So far, so good with Howard staying in his enclosures. I have one pen that’s ~20’x30’ with a big dog house inside. That’s where he spends the night. The section of fencing where the gate is located is only 4’ high. I’m sure he could jump/climb over if he got the notion.
I’ve got another section of yard fenced off that’s 50’x50’. The fence around that is 5’ high and is gated to the deck that wraps around Mrs. Augie’s sun room. He’s happier there than he is in the other pen so I’ve been letting him use that spot during the day.
So far he hasn’t shown much interest in digging, which is a good thing. Our yard is already full of holes from my Aussie and #1 Marine Daughter’s doberman digging moles out of the ground. It’s a rare to go more than three or four days without finding a dead mole in the grass here.
I’ve got a remote-controlled training collar on the way. I tried the bark collar on him a few days ago. Forgot to shut off the shock function before I put it on him. He barked once, got zapped, and didn’t bark again until I removed the collar. That particular collar beeps when you shut off the power... Howard was sitting on my feet when I did that... the collar beeped and he yipped like he’d been whacked with a broom handle. Poor guy gave me the “what did I do to deserve that?” look. I haven’t used that collar on him since, but if/when I need to I’ll make sure the shock is disabled.
Beau has accidentally ‘zapped’ a dog or two through the years. It happens. The only cure is that you make SURE it never happens again (which it looks like you are doing), lots of soothing words, pats on the head and extra Milk Bones. ;)
I’m loving that you’re loving Howard! I just love those Walker Dogs! (Raised 27 of them, so far since 2016) I’ve always had Labradors and Basset Hounds but I THINK I have enough time left on this planet to have one more of one or the other.
Or maybe just throw caution to the wind and get one of each? Bassets are ridiculously STUBBORN and Labs take a good 7 years to GROW UP into decent dogs unless you spend 24/7 on training. ;)
I know your garden is a soggy mess, and I’m catching up with you. 2.5” of rain today, another three inches predicted by Wednesday. I need to pull back mulch from all of the tomato plants tomorrow. My Star Gazer Lilies are NOT happy - their leaves are turning yellow from too much water, but they usually recover. All of the salad greens are still Happy, Happy, though.
I snapped a pix of the ‘Jachmanii’ Clematis for Mrs. Augie and will get that posted to you/her as soon as I get things uploaded.