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Moose vs. the Patio Door

My dog Moose learned a new trick this week… one nobody taught him.

I’ll start by saying that Moose doesn’t seem to be the smartest dog out there. When I first adopted him in January 2004, he was a handful. He didn’t answer to his name, he didn’t really know any commands, and he had very few boundaries. But over the years together, I’ve learned that Moose can be very clever when he wants to be.

I already knew he could open doors — on more than one occasion, he’s managed to push the handle down on the bathroom door when I’m giving my other dog, Lally, a bath.

Recently, he figured out how to deal with sliding doors. My apartment has a sliding glass door and a sliding screen door that lead out to the (enclosed) patio. We usually leave the sliding glass door cracked open for the breeze, with the screen closed to keep the bugs out.

I came home from my part time job at the cats-only boarding facility and found the sliding glass door wide open and the screen door hanging off the track. Crazy! But I had a brown, fuzzy suspect in mind… and his name rhymes with Goose. My roommate and I put the door back on the track, but not five minutes later I hear another CRASH. Sure enough, the sliding glass door was flung wide open and the screen was off the hinges again. We went through the routine a third time before finally closing and locking the sliding glass door.

It’s happened twice more since Moose figured out his new “trick” — and he always looks so proud to be out on the patio all by himself. We had to get a sliding door stopper so the Moose Monster would stop opening the door and letting himself out! Ah, my clever dog… how boring life would be without you learning how to open doors.

Have your pets figured out any tricks that make you laugh and sigh at the same time? I suppose I should be glad he’s taking the whole door down and not busting through the screen…