Dog people, I need your help.

I have a lovely dog (actually i have two) who always wants to run away. Yesterday, i spent nearly 3 hours playing with my dogs, walking them, giving them attention and he still runs away. The thing is, whenever he sees a person he wants to greet them. Yesterday he jumped down this (it's 2m10 high :eek: )

http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/e...t/IMG_3138.jpg

Sure he was hurt, but not enough to scare him in the future. What can I do to prevent this? Tips anyone?

He's castrated by the way.



Ps: for people who haven't seen one: the red pavement is a REAL cycling lane :D:D:D:D

Beautiful bike lane!! I am soooo jealous of your cycling infrastructure.

He's a good boy :p He just wants to see people.

I see he's standing on what looks like dirt? The fence is high but somehow your little escape artist can get close to the top? I see a landscape project in your future :cool: Plant some things there that might discourage his jumping or at least give him quite the hedge to hurdle. :rolleyes:

Barbed wire would be so ugly :rolleyes: but climbing roses, hybiscus, citrus .... not sure what grows well there but there have to be lots of beautiful plants that could bloom, possible thorns, and give your little fellow an attractive deterent.

We are planning to plant things there, but we have more plans than money at the moment. :o And now it's not a good time to plant either. We'll have to wait a month or two.

can't you just dig back so that it's deeper near the wall?

Is he running away while you are playing with him? If so, I'd work on his behavior/training before I'd worry about fortifying the fence.

Or, is he running away when left outside alone? If so, then don't leave him out there unattended. Only let him play out there with supervision (this is what we do - since half our property is not fenced).

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Originally Posted by GLC1968

Is he running away while you are playing with him? If so, I'd work on his behavior/training before I'd worry about fortifying the fence.

Or, is he running away when left outside alone? If so, then don't leave him out there unattended. Only let him play out there with supervision (this is what we do - since half our property is not fenced).

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No, when I'm in the backyard he never runs away, it's only when he's alone. Or when he sees people. Then he would jump. When he did that, I was outside, but I wasn't playing with him.


I can't dig there, there are all kinds of wires there, and water and stuff...

And i've checked my planning permission and I can't plant anything higher than 35 cm...

I live in a protected area. So I can't plant what I want.

May sound cruel. but as a last resort, an invisible fence. dogs get really smar after awhile and can tell a difference between a real "dog" collar that zaps and a dummy one. My former father-in-law had one installed in his front yard.

I don't like the idea but if you can't plant anything taller than 35cm you may not have much of an option. hmm maybe a minature rose. Should keep the dogs away from the fence thus keeping them from jumping over.

Here's what I make of the situation. First, he's not "running away", he's "running to greet/play/socialize" and only when you are not physically present. That's not a bad thing, other than he is getting loose in the process and could be severely hurt or cause an accident (the consequences are bad, not his actions).

Fact is that fence is just NOT high enough to hold him, at least unsupervised, as is evidenced from your picture alone (he can easily get his feet on it and see over it). I feel for you, I have a 6ft high solid wood privacy fence and I still can't leave my dog unattended for long periods. She can jump it, though she hasn't figured that fact out yet.

Some options:

a) never leave him out unattended. It's a slight inconvenience/lifestyle change, but in most cases it can be done (consider crating instead of leaving out during the day if having him loose in the house while you are gone is an issue).

b) fortify the fence (this unfortunately is limited by your local regulations). Build the fence higher so that he can't get his feet on top of it or see over it. Plant things that will become physical (or at least perceived physical) obstructions (sounds like this might not be an option). Or get an electric fence, but spend the time to teach him that boundary, etc (him getting shocked as he falls off the porch again isn't going to do much, so you have to teach him why he's getting shocked so he never tries to jump off again)

They do make temporary, portable dog enclosure panels that you could use to make your fence higher temporarily at times when you do have to leave him out alone, or while you are trying to teach him. I'm not sure how well those will go over in your area however. Or, get a smaller set with a roof and allow him a small area of your patio permanently, but not allow him run of the whole thing when he's not supervised.

Is that 35 cm higher than the fence is now? From the looks of the dogs that should be enough to keep him from going over it. But I don't know that plants will really be useful - it takes years for a hedge to grow so dense that a dog can't tunnel through it. What about some type of ornamental lattice or rail fence on top of the retaining wall?

I agree with Oakleaf. By the time the plant is big enough, the dog will have trampled it or figured out how to go around it.
If it were my dog, I would never leave him out unattended ; because not only is he in danger of getting lost/stolen, he's in danger of getting hurt.

Have you tried teaching him not to jump off to greet people? Like correcting him BEFORE he jumps? I would work with the dog (probably while on a leash), while there are people around, to teach him that he is not to jump off. Unless he's really obsessed, it shouldn't be too hard to do as long as you are consistent.

I also second the lattice on top of your fence. They can still see through it but can't jump.

If you go the invisible fence route just remember it's the SOUND that deters them. The shock is the consequence to not obeying a "back" command that you teach when they hear the sound. On a good system the time between the sound and the shock can be adjusted but you actually train them with the collar in your hands so they hear the sound. We used it on a border collie and elkhound and had great results.

Love the bike lane!

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Originally Posted by papaver

We are planning to plant things there, but we have more plans than money at the moment. :o And now it's not a good time to plant either. We'll have to wait a month or two.

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But you could build a trellis to block his escape route :rolleyes: Now's the time to save $$ by starting plants from seed.

More lovely plants with deterent properties (aka thorns ;)): artichokes are evergreen and yummy, flowering quince ... check with the folks in the gardening thread for what could grow in your zone.

I don't know what grows in your zone. Everything grows here :) so I'm just tossing ideas around.

1) take away the reward - have friends walk by and when he jumps over the fence immediately (and I mean immediately) turn their back on him and walk away. This is a slow correction, it'll take him time to find there is no reward.
2) Mousetraps. Mousetraps are a wonderful dog training tool. While not outside the realm of possibility I have never heard of a dog hurt by them, and I know lots of trainers who use them. Put mousetraps along the top of the fence, so when he hits one it snaps and scares him. This works great, at least in part because it isn't associated with you or anything you do, it's an act of provenance as far as he's concerned.
I found this "google books result" on the topic
http://tinyurl.com/nswcpj

Tire him out really really well before you put him outside. I mean get a dog leash attatchment for your bike (like "The Springer" or "exPETdition) and take them both on a 3-5 mile run - not trot - RUN. It should take less than 45 minutes and he will be tired for the rest of the day. No energy = no jumping the fence.

Don't let their size fool you - I have 2 pitbulls and a miniature poodle. All 3 run attatched to the bike (all 3 at the same time) The poodle has the most energy and can run farther and faster than the pits any day because he is so little. Small dogs need more exercise than most people realize. More than big or medium sized dogs. Yours look like Pugs or French Bulldogs - perfectly capable of keeping up with the bike going 8mph or so for 3-5 miles. That should be plenty to keep them tired enough to stay in your yard.

Plus.. it's really fun to run the dogs with your bike. They love it and take to it immediately. No learning curve as dogs naturally love to run as a pack. If they get distracted easily by squirrels or birds or other dogs, just pedal faster. They can't do 2 things at once - so if they start to chase after something pedal faster and they'll have no choice but to turn their attention back to you and keeping up with the bike.

Hope this helps.

SpinSpinSugar

Once your dog learns to jump a fence it's pretty hard to train them out of it. It's very self-rewarding.

My whippets routinely jumped 6-ft fences (straight jump to the top) and Grover once jumped a 10-ft fence and broke multiple bones in both front legs/wrists coming down (he was being boarded, it was an unfortunate accident).

Grover had learned to jump them before I got him, Watson learned from him. :rolleyes:

I agree with the physical fixes suggested above.
Another option for small dogs is this:
http://www.catfencein.com/

I don't understand why there are wires and such under the dirt in such a tall fence? I think the most obvious solution is to dig a trench all the way around, so when he stands up there and peeks out, he can't get up high enough to jump out.

Unless he can do a running leap. Some dogs can jump over everything and anything. But it is my experience that the dogs that don't think that way are easily foiled by just a couple inches of extra fence. There's a 2 inch high ridge in my driveway, and one of my son's dogs took a look at the fence (the exact same height all long the driveway) from that vantage point, and realized he could make it. So he did. I saw him do it. He could easily jump over every part of the fence, but I only block off that little corridor temporarily when he comes over, and he's never gone over the fence since.

I put a rabbit fence up around some gardening. It was about 2 feet high. My terrier mix flew right over it, but the Golden Retriever mix is totally flummoxed. Until she bumped into it hard and knocked it down a little--then she went over it *there* with no problem. As soon as I fixed that spot, she was stuck again. It's quite hilarious.

I hope your doggie doesn't get out again. Around here it's a $50 ticket.

Karen

Thanks guys (eh sorry girls) for all your help. There are definately some things to consider.

The cycling doggy walk... well... Baziel (our white jumper :D ) runs an average of 23 km/h. :eek: And he's got an incredible stamina.

We call him our flower power dog. All he wants is to share his love and freedom. :D

De French Bulldog (the dark one on the pic) never runs away.

Thanks a million!!!!!!!!

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Originally Posted by Tuckervill

I don't understand why there are wires and such under the dirt in such a tall fence?

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That is a looooooooooooooooooooooooong story, believe me. :D So the wires, cables and water are there, and we'll keep it like that. It wasn't our idea either. :D

+1, Spun Sugar. I use a device called the Walkydog. They love it, and I get a bit of exercise. However, after they get used to the exercise regime, they'd probably still jump that tiny fence to greet people. One suggestion I haven't seen yet is sticky tape or contact paper on the top of the fence so when they put their feet up there, they get stuck to the paper, which they hate. I've heard this works for "counter surfers" (dogs that get up on kitchen counters), so it might work for you since the fence has a flat top. Like the mousetraps, it's good because the fence seems to do the negative reinforcement, and you get to be the good guy and "save" them from the nasty sticky stuff. You'd have to replace it a lot, however, especially in bad weather. Good luck!

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Originally Posted by Kris

+1, Spun Sugar. I use a device called the Walkydog. They love it, and I get a bit of exercise. However, after they get used to the exercise regime, they'd probably still jump that tiny fence to greet people. One suggestion I haven't seen yet is sticky tape or contact paper on the top of the fence so when they put their feet up there, they get stuck to the paper, which they hate. I've heard this works for "counter surfers" (dogs that get up on kitchen counters), so it might work for you since the fence has a flat top. Like the mousetraps, it's good because the fence seems to do the negative reinforcement, and you get to be the good guy and "save" them from the nasty sticky stuff. You'd have to replace it a lot, however, especially in bad weather. Good luck!

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I'll try that one right away. I've got some very sticky tape. :D


Well the fence is tiny and not tiny. We never thought that he would jump 2m10 downwards. He still has a sore leg because of it.

This evening I'll try my first ride with my bike and dog. Hope it works.

OK, different bureaucracies. Looks like the yard is much higher than the roadway below, and all the services are run underground(telecoms, nat gas? etc) as well as the usual underground water. Either that or there is a stormwater/wastewater or land retention feature under the dirt.

In the US, all the utility companies together sponsor a free underground locate service. They map with spraypaint where the services are, so you can excavate safely. If you knew where the services actually were, you might be able to raise your fence higher, if local codes allow it. Your fence is nice looking, and your dogs are beautiful. But Frenchies aren't that tall, and even little dogs need a taller fence than what you've got.

In the meantime, could you post a tasteful sign on the outside of the fence with your contact info, so if your dog escapes again it would help?

My dogs are chipped (obligated). So the police, shelter or the vet would immediately know if it was my dog. Pedestrians, cyclists know it's my dog, there's a pretty picture of him at my door. It always make bypassers smile. :D

Well in the mean time, the sticky tape didn't help. LOL. We are going to place an extra fence that you can't see from the street this weekend or the weekend after that. They predict bad weather this weekend...

It doesn't help your dilemma at all but - what cute pups!!!