My friend had an Irish wolf hound, and he was an escape artist as well. He was also very vocal when he saw people. When he escaped he would walk around town barking at whomever he saw, as soon as you called his name he would quiet down and come say hi. It wasn't really a big deal because we lived in a small town and everyone knew him... but they still didn't want him getting hit or anything (A dog that size could cause a lot of damage!).. What they did was build a 15 feet X 15 feet pen outside, concrete floor, chain link on all four sides, and a chain link/tin roof, they also went to the extreme to wrap electric fence around the metal so that the whole cage was electric (I don't really like this, but I guess you have to do what you have to do), and put a padlock on the gate (unless he had the key he wasn't going anywhere!)... it defiantly kept him in! He got to run around the yard when they were outside with him, but sometimes that just is not an option. They also could not find a kennel to fit his size, so they built an inside pen as well.. it actually looked really nice. They used wood and stained it, and then they put chain link around it, nothing on the floor, and the one whole side was a door. It couldn't really be moved but it fit perfectly in a little nook they had in there porch.

I hope this might help you think of some idea to keep Houdini safe at home where he belongs!