New Orleans pet experts share tips for securing your home | Pets

The ongoing saga of escape artist Scrim has got pet parents across New Orleans on edge.

While committed escape artists like Scrim are extremely rare, his case has dog owners, especially new or first-time rescue pet parents worried for their safety, especially when it comes to traumatized rescue dogs. Luckily, Gambit reached out to the experts, and we are here with some tips on how to secure your home for even the craftiest of good boys.

We talked with someone with first-hand knowledge of New Orleans’ canine Houdini’s escape tricks: Michelle Cheramie, owner of Zeus’ Rescues. Zeus’ originally took Scrim in, and it was from her second story window that the wily pup leapt in his second break for freedom.

According to Cheramie, one of the trickiest parts of adopting a shelter dog is dealing with their trauma and helping them adjust to their new, safe environment.

“The most important thing for these traumatized dogs is they need to feel safe,” she says.

She recommends a decompression spot for some pets, where they can get adjusted to new sounds and smells in a comforting environment. From there, you can start working on desensitization exercises to help with their triggers. Safety and security looks different for every dog, Cheramie says, and finding the right way to handle your new dog can take a lot of patience. “You’ve got to work on their timeline and provide them the things they need to feel safe,” she says.

But what if you have a pup who’s already trying to, or succeeded in, escaping before you’ve gotten them acclimated to their new home?

James Millet, a vet at Chalmette Pet Wellness, suggests identifying “common denominators of when the escapes occur” when trying to determine the reason for their escapes.

A dog’s affinity for escaping could be related to separation anxiety, breed and upbringing, Millet says.

With separation anxiety, he recommends compression garments and aromatherapy to keep your pup feeling safe while you’re away. With high energy breeds, Millet recommends setting a routine activity that excites them enough to keep their mind off escaping.

Obviously, the most important and easiest fix is to secure your home. The first step is to check all your entry points and windows. If you like to have windows open, make sure they have sturdy window screens that can withstand some potentially aggressive pawing and scratching.

To ensure that fenced yards are secure, Cheramie suggests filling a milk jug or other large, light weight bottle with water and then tying it to your dog’s collar on a length of rope (remember to be carefully supervising them if you do this to avoid any chance of choking or getting tangled). If your dog can find a gap in your fence they can squeeze through, the jug should catch against it, thus helping you find their bolt hole without letting them actually take off into the wilds of these mean New Orleans streets.

Cheramie notes this can also work for dogs who might try to dig under the fence. From there, you can secure those points with chicken wire fencing.

“It seems funny, but it actually works,” she says.

As a last security measure, Cheramie suggests a tracking device, such as the Whistle GPS collar or an AirTag. However, keep in mind that GPS collars have limited battery lives, while AirTags need to be near Bluetooth devices to work.