My Border Collie, Abby is now 11 months old and has been crated in a very large cage whenever I go out. Recently we have decided that we are going to trust her and allow her the run of the kitchen and utility room. She's been fine and not chewed or destroyed anything however yesterday when I went out to do the shopping, I came back and saw her sitting at the front door (we have a glass panel that she can look out) I was sure I'd shut the kitchen door but just put it down to human error, however today I know that I definatly closed the kitchen door and alas when I came back in about an hour later - same again, there she was wagging her tail.  Somehow, she has learned to open the kitchen door and giver herself the run of the house. Luckily she has not destroyed anything. Any suggestions on how to keep her in the kitchen ? Does anybody elses dog open doors ? It really is not a problem keeping her outwith and giving her the run only the fact I'd have to change all the alarm settings. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Put a round knob on door in place of handle?

my sister had the same problem to stop it she took off the door handle and put it back on upside down. could be worth a try

use a baby gate?

I use a pet gate a bit taller than a baby gate and he cant get enough of a run up to jump over it that way...Max 

Two of our escapologist labs were able to open inward-opening doors with knobs :rolleyes:    We used a hook & eye system - at the top of the door - that was successful ;)

Margot

Make a bolt for it. The door that is. ;)

we did the same with our Afghans, the hook and eye system at the top of the door was good, we even had a bolt on one of the doors :rolleyes:

We have an escapologist too - one door has a dog-gate which stops him, another a hook and eye and another we put a very heavy bar stool in front of :D

Daisy

We have deadbolts on all the doors into the hall, so it would be easy to lock her in, but until we trusted her with the run of the downstairs a month ago, we used the tall Lindam gate - the kitchen door is usefully situated opposite the study door so she could watch for us coming back.
She's been very good so far though since we let her be loose when we go out for a while.

We use a baby gate, I believe they are also in taller sizes. This lets the dog look without barking, scratching and wondering whats happening on the other side of a closed door.

It's only a personal observation but I've always founds dogs much keener to escape when they have a view of the delights they are excluded from. Thus making them much more likely to scale a baby gate rather than simply putting up with the fact that the door is shut and they'll be in confinement until it is opened again.

Think it can work either way - some react as you say, others are content when they can see what's going on but find a solid barrier hard to "put up with".

Hi

Its great that Abbey is not destroying stuff and waiting patiently for you to return home for obvious praise for good behaviour.  That is the key thing... Praise.  In my view if you give lots of praise for good behaviour dogs will continue to do the same thing in order to get your attention and praise.  A happy owner has a happy pet kind of thing.  If keeping Abbey in the kitchen is an issue for you which I understand is because of the alarms, then perhaps put a baby gate accross the door so that she cannot bounce against the door and open it or if she is opening it another way she wont be able to get through... Remember if you do this and she stays in the kitchen dont forget to praise her lots... She will get the message eventually.

I hope this helps.

I have an alarm with PIR's that dont detect pets - could the company you use change the PIR's then she couldnt set them off...

Thanks everyone for your suggestions ! This morning I had a meeting to go to and I put Abby in the kitchen and set the alarm and by the time I got to the front door she had made it out.  I actually had not realised that it took her no time at all in opening the door.  Believe it or not I am still amazed. The cheeky little thing then brought her denti stick out to the window and sat quite contently looking out.  When I came back - she was fine and took her to the park to throw the ball (her fav place for treat after her training times) I am going to contact the alarm company and check re pir setting for pets, failing that I thought I'd just disable the alarm in the hallway and leave her there, shutting the door to the kitchen so if I do go out she can look out all day which will keep her amused. Re the baby gate - we tried that when she was a puppy form our utility room into the kitchen and unfortunatly she also unbelievably managed to climb up and get out.  One day I found her sitting on the work top playing tap on / tap off with the utility room sink.  We were at our wits end when she was a puppy until we bought the biggest crate out for her. To be honest she has never been happy going into the cage but for us it was piece of mind.  Do you think I should continue to trust her ?

If you can keep the house secure with the alarm, and she wont be able to open the front door I would give it a try. But I dont know much about dogs and the stages they go through might she become destructive or is it a given that if she isnt by now she wont be?  Can she get out into the garden if she is left in the kitchen or is it that if she's in she's there till she gets back?

>Do you think I should continue to trust her ?<

Why not? :) She's been good as gold so far,why not reward her good behaviour by leaving her where she wants to be.Looking out the window is so much more exciting and stimulating than sitting in a kitchen ;) Being a border collie,wouldnt it drive them literally nuts sitting in a cage or in a room with no stimulation for any extended period of time?

I can only speak from personal experience,but as soon as my dogs are housetrained they get free run of the house(around 3-4mths old),whether i'm there or not,none of them have ever destroyed one single thing.Ofcourse they get loads of walks and exercise everyday and are left with interactive toys whenever i leave the house,so they are either to pooped or to busy to think about getting up to no good.

Thanks for being honest - I think I just wanted someone to say what I was thinking.  Abby has been so so so good and yes I do trust her and even though I only leave her for small periods of time, I know she does not like the cage.  I have made an executive decision and am going to leave her where she wants to be. I do trust her and reward her for being good.  It would make me feel better as I live for my dog and want her to be happy too. Thanks for all your good advice ! I will let u know in due course how we get on.