Am I losing my mind!!

[tlbuddy]

Yesterday I put Cali in the crate while I mopped the kitchen floor. She has one of the wire crates that has a latch at the top and a latch at the bottom.
I have had her for 8 weeks and I notice she is always watching when I lock the crate and then proceeds to play with the latches to try and get out. I am ablsolutely sure that I locked the bottom latch when I put her in the crate. I didnt lock the top latch. I heard her trying to get out but did not think anything of it because she has never gotten out in all of this time. About 5 minutes later i see Cali walk by the kitchen nonchalantly with a bone in her mouth. I thought I was hallucinating, but apparently she has figured out how to open the bottom latch.
Also the other day when I came home from work she had completely pushed the tray from the bottom of the kennel out of the kennel. I can see how this can happen, but the tray had been pushed several inches from the kennel. I called my brother to see if he had been over and took the tray out for some reason and he said no. She never ceases to amaze me at the things that she does and sometimes I can't keep from laughing. I hope she does not figure out how to get both latches open or I will come home to a mess as she is Cali the Destroyer.
tlbuddy:)

[ChaseandZahrasmom]

Zahra pushes the tray out of her kennel when she is really mad. I have seen her do it twice, both times I had take Chase (our other dog) out on a walk and came back for her only find her screaming and tearing her kennel blanket apart.

That is funny about the latches though but yet scary. You will have to let us know how it goes. I think I saw someone else post a good trick for this on here somewhere.

[Lenora]

Abbey can get out if only one is latched. She will also push the tray out under the door and then lay there on the wire bottom like it's actually comfortable. She's still trying to figure out how to open the front door. She stands on her hind legs and paws the knob like she's saying This is how Mommy gets out.

[youngandtired]

Someone on here posted once that Bs are known escape artist, I know this b/c once when Sahara was very small I came home from work to find her loose having a good time. She was not fully housebroken then, so I had a few surprises left for me, her crate has only one latch. My hubby gave me a metal pin from his workshop that I use besides the latch, so when Sahara tries to get out this pin prevents her from doing just that. Basenjis are smart dogs and I am amazed all the time at what they can do.:)

[DebraDownSouth]

I have had dogs I had to add a clip to the latches. My fear is that even if only the one of the 2 latches, they could try to push through the open part and get stuck. You may want to simply add a clip to stop it.

[pufferlover]

I have had good luck with a clip on only one of the latches. We realized we needed one when some scratching at the door in the middle of the night revealed a lonley Basenji trying to sneak his way into bed with us! My dog "punches" at his crate door and the one clip has stood the test.

[tlbuddy]

I will definitely try the clips because I am afraid she will get out of her crate when I am not at home and will tear the house up. She constantly pushes her tray out of the bottom. Oh, and by the way, I am keeping my brothers boxer temporarily (Lady) and she is kept in her kennel during the day. I came home from work the other day to be greeted by Lady at the door barking like I was an intruder coming in. Once she saw it was me she got very happy, but she escaped from her kennel and pushed her tray out. Now I am going to have to get clips for her kennel. My brother says she is good at escaping, but has never gotten out of her kennel. Cali was still in her kennel, but she had her tray pushed out and had one of her locks open. Maybe the 2 of them were working hard all day to escape their kennels while I was at work.:)
tlbuddy