Houdini Dog

[OlBlueCJ7]

So as of lately, my dog (German Sheperd, Yellow Lab cross) has taken to scaling our 6 foot privacy fence & going for walks by herself.

I have no idea why she's started doing this, but I'm having a hell of a time figuring a way to keep her in the yard. Short of razorwire around the top (which is against city code, apparently), does anyone have any ideas as to how to keep a dog in the yard while we're not watching?

[Budman]

Find an adjustable electric fence charger. run a hot wire around the top of the fence and turn it on real low.

[FirecrackerKTM]

Got the same problem with my border collie. SO far I have been keeping her in the house during the day. Kris has talked about running a hot wire (you'd have to do two so there's a ground) or else just getting invisible fence installed.

[OlBlueCJ7]

Yeah - good thing she's kennel trained, she has no problem staying inside while we're gone to work. But she's a good sized dog, and I hate couping her up like that.

I've thought about the invisible fence stuff, but by the time she gets over the wire, she'd be out of the yard. And the way our fence is, she can't get back in once she's out.

I like the idea of a fence wire around it, as it wouldn't look overly tacky, but I sure don't want to zap her too bad either.

[Budman]

I did invisible fence. I hated it. I could never get it to adjust properly, and It has some limitations. you have to run it in a complete loop, and I couldn't get it to "shut down" in the walkways. Also they have to wear the stupid collar all the time.



I have one I would sell cheap if someone wanted it.

[Budman]

I like the idea of a fence wire around it, as it wouldn't look overly tacky, but I sure don't want to zap her too bad either.

They make low voltage one's for dogs. Look at lowes.

[longboy]

Invisible fence has worked well for our dog who jumps. Having the dog wearing a special collar all day sure is better than getting a phone call about your dog getting run over by a car.

[OlBlueCJ7]

Austin - how far from the fence is the line buried? Our yard isn't exactly huge, so any distance in from the fence is only decreasing her exercise area.

Bud - if you weren't so far away, I'd probably take you up on your sale. Cost is another thing against the invisible fence stuff. Ain't cheap, that's for sure.

But I'd rather spend $500 on a fencing system than $250 on a vet bill.

[FirecrackerKTM]

Yeah - good thing she's kennel trained, she has no problem staying inside while we're gone to work. But she's a good sized dog, and I hate couping her up like that.

I've thought about the invisible fence stuff, but by the time she gets over the wire, she'd be out of the yard. And the way our fence is, she can't get back in once she's out.

I like the idea of a fence wire around it, as it wouldn't look overly tacky, but I sure don't want to zap her too bad either.

I don't kennel mine, she has the run of hte house. I know she sleeps on the bed, but oh well.

We may be trying the actual hot wire. It sure would be nice to let her play in the yard during the day, since we have a big nice yard at our new house.

I agree with Budman's objections to the invisible fence, altho I haven't actually tried one. I thought they were way more than $500 and I know plenty of dogs who will sail over them--I'd hate to spend money to find out my dog is one of those.

[Budman]

Nope, i bought mine from Pessmart for like 200 or less. I think it was on sale for like 160, but I think the electric fence for dogs at lowes was much cheaper.

[deadjeep]

Our dog started the fence jumping after the kids went back to school this year. Ran the electric fence around the top and he hit it once. Hasn't been plugged in since an he hasn't tried it again. Bought it at the Ace in Brighton and spent around $50 for it total. Not to bad as the kids have been grabbing it and daring the others to try it.

One wire around the top, or half way up and a rod in the ground is all it takes.

[FirecrackerKTM]

hmmm, good to know about the electric wire for the fence! I think we will do that! We're adopting a second border collie (because one's not enough trouble, right?) so it would be nice if they could both stay and play in the yard.

So how does it work with only one wire? I thought there has to be a ground?

[milehighcowboy]

the invisable fences suck i think. my border collie figured out that is she ran at it and jumped before it that it would shock her but by the time she landed the safe guard had kicked in and turned it off. so she would just keep going.

[FirecrackerKTM]

the invisable fences suck i think. my border collie figured out that is she ran at it and jumped before it that it would shock her but by the time she landed the safe guard had kicked in and turned it off. so she would just keep going.

I can totally see mine doing that and I have heard that plenty have had that problem. The professionally installed ones are much more than $200 @ petsmart, that's a lot of money to throw away when it doesn't work.

ETA:
Is it this one?
http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1277575

[RebelRescuer]

We had a border collie when I was a kid that jumped fences. So we bought metal shelf brackets (the L kind obviously, and they're cheap) and bent them at an angle (more like a boomerang than an L) and put wire on it. That way she could jump all she wanted but not get over the fence. It didn't look bad either. Not sure if this would work for your dog, but it did for ours!

ETA - keep in mind that invisible fences don't keep other dogs from running in and attacking your dog. It also doesn't prevent theft. My best buddy is an animal control officer and she says that dogs also slip the collars all the time.

[Dotcom]

take a chain cut it to leingth so when the dog is standing up on their hind legs like a person it hangs down to just past the bottom of their haunches. this way when they jump to grab the top of the fence the chain swings down and smacks them right between the legs. this will not hurt them but it startles them enough to discourage the jumping. plus the chain is short enough that if they do get over the fence it does not get hung up on the fence (hopefully) i and a friend of mine have used this technique successfully. it is especially successful with a male dog ;)

[OlBlueCJ7]

take a chain cut it to leingth so when the dog is standing up on their hind legs like a person it hangs down to just past the bottom of their haunches. this way when they jump to grab the top of the fence the chain swings down and smacks them right between the legs. this will not hurt them but it startles them enough to discourage the jumping. plus the chain is short enough that if they do get over the fence it does not get hung up on the fence (hopefully) i and a friend of mine have used this technique successfully. it is especially successful with a male dog ;)

Unfortunately, the way my property slopes from my fence, my dog would surely hang herself with a setup like that. :(

I'm thinking that electric fencer from Ace might be worth a shot...

[RebelRescuer]

Oh, and there are such things as no-jump harnesses. Not sure if they make them for big dogs, but I can't see why not. It basically keeps them from making that full-body jumping action.

[FirecrackerKTM]

Eh, I prefer a fencing solution to a big complicated harness or chunk of chain dangling from their neck. I'd feel better about leaving them alone that way during the day than I would if they had something to get tangled up in.

[OlBlueCJ7]

Eh, I prefer a fencing solution to a big complicated harness or chunk of chain dangling from their neck. I'd feel better about leaving them alone that way during the day than I would if they had something to get tangled up in.

Same here. :thumbsup:

Thanks for the suggestions though everyone! :)

[longboy]

Austin - how far from the fence is the line buried? Our yard isn't exactly huge, so any distance in from the fence is only decreasing her exercise area.

At my old house, the line was buried about 3' from the fence line. We had a chainlink fence at the old house, and supposedly you couldn't attach the wire directly to the fence because of interference.

I haven't had a free weekend to install it at the new house yet, but we have a wood fence here so the line will most likely be stapled directly to the fence instead of buried 2" below ground.

As far as the range/shock/warning that our invisible fence does: we bought one that is completely adjustable. For a tough dog, you can set it to shock them if they get within 10' (I don't remember exactly how close) or 1'. We have ours set to warn her (the collar beeps) if she's about 5' from the line. If she gets about 2' from the line, that's when she gets a mild shock.

I will say that in the 6 years we've had Annie using this system, the only time she's escaped was when I hadn't checked the batteries in her collar for a while. I now replace them (2 watch batteries) every 3 months just to be sure.

The fence system we installed (DIY) was under $150 and was definitely cheaper than the alternative of building an 8' fence and offered more peace of mind than worrying about my dog getting run over while I'm at work. Let me know if you have any more questions-

[jdbwrx]

How about a leash? A cable anchored in the center of the yard that lets the dog get to the fence but not over it. Why make it so complicated?

[XtremeXJ]

So as of lately, my dog (German Sheperd, Yellow Lab cross) has taken to scaling our 6 foot privacy fence & going for walks by herself.

I have no idea why she's started doing this, but I'm having a hell of a time figuring a way to keep her in the yard. Short of razorwire around the top (which is against city code, apparently), does anyone have any ideas as to how to keep a dog in the yard while we're not watching?

My friends had a boxer that would do this. All we do to keep her from doing it is put an extended top on it that was angled in towards the yard. Thank prision without the razor........ Bit it only too about 1' and angled at like a 45 degree toward the inside of the fencing.

If you do it right it actually looks ok too.

[XtremeXJ]

HOLY FISH BOWLS I cannot spell.

But it only stood about 1' and angled at a 45

[FirecrackerKTM]

How about a leash? A cable anchored in the center of the yard that lets the dog get to the fence but not over it. Why make it so complicated?

Because lots can go wrong with a leash, or even an overhead cable run. I'd hate to come home to find out my dog had somehow strangled herself. I cable her for short periods of time, but not all day, unattended.

[jdbwrx]

Because lots can go wrong with a leash, or even an overhead cable run. I'd hate to come home to find out my dog had somehow strangled herself. I cable her for short periods of time, but not all day, unattended.


He said earlier the dog was crate trained, so I assumed that this was not while they were gone, or all day unattented.

I was just talking to my fiancee's mom this weekend, and she was telling a story about a chow (her dog's father) who would walk right through the electric fence to get out. He would take the shock to get out, but not to come back in.

I guess it's nice taking my dog to work and not having to worry about stuff like this.

[clemsonkrawler]

I had a dog that was an escape artist. I had a 6ft privacy fence that she scaled daily. I just stapled(at the bottom) some of the chickenwire fence about 3/4 of the way up the wood fence so it was floppy and hung in the yard. The dog couldnt get out over the floppy fence.

[Oscar]

Our Jack was a Jumper. We bought those plastic flower bed fences and tie strapped them to the the top of the fence. They wouldn't support his weight and would bend back into the yard and the pop back up.

[FirecrackerKTM]

He said earlier the dog was crate trained, so I assumed that this was not while they were gone, or all day unattented.

I was just talking to my fiancee's mom this weekend, and she was telling a story about a chow (her dog's father) who would walk right through the electric fence to get out. He would take the shock to get out, but not to come back in.

I guess it's nice taking my dog to work and not having to worry about stuff like this.

Well, crate trained or no, I've never liked the thought of a dog cooped up in a crate for 8+ hours. I know the supporters of crate training say it's fine, but I'm quite sure my dog would rather have the run of the yard. A crate is better than a cable or escaping, but a secure yard is best IMO.

[OlBlueCJ7]

We got our electric fencer ordered from our local Ace this evening, and picked up some insulator standoffs at Big R. The insulators I have will stand the wire off the fence by 3.5", hopefully enough to 'catch' her before she goes over.

The electric fencer will be here in a week - I'll let you all know how it works after I get it installed.

[FirecrackerKTM]

We got our electric fencer ordered from our local Ace this evening, and picked up some insulator standoffs at Big R. The insulators I have will stand the wire off the fence by 3.5", hopefully enough to 'catch' her before she goes over.

The electric fencer will be here in a week - I'll let you all know how it works after I get it installed.

Ditto, just did the same :)