My Dogs Keep Jumping The Fence

[Luke GSP]

Thanks for that article Helen.

Should your dog get tangled and stuck in a electric fence there is a possibility that it will kill the dog. I have known of horses and a child killed after getting stuck.

I would bring the dogs in and crate them at night if that is the problem time or if this is not an option, Why not use one of the e-collar style fences? It is not the fence that is electric it is the collar the fence is a visual indicator for the dog and also the antenna that triggers the e-collar. As far as I am aware they trigger a warning tone first and then a stim. you will find that usually after a couple of times the dog backs off as soon as they hear the tone and then eventually learns to avoid the visual. I believe that you can also bury the wire if you need it to be unobtrusive from land lords etc I also believe that they are legal in most states even if e-collars are not as most e collar legislation states that the dog cannot be fitted with an electonic device that they cannot move away from ie that once they move away the stim stops so the dog is in control as opposed to a non fence triggered e-collar in the wrong hands where an idiot could just stim the dog until the hand set shut off. I know a couple of people that have them and reckon they are great.

[JulesP]

There is one that sprays citronella too!

The zappy ones started at $400 for a normal garden.

Only problem is the dogs have to wear collars and I don't have collars on my dogs in the garden.

I am having a digging under the fence problem rather than a jumping problem. The neighbours dog initially dug her out and she is doing it herself. With an acre of garden and 2 other dogs I don't know why she is doing it. Maybe to find me. She is certainly not happy once she is out and goes nuts when I let her back in, weird dog. I am putting concrete pavers until the fence line.

Wasn't going to desex her but am looking at doing that as well. I found with my other girl that she wanted out until she got desexed.

[Andowen]

my dog is the champ of fence jumping, every night she is out. but because we live on the highway its not such a good thing. now i am thinking that alot of people are not going to like what i have to say next but its the best we could do, we tried chaining her up, she broke the chains, we tried a dog run, she either dug out or cut her legs open jumping out, we tried putting the fence higher, she still got over, we tried locking her in the shed, she broke the door... SO! my dad and i being the horsy people we are, we tried putting hobbles on her. and believe me if you will, it worked! she can still walk around freely, but she cant run and there is no way she can jump. so she still has the freedom in the yard, she just cant get over the fence. and as her reward i take her for long walks off lead (in the parks and away from the highway) in the mornings before work.

[dasha]

I also agree with chaining the dog up. The chance of injury on a correctly fitted chain and kennel arrangement are a lot less than that of getting a leg or something caught in a fence or being collected by a car once out, or having a dangerous dog order out on them when they chase a cat.

The talk of getting tangled in obstacles is silly. You aren't chaining the dog up with a huge long lead to give access to the whole place. If you did that you would have trouble. Most dogs that know how to walk on a leash correctly will tether just fine esp if they are also used to being away from the owner for periods of time.

You place the anchor for the chain so there is nothing in the radius of the chain except the kennel and a water bucket. Or have the chain attached directly to the kennel of a length that will allow a dog to at least reach the ground if is inclined to jump over the kennel.

As long as the dog is excersised daily it will adapt quite well. One of my dogs is on a 2 metre chain and the other is on a 1 metre chain at least overnight. They know when they are on their chains they are quiet and relaxed.

As a matter of interest, what breed of dogs are we talking.

As you said the place is for sale, I wouldn't be spending a whole lot of money on expensive fixes when you may be moving and may not have this problem again. JMO

[lokelani]

Bosco is also an amazing escape artist. He has scaled 6+ foot fences, pushed through gates, and eaten through gates

He is now kept in a run whenever I am not at home, with a concrete floor, so he cant dig out of it, and it is fully enclosed with a roof, so he cant climb or jump over it. It is about 2 meters high, but I wouldnt put it past him to get out of it given the opportunity!

My run is also fully portable, so if I ever need to move house, I can take it with me. And being portable, it is not a permanent fixure in the house, therefore the landlord should not have a problem with it.

It can be a little costly, and may take a bit of hard yakka to put it together, but to be honest, I would rather outlay a bit of cash and time, than to find my dog had gotten out and caused trouble, or worse, dead.