Our 1 year old Rotti has always been an escape artist since we first started keeping him in the back yard with our other dog. In the last few months, after we moved to our new house which has higher fences than the last one, he has been jumping/climbing the fence, getting into our garage and destroying anything he can find, stealing and destroying things from the neighbors garage, and ripping up all the neighbors rubbish bags on rubbish day.
We have tried tying him up, but he just sits there and howls all day, we started getting complaints from neighbors. So we decided to get an invisible fence that gives him a shock if he gets too close to it. That worked for the first half of a day, as it was something new, but as the day went on he started ignoring the shocks and sat right beside the fence which caused the battery to run itself out. We got a new battery and tried again, but as expected he just sat there by the fence and jumping up on it, twitching with every shock that he was getting as he was past the boundary limit that was set, which caused the new battery to die within half an hour!
We don't know what else to do as he is just not getting the hint. We take him for hour long walks but 10 minutes after we get back he is jumping the fence again. He never runs away and will jump back as soon as he hears someone coming because he knows he is about to get told off and tries to make it look like he was never out. We are only renting and are not allowed to adjust the fences, we love living here so don't want to move.
By Missy
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What we did and works greatly, is on the top of the fense facing inward, we put an electric fense, like you would do for horses. So they can play all they want in the yard with no problem but if they try to jump they get zapped.
Jesus... I bet it worked. ya know, they make various levels of boxes from tickle a rabbit to smoke your pony. The horse one is a litttttle bit hot in my opinion. The other problem is, and im really curious, how tall and what material is your fence? And... what did you do with the ground wire?
Post I'm responding to: (it starts) What we did and works greatly, is on the top of the fense facing inward, we put an electric fense, like you would do for horses.
MY QUESTION: Do you have a picture of what you did? We have a 4' vinyl fence we installed before we got our dog. It's picket and the scallops dip down - perfect for jumping. We just adopted a 6 year old hound dog...already jumped 3 times...believe this is why he was homeless. Have lost sleep trying to figure out what to do without totally spoiling the look of our fence. Thanks so much!!
I know how you feel. I have a boxer mix that can jump any 8 ft. fence like a deer. Luckily she doesn't do it so often anymore and also puts herself back in the yard. I would have him neutered as soon as you can. It will curb his wanderlust. Call around you can get this done free or low cost from Snap or a similar program in the area.
Maybe a new home would be the best for all. He needs someone who can spent more time and keep him in line by constant training.
Good luck. I hope things work out for both of you.
i agree, a walk isnt gonna do it. that monster needs to run with a backpack on.
He is a very smart dog to have outsmarted the electric fence. If you haven't already, it would be worth seeing if your landlord will work with you raise the fence a bit.
I also recommend getting him neutered. Our local Humane Society website has links to several spay and neuter options with coupons, assistance programs, and discounts. You should check to see if your Humane Society does too. We were able to get our two kittens fixed through the Oregon Spay/Neuter Fund for significantly less than the vet had told us it would cost.
I have 2 dogs. One is very well behaved and the other is an escape artist, like yours. Both German Shepherds...I got 2 harnesses, not collars, and with a 3 foot leash, attached the escapee to the "warden"...in other words, I attached the leash to the harnesses on both dogs. The leash isn't long enough to let my climber/jumper get even half way up the fence.
Now my escape artist has to go wherever his brother goes. Just make sure the leash is short enough so the jumper can't get anywhere near the top of any fence, but long enough so they can sit, walk, and lay down comfortably. This is a temporary solution while my escaper is attending obedience classes. Good luck.
Please be sure to watch the dogs while leashed together, our two got the leash tangled around one's neck, we saved him just in time.
We have two dogs, we j spend over 1500.00, to extended the fence to 6' feet high and the first thing they did is they started to jump and the fence again, so now don't know what to do with them...
You sound like you are exhausted! It sounds like a situation where I would ask a friend of find someone to either adopt him or take him off your hands for a while.
That being said, there are links you can read and try to find ways to modify his behavior. I personally won't keep a dog that keeps escaping.
I am thinking he might benefit from hiring a teenager to take him on long walks, and keep him exercised.
I would probably find someone to take him for awhile and maybe have him to to a residential obedience school.
I would love to hear how it works out!
You have a tough situation. And I think you have been on the receiving end of enough finger waging to last a lifetime. I think you need to find a way to have your dog neutered asap. It will help a lot. Have a garage sale, do some babysitting, or whatever you can do to raise some money. Tell your Vet your situation and perhaps you can get a discount. You sound like a thoughtful caring pet owner. If neutering doesn't work, than perhaps a new home would be the best idea. Best of luck to you.
We have a Australian cattle dog , very smart and listens to everything except " don't jump that fence" he's 3 years old and full of spit and vinegar, we had him neutered and it didn't help at all he still jumps are 5 ft fence. Don't be so quick to neuter him if you are planning on studding him out, Just saying thats not always the answer, sometimes they are little jerks like mine and likes to watch me run after him.
Uh. I was surprised that no one else wanted to talk about this subject. Please do not breed dogs! Amateur dog breeding creates problems. Please just be informed. I think you are a generous being. You would be an ideal foster parent for dogs. The stats for abandoned dogs are staggering, and if the shelters had more people like you we wouldn't have to put dogs down. Please use your loving soul for what's best.
Just an FYI: Where I live, you can't have a fence taller than 4', and I'm sure this is not the only community where that's true. From all the responses, it seems like getting a German Shepard or some other tall, athletic dog isn't a good idea for me. BTW, you might want battery back-up in areas like mine which lose power fairly frequently if you do an electrified fence.
the shocking device you speak of should be added to supervision... not from a window but where you can correct the behavior yourself. constant correction in time not after... sigh.
the shocking device you speak of should be added to supervision... not from a window but where you can correct the behavior yourself. constant correction in time not after... it wont take long. see my comment on elect fence below also.
We rescued Lulu, a powerful pit and lab mix, over 7 years ago. Lulu is very sweet, but she is also a clever escape artist. Over the years, the fences around our house have grown taller and taller (7 feet now.) I cant recount how many trips that I made to Home Depot to gather materials to plug a new escape route Lulu discovered or made. She could be startled by fireworks, a loud noise, just wanted to play with neighbors dogs in their backyard, or roamed the streets. In the end, I couldnt even figure out her escape route. A couple of years ago, I put a Gopro on her trying to record how she got out. Some time later I got a call from one of our neighbors informing me that Lulu was with him. A few days later I spotted the missing Gopro on a tree in our backyard. Over the years I have purchased many no-jump harnesses and none stood a chance. Lulu would chew through them in minutes - she has some piranha teeth. She also destroyed several metal crates (one made of steel bars.) I then started to devise contraptions on my own; but Lulu managed to defeat them one after another. Being a good engineer I soldiered on my design. After over 9 different prototypes, I finally made one that worked - also friendly enough to use. Lulu has not escaped once since. She appears to have lost the urge or forgotten the ability to jump high fences. My wifes only complaint was that I made Lulu wear belt and chain. Well, what is the alternative: having Lulu roam around the neighborhood unnerving other dog walkers, chase after the mailman, time and again trouble our nice neighbors to bring her home, or worse - getting her hit by a car or taken away by the animal control?
I called the harness "LowJump" - a jump restraint dog harness - and put it on Etsy. Wearing it, your dog can still walk and run as normal, just can't jump very high. Hope this help to solve your anxiety.
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