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Alex's Mom
08-24-2006, 08:13 AM
Alex is driving me nuts (nutser??:rolleyes:). It's been 4 months since we moved into the new house, and she's been quite content to stay in the living room on the couch, sleeping when I go to work. She was afraid to go up the wooden steps, and wouldn't even try. Until about three weeks ago, when Joe, my handyguy, started using his circular saw...turns out she's more afraid of the saw than of the stairs. So the little dickens figured out that she could actually go upstairs and crawl into her safe area, which is my bed. This is a problem for a number of reasons....1) the stairs are slippery, and she has on a couple of occasions slipped part way up and landed in a heap at the bottom (no, I don't condone unauthorized stairage, but she's a fast and determined little bugger when she wants to be...up before I can grab her); 2) her back end is very weak and she's not supposed to do stairs at all!!! this relates to 1) since her little back leggies get discombobulated and she yet again lands in a heap at the foot of the stairs. 3) she's incontinent and if left for more than 3-4 hours without going out, invariably has an accident, which is why she doesn't get to stay in my bedroom when I go to work. So, as a good dachsie mom, I put up the babygate to stop her from climbing. Ha ha ha ha:rotfl: says Miss Alex......she's figured out how to pull the gate down...she gets her snout into the gap where the slidy bit is and pulls until it falls. :faint: For the last week I have tried a whole variety of combinations...gate + boards; gate+boards+2 40lb boxes of tile; gate+boards+big box in front of gate so she can't use her snout; all of the above +stools in front of stairs; all of the above+ chair in front of stools....no matter what I do, she's upstairs in bed when I get home. A week of having to wash sheets and pee pads, a week of worrying that I'm going to come home to find her in a twisted bloody heap at the bottom of the stairs. ARGH!!!:mad4: The obvious answer of course is a crate, but sadly my neurotic wonderbunny goes insane when crated...chews herself and the crate bloody. Lord knows I love my dog, but man!!! is she trying my patience!

Tex
08-24-2006, 08:21 AM
So sorry to hear that you little :angel7: is driving you bonkers!!!!! No great advice (I was going to say try a crate :scratch: , but you covered that). Sending big anit-stairs :bigrayz: :bigrayz: :bigrayz: and lots of :goodluck: !

HotDogMama
08-24-2006, 08:31 AM
Poor Alex, and mom!! :hug99: Would an x-pen be as bad as a crate as it is a little bigger? Sorry I don't have much advice.... but :goodluck:

catstamm
08-24-2006, 08:42 AM
Oh no, Paula!!!!! Poor Alex....How about no more circular saws at your place! Wow if she can get around 40lbs of tiles, she is determined....I'm at a loss for words. Hummm take her with you ?:scratch:

JanUet
08-24-2006, 12:08 PM
I can only suggest that you close all your bedroom doors so she can't get in. If she does make it up there, I suggest you place a pee pee pad in the hallway.

As for the stairs,
Does your stairs have rails on both sides or just a wall and a rail on one side?
I would try putting the boards thru the rail on one side and the other end butt up against the wall, with the heavy tiles holding the board in place on the side that does not face her.

Having a board instead of a gate, Alex will have nothing to grab onto to pull it down.

But, If your stairs have no rails and both sides are walls......I am stumped!

:goodluck:
Do you have a pic of the stairs? I may have to think on this one for a while!

Lisa
08-24-2006, 12:55 PM
I think I have an answer. I am guessing you live in a loft type bedroom with no door?

I know Alex has a log of issues, so I don't know if this will work. But you could try a Sofa Scram from Petsmart. Just but it either on the bottom stair or near before the stairs.

Otherwise for low tech, we just use an actual wood board through the staircase. I will take a picture when I get home. It's short, but they are afraid to jump it.

Alex's Mom
08-24-2006, 01:57 PM
Thanks for the suggestions, guys! That sofa scram thing might do the trick, cuz she scares easily...on the other hand, it might give her a heart attack! :rotfl: Sadly, we don't have Petsmart here, just Pets Unlimited, which I boycott cuz they sell live animals (in fact, there was a huge parvo outbreak in town last week, which was traced to PU...not surprising since it's documented that they buy from mills. Don't get me started...:mad2:). I did try the board idea (the stairs have a wall on one side, and railing on the other) but she just keeps working at it until it moves enough for her to get her beak in there and then she works until she's through. the problem with closing the upstairs doors (it's not a true loft, Lisa, but a story and a half) is that she'll scratch and chew on them....my father has teak doors in his house, and sadly, after the two years we lived there, my bedroom door had to be replaced. Do not thwart the Alex!!! :rolleyes: In a perfect world, I'd just take her to work with me...I have my own office, and no one in the section I work in would mind, but the university won't allow dogs on the premises. I used to take her in, but got into a big fight with the powers that be because someone complained because they had allergies. Now how they even knew Alex was in there is beyond me...she never utters a peep as long as I'm with her, just lies down and goes to sleep. But they did, and so that's no longer an option :sosad:. Joe is working here today, and he's said he's going to rig up some kind of slotted solid gate arrangement for me so that she can't work her way around it. So hopefully that'll do the trick. she's one of a kind, my little girl *sigh*:rolleyes:

Lisa
08-24-2006, 02:00 PM
Darn, I was at Petsmart last night too!! Let me talk to Rafi, if he doesn't mind we will shoot out there tonight and check it out. If they have one, I'll just send it to you.

Alex's Mom
08-24-2006, 02:37 PM
You are SO great, Lisa!!!!! :hearts: :hearts: Joe and I are working on a "stair slot system" this afternoon, so let's see if that works first. If not, then I will gladly take you up on your offer!! :hug99::hug99:

Patt
08-24-2006, 05:44 PM
Great suggestions!! :appl:
How long is the handman going to be running the saw? If it isn't too long you can get rubber backed sheets to put on top the of your bed. At least you won't have to wash all the bedding every day.

Sending :bigrayz: :bigrayz: you will get the problem solved very soon. :crossfin:

Alex's Mom
08-24-2006, 06:25 PM
Thanks for the rays!! Actually, the saw hasn't been run since!! But in true too-smart-for-their-own-good dachsie fashion, once she realized that she could get up the stairs, she saw no reason not to!! The mattress is covered with crib pads that a friend of mine who's a nurse in the local pediatric ICU gave me...heavy quilted cotton with a rubber backing. Sadly, Alex likes to burrow (big surprise!) so putting anything on top of the sheets, or even on the bottom sheet, just won't do it. However, I think the slotted stair system might do the trick...tomorrow is the test!!

Jen
08-24-2006, 07:18 PM
We have a zippered vinyl mattress encasing (bedbug worries at our old building)--you could try that under a mattress pad or two.

I second the indoor xpen idea.

Good luck!

lizzieb38
08-24-2006, 10:20 PM
Oohh Geeze, Paula!! My little niece is going nuts!!!:duh: :duh: :duh: I would have said it was the treats I sent her for CIJ, but I didn't end up sending them- ya you know why?? I hope you get the problem solved cuz I don't want my little HONEY gettin hurt. Give her big smoochies from us, and let her know that Auntie Lisa doesn't approve of her taking such big risks at her age!!!

:hearts: :hearts: :hearts: you girls!!!

Alex's Mom
08-26-2006, 08:29 AM
update...I am happy to report the the stair slot system has her stumped!!! :cheer2::cheer2::cheer2: for Joe the wonderhandyman!!! I now have one very frustrated, but safe, little dog!!:duh: (not to mention clean sheets! :rolleyes:) Thanks for all the advice and sympathy everyone!!

Patt
08-26-2006, 09:47 AM
:cheer2: :cheer2: :cheer2: for Joe!! :appl: