I have heard that corgis are pretty darn clever - and some are even accomplished escape artists.

As far as escape artists go, Dixie managed to escape her metal crate today. I came home and found my little darling lying calmly on the couch, her antenna ears perked up as though she had been waiting patiently for me. I assumed my fiance came home, let her out, and forgot to re-crate her - but when I did a search of our home to see if she'd done anything naughty, I noticed her crate.

I have no idea how she could have done this without hurting herself, and I've checked her pretty carefully for tender spots and/or scrapes - can't find anything! Somehow, she unhooked the "door" at two spots and squeezed through! As far as I can tell, no other damage anywhere else - and the cage was an easy fix because it wasn't broken, just taken apart. I'm still baffled and I hope that this doesn't become a regular thing.

She's lately shown some separation issues. I was unemployed for about a month, and of course that meant I had plenty of time to be with her. Dixie has always been "my" dog; while she loves my fiance, I'm her favorite :) So it makes sense that she would be unhappy with me resuming a full-time works schedule. Also, now that my fiance and I are both working 9-5s (we used to have very variable schedules that normally left at least one of us at home - and thus with Dixie) she is actually alone more than she is used to be.

I have always said that I have "the amazing silent corgi" because, while I've heard most corgis are talkative, Dixie hardly ever makes any vocalizations. The only times we've heard her bark is if she is confronted by another dog that's making noise. But now, every time I leave our home, she starts barking like, well, an average corgi! She doesn't demonstrate any destructive or neurotic behavior, and this schedule change occurred a little over a month ago. So while this "separation anxiety" is super "light," it still makes me hurt to know my little girl isn't adjusting very well.

I'm very fortunate in that I can absolutely take her to work with me. My boss has okayed it, and everyone I work with just adores her. So I take her along twice a week, and she just loves it. It's really a great situation, but of course I can't take her every day (the nature of my work is mostly office-based, but I try to get involved in our warehouse, as well, and I wouldn't dream of putting her in such a dangerous place!).

I really don't know if I should just force her to get used to spending that much time alone, or if my current arrangement is suitable. My fiance and I have agreed that she's "mature" enough to start trusting her alone at home. We were planning on starting her off in a small room, corgi-proofed as best we can, and then slowly adding more space to her allowed area until she is able to be trusted alone with full run of the place. We are hoping that if she is allowed to be more free at home, she will be more comfortable being left alone.

Anyhow, I just wanted to talk about my puppy. :) I overuse ""s, but whatever.. it's a blog!