the fence, we can contain her. But if she wanted to jump over the fence, she easily could.