Any other escape artist pups?

[beanma]

Our lab/hound puppy is turning into quite the escape artist. We're working on our recall so no flames, please, but she's jumped our fence 3 times now! Yikes. Gonna have to bite the bullet and get a better fence.

Anyone else have a pup that likes to escape? Any tips?

[gini1313]

There was a thread about this a while back, I think. We had a lab/hound mix. She was a super escape artist... it was horrible, to be honest. She was a fabulous dog, but nearly impossible to contain. We did build a fence that would keep her in... it is 6 ft tall, with chicken wire along the bottom to keep her from digging out (she could dig out of a fence in less than 5 minutes). How tall is your fence that she is jumping? If it is already 6 ft, you could try putting a part on the top that curves in... I think that will help keep dogs from jumping.

Our dog would also barrel out the front door (not in the fence) when ds was going in or out and if she saw me or dh distracted as we went through the door. We had been planning to build a gate across the steps to the front porch to see if it would slow her down a little, but she died before we got that done. The best thing would probably be to fence around the whole house, but then you have to go through a gate everytime you come home and that is sort of a pain...

Good luck... we weren't so successful keeping our dog in. We thought about rehoming her because of it, but then decided that anyone else would have the same trouble. Besides, then she killed a neighbor's chicken and the shelter said she would automatically be put down... so we kept her. She was an awesome dog, I think hounds are just runners...

[betsyj]

This may be where I would consider an electric/invisible fence as a backup to your existing fence.

[beanma]

gini, thanks for the tips. Glad to know someone else has been there, too! She does dig, too, so I think we would have to bury some wire fence pretty deep.

bestyj, I am open to the idea of an invisible fence. We could just run it along our existing fence, which is not that high — only 3 ft — but that's been high enough to let our other dog know his boundaries for 10 yrs. I'm worried, though, that since she's so tough skinned she'll just blast over the invisible fence. She's kinda nutty, but sweet. That might be the best option, though. I don't think we'd have to put a shock collar on our older dog so that would be nice.

Thanks for your thoughts. Would love to have any more tips, too!

[gini1313]

Originally Posted by beanma

gini, thanks for the tips. Glad to know someone else has been there, too! She does dig, too, so I think we would have to bury some wire fence pretty deep.
!

We actually laid the chicken wire on the ground coming out from the fence. Dh didn't want to bother with digging so deep to put it underground. The grass comes up through it and we can't see it anymore. It comes out about 18 inches (I think) from the fence, which I didn't think was going to be far enough, but she always tried to dig right at the fence (where she had dug out from other fences before) and when that didn't work, she seemed to give up...

We had a consult from the invisible fence people, but I really thought that she would just blast through an invisible fence. When she started running... it was like she couldn't even hear anything... she just had a look of pure joy on her face. We did think about getting a invisible fence kind of thing to teach her to not go near the front door anymore, but she died before we got to it. Our other dog has no interest in running away, so we haven't bothered.

[Carlin]

Ours is a pretty bad jumper, but not a digger, so we're just going to go with a higher fence this summer. We think 5 1/2 to 6 feet should keep her in.

On the other hand my parents had an Irish Setter who was a true escape artist. She would go under, over or through just about anything. They finally built a dog run out of chain link, that was about 7 feet high with a 1 foot overhang so she couldn't climb over it and a cement floor she couldn't dig through. This dog would squeeze herself through holes that would require her to leave skin and hair behind, so while she was before the time of invisible fencing, I doubt it would have slowed her down for long.

[confustication]

A 3 foot fence won't contain a lab- unless you have a suuuuper mellow dog.

We have a lab (purebred from a kennel that specialized in field trial dogs, not the nice sedate house/confirmation labs I was used to- lol) my only solution beyond working on obedience and recall (didn't 'click until nearly 18 months for her) is a 6 foot high pen and an attached rope in case she charged the door/gate.

The only other thing that helped was (oddly enough) working on agility- teaching her TO jump also taught her when not to jump.

[beanma]

Originally Posted by confustication

A 3 foot fence won't contain a lab- unless you have a suuuuper mellow dog.

Yes, that's very clear now! We just adopted her from the shelter and weren't really sure what we would bring home until we met her.

I'm wondering about a combo of regular fence + invisible fence. The regular fence would slow down "blasting through" the shock and the shock would discourage climbing/jumping unless it was a really beautiful flying leap. Right now what I've seen her do is just jump up and down until she gets one high enough to make it over. She doesn't get a running start and stretch out. It's more like she would jump if she were jumping into my arms. She may develop other techniques as she grows, though. She's only 7 months right now.

Maybe a 6 foot fence + chicken wire + an invisible fence!

thanks for all your thoughts and keep 'em coming!

[slimkins]

I guess I don't have a lot of advice/experience with the fence. My girl is "book smart" but not "street smart", so, if you don't show her how to do it she usually won't figure it out on her own. Not sure about your pup, but boxers (my dog) are notorious fence jumpers and they usually recommend at least 6' if not 8' fences.
As for the digging, my dog use to dig holes sometimes, more for boredom, not to escape. Typically, she was never in the backyard unattended and if she was I would watch her through the window. I would also watch her so that I could catch her and correct her. After a couple of times, she got the picture. If she ever did dig a hole, I would put her poop in it and she wouldn't touch it again. I know that would be a lot harder to do around a whole fence though... haha. Also, if your dog is tired it probably won't attempt to jump... it's usually a boredom thing as well.

[beanma]

Originally Posted by slimkins

Also, if your dog is tired it probably won't attempt to jump... it's usually a boredom thing as well.

I'm not sure that's the case with our girl. The times she's jumped it's been because she's seen something she's just got to investigate. Twice it was other dogs and once a bird or rabbit or something in a bush. She just couldn't contain herself and had to go see. I think she would have been excited even if I had just taken her for a ten mile run. I do agree that a tired puppy is a good puppy generally, but I think this is a case of instinct just taking over and she can't help herself.

I do think we're going to have to go tall for sure.

Thanks for all the helpful hints!

[slimkins]

Originally Posted by beanma

I do agree that a tired puppy is a good puppy generally, but I think this is a case of instinct just taking over and she can't help herself.

ahh, that darn prey drive. I definitely don't have any advice for you there. Other than possible local hunting or retrieving classes. Not sure if it would help, but my give the pup an outlet... hmm?