Can I outsmart my dog?

So, I have this pit bull.  He looks more like a mix and not very tough looking … judge for yourself.  He is quite the character and sweet as he can be.  He has owned me (as of August 2017) for seven years.Beau the Pit Bull

Beau very much dislikes storms and can smell them hours ahead of time.  He usually gets to sleep with mama on stormy nights and then assumes he’s got carte blanche for several nights afterwards.  But, I’m already digressing from what this post is about.

My dogs (I have two – more about the other later) have a taste for the written word.  Actually, they are pretty good about not destroying things with the exception of books.  Beau has ruined a number of my books on the bookshelf in my study so I have had to make some amendments.

First, I installed a pet door in the door to the study because I have cats too.  The door had to be a decent size because a couple of my cats are, uh, fluffy.  Their climbing tree is in that room and sits in front of the window where they can somewhat enjoy the outside world.  Well, come to find out, Beau, who is 65 pounds, can wiggle through that pet door in seconds!  I discovered this one day when I was traveling down the sidewalk with my other dog for a walk and turned to look at the house and Beau was enjoying the view from my study window.  I immediately came back into the house to find him in the hallway looking all innocent.  Hmmm, we know differently, don’t we?!

Presently, there is a flat pad with a small battery attached box … a scat mat of sorts, that emits a high pitch sound quite unpleasant to his ears, that lays just inside the study in front of the pet door.  The cats can easily enter since they are quite nimble but if he attempts to he’s going to land on and set off the mat. He definitely won’t like that very much!