This is a specific conversation about Pet gates — containing dogs safely — ask about yours and get one honest answer for your exact situation.
inparticular.ai
A Basenji — that immediately tells me a lot. They're famously catlike climbers who treat a standard horizontal-bar gate like a ladder, so a regular pressure-mounted gate with wide bars is essentially useless for them. Gate choice for any dog comes down to three things: the dog's size and jumping ability, the opening width you need to fill, and whether you can wall-mount it (pressure-mounted gates are never safe at the top of stairs, by the way). For a Basenji the bar design and gate height jump to the top of that list. Can you tell me where you're installing it — doorway, room opening, or stairs — and whether drilling into the wall is an option for you?
It's for the kitchen doorway, standard width around 75cm. She's already scaled two different gates we've tried. Wall mounting is fine, I just need something she genuinely cannot get over or through.
inparticular.ai
Two escaped gates is very on-brand for a Basenji. The problem with most gates is they use horizontal bars spaced wide enough to act as footholds — your dog just free-climbs them. What you need is a gate with either a solid panel or very fine vertical-only mesh that gives her nothing to grip. Height matters too; at two years old she's at peak athleticism. What's her approximate weight, and how high has she managed to get on the gates she's already beaten? That helps me confirm whether standard extra-tall is enough or whether you need the maximum height available.
She's about 10kg, pretty typical for the breed. One gate she cleared completely from a standing jump, the other she climbed over — it was only about 75cm tall. She's incredibly fast and determined.
inparticular.ai
Right, so she can both jump and climb — that rules out almost everything in the standard range. For a Basenji with that combination I'd go straight to the Safetots Extra Tall Wooden Baby and Pet Gate, specifically the 104cm height version. It has a smooth solid wooden panel on the lower half with no horizontal rails she can use as footholds, and the overall height of 104cm is genuinely challenging for a 10kg dog to clear from a standing jump. It's wall-mounted with a screw-fit frame, so it's rock solid in a doorway, and it has a one-handed walk-through door for you. The 75cm opening you have sits well within its adjustable width range. It's not marketed as a Basenji gate, but the solid lower panel is exactly the design feature that stops climbers — it's the same principle used in sighthound rescues. Available on Amazon UK, usually around £55–65.
That sounds really promising. Is there anything I should watch out for when fitting it, given she'll definitely be testing it from day one?
inparticular.ai
A few things worth knowing. First, fit the wall cups as deep into the frame as the instructions allow — any flex in the frame gives a determined dog something to work with. Second, make sure the latch mechanism is fully engaged each time; Basenjis are smart enough to learn that a half-latched gate moves if they push it. Third, even at 104cm, if she gets a run-up from a raised surface like a chair or a step, the physics change — so keep furniture away from the gate on her side. And finally, check the gate is level when fitted; a slight lean toward her side makes it noticeably easier to push outward. Do those fit your kitchen layout okay?
Yes, the kitchen is clear on her side. No furniture near the doorway. That all makes sense. I'll go with that one — thank you.
inparticular.ai
Good luck — and honestly, with a Basenji, consider it a small victory every week she doesn't find a workaround. The Safetots Extra Tall is your best realistic option without going to a full custom solution. If she does somehow defeat it, the next step up would be a metal fully-enclosed pen section used as a gate extender on top, but I'd be surprised if it comes to that at 104cm with a solid panel. Hope the kitchen stays yours.
