Fence Pacing

[jimmydee]

I have a 7 month old Border Collie who is an incessant fence pacer. Our neighbours have a large tree that fills up with birds for most of the day and he runs along the fence bordering their property yelping and sniffing the ground.

We've just learnt that he has a slight hip joint problem which will be exacerbated by the constant turning involved with his fence pacing.

We have him on fish oil, joint formula etc. and he is getting treatment at the vet. Until his posture is corrected and we build up the muscle around his hips we are keeping him in the front yard, inside and generally away from the back fence where he mostly paces.

I am trying to put obstacles in his path but that just seems to change the path he takes. He is yet to be desexed (we are still weighing up the pros and cons) and I'm not sure if this will help or not. He gets walked at least once a day but it doesn't wear him out yet as he is still young and we are keeping his walks short at this stage. He spends a lot of time inside when we are home and we try to keep his mind as active as possible.

As keeping him out of the backyard isn't a long term solution, I am hoping for some advice as to how we can break this habit.

[dancinbcs]

Fence panels intermittantly at right angles to the fence might help to interupt the path or a stategiacally placed electric fence so he keeps away from that area. Otherwise, if he has access to that fence he will continue to fence pace. It only takes a few days for something to become an ingrained habit and Borders can be obsessive in their behaviour once it develops.

Lots more obedience and mind work might help but more exercise just seems to make them fitter and more likely to do it. Does he respond well to training and wanting to be with you as most Borders would prefer to be with their owners than out in the yard most of the time? If he is the type of dog that ignores you to constantly fence pace then you might have one with an obsessive need to work and sometimes they never fit into a home. I have known a few of these and they have made great drug detection dogs for Corrective Services to where they were donated by their frustrated owners. They are not very common in the breed but the few that are, are not much good for anything other than a job where they are constantly working.

[jimmydee]

Fence panels intermittantly at right angles to the fence might help to interupt the path or a stategiacally placed electric fence so he keeps away from that area. Otherwise, if he has access to that fence he will continue to fence pace. It only takes a few days for something to become an ingrained habit and Borders can be obsessive in their behaviour once it develops.

Lots more obedience and mind work might help but more exercise just seems to make them fitter and more likely to do it. Does he respond well to training and wanting to be with you as most Borders would prefer to be with their owners than out in the yard most of the time? If he is the type of dog that ignores you to constantly fence pace then you might have one with an obsessive need to work and sometimes they never fit into a home. I have known a few of these and they have made great drug detection dogs for Corrective Services to where they were donated by their frustrated owners. They are not very common in the breed but the few that are, are not much good for anything other than a job where they are constantly working.

He does respond well to training. When we're home he usually wants to be around us, but every now and then he will take himself outside. Once he gets into fence pacing mode it's hard to get his attention. If I've got food he is easy to persuade though and he will do ANYTHING for food.

[dancinbcs]

Fence panels intermittantly at right angles to the fence might help to interupt the path or a stategiacally placed electric fence so he keeps away from that area. Otherwise, if he has access to that fence he will continue to fence pace. It only takes a few days for something to become an ingrained habit and Borders can be obsessive in their behaviour once it develops.

Lots more obedience and mind work might help but more exercise just seems to make them fitter and more likely to do it. Does he respond well to training and wanting to be with you as most Borders would prefer to be with their owners than out in the yard most of the time? If he is the type of dog that ignores you to constantly fence pace then you might have one with an obsessive need to work and sometimes they never fit into a home. I have known a few of these and they have made great drug detection dogs for Corrective Services to where they were donated by their frustrated owners. They are not very common in the breed but the few that are, are not much good for anything other than a job where they are constantly working.

He does respond well to training. When we're home he usually wants to be around us, but every now and then he will take himself outside. Once he gets into fence pacing mode it's hard to get his attention. If I've got food he is easy to persuade though and he will do ANYTHING for food.

In that case I would build him a run, preferably square, not long so he can be in there when you aren't home and has nowhere to pace. He may grow out of it as an adult if he settles down a bit. Let him have the run of the yard when you are home and use something to distract him if he is fence pacing, like throwing a chain against the fence, then calling him and rewarding him if he comes. He will catch on to the sound of chain and come when he hears it. I had one like this and it got to a point where I only needed to clink one link of the chain and she would come from anywhere.

[jimmydee]

Fence panels intermittantly at right angles to the fence might help to interupt the path or a stategiacally placed electric fence so he keeps away from that area. Otherwise, if he has access to that fence he will continue to fence pace. It only takes a few days for something to become an ingrained habit and Borders can be obsessive in their behaviour once it develops.

Lots more obedience and mind work might help but more exercise just seems to make them fitter and more likely to do it. Does he respond well to training and wanting to be with you as most Borders would prefer to be with their owners than out in the yard most of the time? If he is the type of dog that ignores you to constantly fence pace then you might have one with an obsessive need to work and sometimes they never fit into a home. I have known a few of these and they have made great drug detection dogs for Corrective Services to where they were donated by their frustrated owners. They are not very common in the breed but the few that are, are not much good for anything other than a job where they are constantly working.

He does respond well to training. When we're home he usually wants to be around us, but every now and then he will take himself outside. Once he gets into fence pacing mode it's hard to get his attention. If I've got food he is easy to persuade though and he will do ANYTHING for food.

In that case I would build him a run, preferably square, not long so he can be in there when you aren't home and has nowhere to pace. He may grow out of it as an adult if he settles down a bit. Let him have the run of the yard when you are home and use something to distract him if he is fence pacing, like throwing a chain against the fence, then calling him and rewarding him if he comes. He will catch on to the sound of chain and come when he hears it. I had one like this and it got to a point where I only needed to clink one link of the chain and she would come from anywhere.

Thanks for the advice! This morning I set up a bit of a makeshift run so i'll see how that goes. Not sure how big to make it but it was about 5mx4m with access to the outdoor laundry. I'll make sure I'm outside with him and distract him when he starts pacing.

I am really hoping he does settle down a bit when he matures a bit more.

[kiesha09]

Have you tried providing him with other stimulation to keep his mind active and away from fence pacing while he's out in the yard? By this I mean food puzzles etc - frozen kongs stuffed with food which is hard to get out, treat balls, frozen ice cream containers with food in it, meaty bones, bike typres with peanut butter smeared in them, aussie dog home alone toy.

I have a friend with a BC that was a notorious fence pacer. She enlisted the help of a veterinary behaviourist who put together a behaviour modification plan. The above environmental enrichment ideas were a big part of stopping or at least reducing the behaviour. He now spends most of his day forraging for food in the back yard although it hasn't stopped 100%.

Unfortunately putting obstacles in his way will change his physical direction by it doesn't stop the behaviour (they just go around) so I think you really need to address the cause of the problem.

[jimmydee]

Have you tried providing him with other stimulation to keep his mind active and away from fence pacing while he's out in the yard? By this I mean food puzzles etc - frozen kongs stuffed with food which is hard to get out, treat balls, frozen ice cream containers with food in it, meaty bones, bike typres with peanut butter smeared in them, aussie dog home alone toy.

I have a friend with a BC that was a notorious fence pacer. She enlisted the help of a veterinary behaviourist who put together a behaviour modification plan. The above environmental enrichment ideas were a big part of stopping or at least reducing the behaviour. He now spends most of his day forraging for food in the back yard although it hasn't stopped 100%.

Unfortunately putting obstacles in his way will change his physical direction by it doesn't stop the behaviour (they just go around) so I think you really need to address the cause of the problem.

I've tried a few of those options. Haven't done the frozen kong (just normal kong) or tyre but i'll give em a try. I usually load him up with a few different things but he goes through them pretty quickly. Scattering kibble around the yard, big bones, frozen ice cream containers seem to be the best as they keep him occupied for a while. I like the frozen kong idea as he goes through kongs and treat balls in about 5 minutes How do you freeze the kong?

[kiesha09]

To freeze the kong I just plug the end with some peanut butter or cheese, then fill it with a blended vegie, mince & sardine mixture or some tuna, vegies and cream cheese or some vegies and chicken stock etc (the variations are as endless as your imagination really). Then I put it in a container with the tip down and put in the feezer over night. Make sure you vary the mixture or it gets boring quickly.

I probably give each dog two or three of these for the day, a treat ball and some puzzles with kibble in them (ie a shoe box with kibble in it tied up with a tea towel) and it does kep them occupied for a fair while. I have noticed that I need to change what they get every day and keep making the puzzles harder so their constantlyt challenging their brains.

[Jed]

I don't have all the answers. He is under stimulated, and under exercised. A walk is not enough for some dogs. YOu may need to have him inside more, play with him more, and challenge his mind more, as well as exercising him more.

Desexing will not reduce or prevent this behaviour.

Dexexing does reliably prevent dogs having pups 100%, but it does not reliably prevent or stop anything else.