mission impossible

The plastic baby gate that kept eager little dachshunds from darting off the deck and into our backyard finally died after eighteen years of service, and so we began our deliberation for its replacement last month. Lucky for us, we found this old metal gate at a open air market and installed it this past weekend.

The old baby gate was never much of a deterrent for Baxter, who had figured out early on that he could easily open the gate with his mouth placed just so. In its dying days, the gate finally earned some of Baxter's respect because the slightest wind would make it topple, startling Baxter and causing him to skitter away.

So far he's coped well with the new gate and hasn't figured out what to do with the new safety latch, but then again it's only day two. A doggie on a mission is only hindered by his lack of opposable thumbs.