No Gates as a Good Thing

Moree was not an escape artist. I’ve watched dogs climb the corner of chain link fences to get out, and that was not Moree. But he was an escape opportunist- meaning whenever the opportunity presented itself, off he would go.

And he knew when he had escaped versus when we let him go. He knew. At the dog park, he would come when called. If we sat down for a break, he’d walk over for a quick pet and maybe a treat. But if he escaped, no way was he getting within 5 feet of us, and forget being under voice command.

The first dog park we went to in the Seattle area had gates, lots of gates. There were baseball fields that couldn’t be accessed without going through the dog park. Even if Moree never saw one of those gates open, he knew what they were. And he would stop and investigate each and every one, looking for an escape opportunity.

Still, when we moved and switched dog parks to a place with no gates, I was concerned. It turned out to be perfect. You see, with no gate to squeeze through, Moree could not escape, at least not in his little doggie brain.

Any time he would start heading out of the park, all we had to do was call his name and turn around and start walking the other direction. Because his little escape mechanism never kicked in, he remained a perfect dog park dog, and would come running.

This isn’t an ideal situation for every dog. In fact, when we first took June to the dog park, she tried to leave with another family, going so far as to hop into their SUV, because there was no gate to stop her from leaving the off leash area. But for Moree, it was perfect. He got to run as much as his little legs could stand, and I got to be assured that he would still come when called.