Dam it, i go out for a couple of hours and come back to find Blue has cleared the gate that separates the kitchen from the frontroom, he didnt do any damage to himself or any furniture, by chewing it which is why his shut in the kitchen/conservatory while were out. So im relieved by that, cant believe how he managed it, its quite tall aswell, around 32" from the floor! Little bugger!! Should i higher it?? Im just a bit concerned about him jumping over and hurting himself or getting stuck! Any ideas?? Another reason we put the gate there is so his not actually shut out by the door, he can hear the t.v and see our other dog - probably why he jumped the gate! Also he chewed all the wood panels on the door and we had to sand and fill it all in! So we thought the gate would be a good idea! Seems Mr Blue Boy has outsmarted me! lol!

My 15 week old Dobe pup first cleared a baby gate between the conservatory and living room, and like you I thought God, her poor joints. So instead of the baby gate I closed the bottom half of the stable door (higher than the baby gate, but obviously solid) and stupidly thought that would solve the problem. Much to my amazment I returned from a walk with the other dogs to discover her in the living room. Then later when feeding the others she suddenly appeared, again having cleared the door. I put her back and watched her to see how she was doing it. She got on a chair, which was about 4 feet from the door, and literally threw herself at the door, hung on the top and scrabbled over the top. The chair has now been removed and I hope no damage has occured.

I do plan to do agility with her when she is older - I guess she will be quite good judging by these antics!

I keep finding my 9m old beardie pup on the other side of the stair gate !

LOL Blimey! Shes definately the dog for you then huh?! Bet she will be fab at Agility! Maybe i should consider doing the same with Blue! I think he must of thought "sod it" took a run up and went for it! Honestly couldnt believe he`d done it though, opened the front door and was greeted by 2 very excited doggies! Obviously one day when he can be trusted he can have the run of the house, but until then im wondering if i higher the gate if he will not notice its higher, go to jump and hurt himself, wouldnt want that at all! Dont like the idea of him jumping it anyway!

I would heighten it blues mum, once they start they will do it again and they can really do some harm to themselves, if it were me I would have a full barred door on or no door, they can really  go high once they start and if their back legs catch it they can end up falling side face on - neck, everything at risk.

my puppy did exactly the same! seems to be a trait among puppies these days! we had a guard between the hall and the kitchen (as ted sleeps in the kitchen) and also tried making the gate higher but he kept trying to jump it and pulled his leg so we took it down completly. he also jumped the gate on the stairs which could have been very dangerous. so we took both gates down and he's been as good as gold! i think it was just that he couldn't get to us and being a puppy that made him insecure. i agree with info request, decide if you definatly want to keep the gate or not and stick with what you decide!

Yeah, because im not happy about him jumping it and if his going to just leap over it whats the point anyway? The door we have in its place is a wooden panelled door and when shut Blue chews and splinters all the wood which im not happy about either so now im not sure whether we should just let him have the run of the house? His toilet trained now so ive no worry of him peeing anywhere, its just my mums not long bought new furniture and his already had a nibble, dont know if his trustworthy enough yet. We dont leave him all the time, about once a week his left on his own for no longer than 3 hours! If that!

Hi

When my first Shar Pei was a pup we used baby gates to stop him from going up the stairs.  It took him about 6 weeks and he managed to unscrew the bits that connect the gates to the walls and hoist the gate up so he could get under it.  He is a clever little monkey.  In the end we had to put things in front of the gate to stop him unscrewing it.  We eventually decided as out hallway looked such a mess to have a guard made.  Its like half a stable door but a bit higher and permantely fixed to the wall.  I got the idea from watching the Osbournes on TV and they had lots of half doors to keep all the dogs in one place or another.

Thats a good idea! Thing is though were moving! I did actually think about buying another gate and putting it on top of the existing one! lol

You might find this hard to believe but my Beardie boy scaled  a wrought iron gate which is easily over 7 feet to the top and squeezed through a gap of about 12 inches above.  I dont know how he did it one minute he was behind the gate the next in front.  He was staying with Una at the time and was desperate to get to her away from the girls (Beardies) who were putting him in his place .  He regulary scales 12 foot vertical banks as well.  Yes he loves agility but he tends to do the course three or four times in both directions before we have even started.  The only way to contain him is behind closed doors.  He doesnt chew, he did but we were told to cover vunerable areas with Tobasco sauce.  That stopped him.

I though you had one of those metal bar gates blue, its never a good idea to get new couches etc with a new young dog.

Tobasco sauce?? What be that then? Weve tried the spray stuff that you buy in pet shops, but that didnt bother him 1 bit! Just licked it off and chewed anyway!

It is, its a baby gate, she bought a new tv unit, side unit etc. Long before we got Blue, their not brand new but new if you know what i mean, and its not my house its my mums.

Beardies are brilliant at jumping its thier favorite pastime!!! I know of someone who has beardies she also has kennels and when they are in them they scales it all 8ft ! .....so she had to put  a roof on

If it were me, I'd put safety above happiness and would simply shut the door, and put a radio in the kitchen with him. 

I also wonder if having a gate shut but being able to see your other dog would seem more like a punishment than a comfort... not sure.

Yeah maybe, thats the thing though, i dont want him eating bits of wood, not just because of damaging the door, of what it might do to him inside :(

Have you thought of using a crate? Be careful of his joints with him going over gates - it could really damage him if he lands with a thud at this stage. Good luck - I remember the destructive stage with Willis - he ate my conservatory (wooden), walls, doors... etc etc and I was in at the time!

He is probably banking the gate to get over it.  Try and put something that rolls when touched along the horizontal bar at the top.

Top of my head, plumbers piping or even a kitchen roll inner. Sticky tape might even do it.  Anything he won't like putting his paws on.

Tobasco Sauce, its a food flavouring - mexican I think.  He cant even stand the smell of it let alone the taste.

Thanks for your help guys! :)

Apart from jumping gates, how is he getting on?
We thought about putting a gate on the stairs, but she has no interest in going upstairs, she looks up and then jumps back into the lounge, she hasn't chewed anything either. Guess I am lucky.

Dont speak too soon Sarah! lol His fine, getting massive!! Even the breeder said his going to be huge and that his bigger than the others in the litter! Hows your girl? :)
We have a gate at the bottom of our stairs also, but that is higher as its on a step already, kind of goes round the corner. Dogs arnt allowed upstairs, dont worry about them going up, its going back down that im a bit funny about.

She is 5 months old on thursday and weighs 25 kilo, think she will be pretty big too. She is very naughty, but lover her to bits, especially when she is asleep :) I didn't realise how much hard work goes into raising a puppy and on several occasions wanted to give her a slap, but I obviously would never hit her, but sometimes she is so fraustrating. She loves biting my leg, arms and chin, luckily, its not too hard and think its a sign that she wants to play more.
Isn't it hard, when they want to play all the time and bounce over the house, but you know its time for their nap to rest their growing bones. I also love the way puppies run, they are so sweet.

Our staffie is scared of her and goes an hides in the bathroom and closes the door behind him, the cats are still very wary. I guess this will take a little longer than anticipated.

We are moving next week (hopefully) and she will have 160ft garden to play in and hide all her bones, just hope she remembers where she has burried them.

All except my youngest clear the baby gate.  The young one just has never tried, and the 13 1/2 year old no longer cares to.  For this reason I won't get one of the taller gates as I do worry about them still trying to jump that and hurting themselves.  I don't really mind them clearing it as it was put theres to stop the pups getting over but by the time they learnt to jump it they didn't need shutting out any more.

My dog was always jumping the baby gate so we bought a dog gate which is so much better, he doesnt even attemp to jump it because of its height.

Hi Sandie, how high is it?

Sarah, to be honest, id choose a pup over a 2 year old anyday! lol Blues actually been a piece of cake! Appart from the chewing and jumping over the gate, ive no complaints whatsoever, his been fantastic and really easy to train! Maybe i have a one off! Im sure the next one wont be so easy! :D But yeah they are just the best, so cute and clumsy! lol