I feel bad sometimes, that I took my dogs away from their big, fenced backyard at home in New Jersey. Here in Oregon, we have a lovely apartment, and the complex has lots of walking paths for us to explore. But I no longer have the luxury of opening the back door and letting the dogs out to romp and sniff and play in the yard.
It takes some getting used to. I was definitely spoiled; Lally and I could play ball while Moose watched the neighborhood kids play and nobody had to worry about leashes. Now, unless we go to a dog park, we’re stuck on opposite ends of the retractor leash.
I’ve been trying to figure out a good way to create (at least temporarily) a fenced-off space so the dogs and I can spend some time outside and off-leash without taking a drive. My apartment has a patio with a grassy, landscaped area behind it, and I’ve been looking into some creative solutions.
Portable show pens are one possibility, though I wonder if my dogs might be too big for them. I’ve seen small and medium sized dogs spending time in portable pens, but I can’t remember seeing any dogs Moose’s size. Basically, with a portable show pen, you’ve got a series of coated wire panels that link together to form a small play area.
My favorite solution so far is to use extendable baby and/or pet gates to close off the patio. Moose and Lally and I could at least sit on the patio without the dogs having to be leashed — and without me having to worry about hanging onto the leashes! I’ve seen gates that are wide enough for double doorways, but I have yet to find a gate that will close off my whole patio — the length of a sliding glass door and then some.
A third solution, which is probably my least favorite (because I worry about Moose slipping his collar and taking off), is to use a stake and tie-out. There’s plenty of ground where I could anchor the stake, but the idea comes with a lot of worries. What if the stake comes out? What if the tie-out gets tangled in the shrubbery and trees? What if the dogs get tangled together?
For me, the hunt for an extendable baby/pet gate continues. I’m determined to give my dogs outside time at home without being on the leash all the time!