I can't believe I'm even asking, but here goes: is it possible for a dog learn how to undo the snap on a lead and take it off his collar?
Of course, Voodoo is the reason why I'm asking. Our backyard only has a 3-foot fence, so we use a tie-out as well. The tie-out gives them access to about half the yard. The tie-out is mainly for Zeus, since Voodoo has a good recall and is very respectful of boundaries. However, we put the tie-out on Voodoo whenever we're not directly supervising him, just in case.
There have been multiple (at least 5) incidents of Voodoo becoming unhooked from the tie-out. It's only Voodoo, never Zeus. We've never seen how it happens. We put Voodoo on the tie-out, turn our backs for a bit, and suddenly Voodoo is off the tie-out and sniffing something interesting on the other side of the yard.
We blamed mechanical failure. We thought that maybe the catch wasn't closing properly, or maybe Voodoo's collar d-ring is spaced in such a way that the snap doesn't grip well. We've replaced leads and collars both, and it still happens.
It suddenly occurred to me today that it only happens when Voodoo is trying to check out something interesting in the yard that is out of reach of the tie-out. That's when I got the crazy idea that Voodoo might somehow be unfastening himself. But how could a dog even physically do that?? Scratching at the clasp?
For now, we're changing out the tie-out clasp to one of those quick-connect chain link connectors. That should fix it. But I still wonder if it's possible that Voodoo was somehow unhooking himself.
Of course, Voodoo is the reason why I'm asking. Our backyard only has a 3-foot fence, so we use a tie-out as well. The tie-out gives them access to about half the yard. The tie-out is mainly for Zeus, since Voodoo has a good recall and is very respectful of boundaries. However, we put the tie-out on Voodoo whenever we're not directly supervising him, just in case.
There have been multiple (at least 5) incidents of Voodoo becoming unhooked from the tie-out. It's only Voodoo, never Zeus. We've never seen how it happens. We put Voodoo on the tie-out, turn our backs for a bit, and suddenly Voodoo is off the tie-out and sniffing something interesting on the other side of the yard.
We blamed mechanical failure. We thought that maybe the catch wasn't closing properly, or maybe Voodoo's collar d-ring is spaced in such a way that the snap doesn't grip well. We've replaced leads and collars both, and it still happens.
It suddenly occurred to me today that it only happens when Voodoo is trying to check out something interesting in the yard that is out of reach of the tie-out. That's when I got the crazy idea that Voodoo might somehow be unfastening himself. But how could a dog even physically do that?? Scratching at the clasp?
For now, we're changing out the tie-out clasp to one of those quick-connect chain link connectors. That should fix it. But I still wonder if it's possible that Voodoo was somehow unhooking himself.