Puppy Learns to Escape From Playpen Just Days After Arriving Home: 'Menace'

A new puppy has wasted little time in staging a daring escape from his playpen.

Barkley the golden retriever had only been with his new owners in Queensland, Australia, for a matter of days before busting out of the playpen that was supposed to keep him busy while his owner worked from home. Barkley quickly deduced how to break out of the nylon structure by pulling down the wall and simply climbing out.

Footage of his audacious escape was shared to TikTok under the handle __barkley__ alongside the caption: "POV you think WFH [working from home] will be easy with a puppy because he has a playpen."

Barkley's owner told Newsweek they have been blown away by the response to the video. "So many people said they had the same experience and have some funny stories," they said. "I never thought my tiny little potato puppy would be able to escape it so soon."

At the time of writing, the video has been watched over 545,000 times with the situation proving a very relatable one. "Working from home is so difficult with a puppy," one viewer wrote. "I have a 20 week old puppy. Some days I have cried."

Another said "I have a cockapoo puppy , I'm going crazy" with a third writing: "Had a metal playpen and we used blue tape to tape it down to the floor.... and then he ate the blue tape." One user branded the clip "pawtastic." Some thought Barkley was "clever" while others suggested he was a "menace."

The owner revealed that, since the video was filmed, Barkley has taken things a step further. "He actually started to like his pen so much he would get INSIDE from the outside," they said. "Just put all his body weight on the side so it collapsed and he walked right in."

While Barkley's breakout might be a sign he possesses a mischievous streak, it's also a reminder of how intelligent our four-legged friends can be—especially golden retrievers.

Earlier this year, researchers from the University of Helsinki conducted a series of cognitive and behavioral tests involving just over 1,000 dogs of varying breeds. The results saw golden retrievers rank among the top five breeds for intelligence.

Intelligent or not, Barkley's owner was initially hesitant about taking on a puppy. "I was mostly worried about all of our nice new furniture we had just bought," they explained. "Then in May this year someone asked us to look after their dog for a few months. We spoke about it and when we agreed, they said they didn't need it anymore and we felt really disappointed."

Soon after they decided to bite the bullet and began searching for a puppy to call their own. That was when they came across Barkley. It felt like fate.

"It turned out that Barkley was born on April 1 which was exactly one year after we moved into our home, one day before we got engaged this year," his owner explained. "The breeder had a litter called 'Snow White and the seven dwarves'—I used to work at Disneyland as Snow White. So we took it as a sign."

Barkley was soon part of the family and has wasted little time in making himself comfortable. A little too comfortable, in fact. "His favorite thing to do is sneak into our bedroom and steal whatever socks or piece of clothing my partner has left on the floor and run around proudly with it in his mouth," his owner said. "One time he stole my underwear and somehow got his legs through the holes and was running around with them on!"

When he's not causing chaos, Barkley's other interests include watching TV, food and games of tug of war. Though the playpen might not have gone quite to plan, Barkley's owner would encourage others to stick at it and try to make it "a safe and fun space."

"We fed Barkley his meals there so that he liked being in the pen and also gave him enrichment activities etc," they said. " When I was not working I would leave the crate door open so he could come in and out as he pleased. Ultimately, when working from home you also make sure you have lots of play breaks with them so they're not confined all day!"

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