[2boyzmama]

We have a husky/cattle dog mix who is an escape artist, has been since she was a puppy. The husky in her gives her the urge to run, the cattle dog in her makes her want to patrol. It's been a challenge to get her enough exercise!

She got loose this morning by pushing a hole in the screen door and this time animal control picked her up. I was at work and they called my cell. My husband went to get her, and apparently she has a "file". There is a retirement community near us with a pond, and she has been going there to swim and chase the ducks (does not hurt the ducks, just herds them!) They have called to report her several times (I don't know how many times over what period) and today she was finally caught.

My husband thanked animal control, grateful that we now know where she's going so we can find her ourselves, but animal control said that they should issue us a citation...FOR $125!!!!!! My husband successfully argued it, saying that she's fully vaccinated, licensed, tagged, microchipped, friendly, trained, etc etc etc. We do not let her run freely, we walk her daily, exercise her at the bark park locally...she gets out either by escaping like she did today, or because my 4 year old opens the front door and she squeezes past him, or twice because she broke her tie out (we finally discovered that a piece was rusted, and we replaced it immediately).

I don't know what to do...hubby replaced the screen, we checked her tie out again, we talked about making a rule that Ian isn't allowed to open the front door by himself, but with summer coming that will be a real hassle. It doesn't seem to matter whether her walks are a half mile or 5 miles, her instinct is still to RUN, so more exercise doesn't seem to be the answer.

Any suggestions? Obviously a citation is something we want to avoid!!!

 

[lilsparrow]

I am sorry I don't have any help for you, but I will commiserate. We too have an escape artist. A Spanial mix. He digs holes in the yards and crawls under the fence. So we filled them all in, and he managed to strecth the bottom of the fence and squeeze out there. Then we went around the yard and tie wired it all down, and he now just jumps completely over the fence.

He also likes to squeeze out the front door when someone is going in or out. You literally have to squeeze your butt cheek in the door when closing it, or he will collapse his skeleton (kidding) and squeeze through. With four kids, this happens at least 500 times a day.

:

Then to add to the stress, there is a girl that lives behind us who has a serious dog phobia. Whenever she sees my dog, she goes into a serious hysterical screaming, running fit, and last time she fell on her step and skinned her knee. Then her mother calls or yells across the yard and complains everytime the dog gets out. We can have five of us running around trying to catch the dog and she's telling me I need to get my dog. As if I didn't know!!!. It's all quite annoying. I am afraid that the little girls fear will cause her to get seriously hurt, then her mom will sue ... cause yes, there is no love lost between us and yes, she is the type to sue.

I have thought about sending her over some literature with some advice on how to help her daughter with her phobia, but I am afraid she will take it the wrong way. (sigh)

Sorry I don't have any advice for you. We are obviously working through this issue ourselves, and your post made me feel like venting!! Sorry.

 

[Turquesa]

My parents used to raise huskeys and had the same problem. The breed is just known for its wanderlust!

Is she escaping while you're home or while you're away? Boredom could be a factor. I know that heelers, especially, have high doggy IQs and get bored really easily if they don't have constant companionship and/or a job to do.

Is she spayed? Spayed and neutered dogs are less inclined to sneak out to canine singles bars.

Is she crate trained? If not, I would read up on this option intensively and even see a trainer about it. IMHO, this would be the key solution to your problem. If you keep up the good work exercising her, the "down time" in her "den" won't hurt a bit.

 

[Rhiannon Feimorgan]

Is it possible to fence the yard that your door opens up to? So that if she gets out the door she's still contained.

I had an escape artist once too. The crowning moment was when she was caught slinking out of the back door of a local pizza place with a huge pepperoni sausage in her mouth.

 

[Super~Single~Mama]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rhiannon Feimorgan I had an escape artist once too. The crowning moment was when she was caught slinking out of the back door of a local pizza place with a huge pepperoni sausage in her mouth.

Thank you SO much for the much needed laugh!

My family had an escape artist when I was growing up. When we went on vacation we boarded him at the vets that had a really nice outdoor run, but soon they started refusing to board him. Wanna know why?

He had started letting himself out of his kennel in the middle of the night and letting out all of his friends too - so when the staff came in in the morning they were all running around! And the dogs my dog didn't like were mad b/c they were stuck in their kennels!

 

[gini1313]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rhiannon Feimorgan I had an escape artist once too. The crowning moment was when she was caught slinking out of the back door of a local pizza place with a huge pepperoni sausage in her mouth.

LMAO... Our escape artist figured out how to open the neighbors back door and he would find her standing in his living room. Luckily, he was a mellow guy who liked dogs. He would just put her on a leash and bring her home.

No advice for the OP, though. She kept on escaping until she died. The only thing I can think of would be a fence around the whole house (kind of a pain) or an invisible fence (if you think that would stop your dog).

 

[2boyzmama]

Thanks for the answers!

Yes, she's spayed.

Yes, she was crate trained as a puppy, but now that she's older, she's "allowed" to be free in the house (no longer chews things or has accidents, and I like the protection she provides when we're not home).

She doesn't escape when we're not home, it's only when we are home. She has the best ears I've ever seen, can tell if it's me, hubby, or 4 yr old opening the door. If it's 4yr old, she appears out of NOWHERE and darts out the door before the poor kid knows what happened!!!

The only other way she escapes is if her tie out breaks (we've learned to check it frequently since two large dogs share it--obviously not at the same time!--and one of those dogs is a great dane!) Once she pulled out of her collar, but in her defense, she had gotten it snagged on something and was stuck (I was taking a shower and didn't hear her barking).

We've talked to Ian (4 yr old) and explained to him how important it is that Annie not get loose anymore, and we've started locking the screen door so he has to ask someone to open it for him. But that will get old quickly, especially as the weather is getting warmer and he plays outside so much!

Our yard is not fenced, yet, we discussed it and might do it, but our back yard is rather large and the houses around it are all unfenced also, so it's like a huge common play area, and we really like it!! Over the summer there are games of frisbee, soccer, baseball, etc that happen in that common area. Besides...if we fenced that yard, then our 4 yr old would have to learn how to open a fence so he can get outside to play, which means just one more opportunity for Annie to escape

Darn Husky! Darn Cattle Dog! What were we thinking with this breed combo?????!!

BTW, I *love* the story of the dog stealing the pizza!!!! HAHAHA!

 

[JessicaTX]

What if you got one of those baby gates that you can open and close easily and put that about 3 feet in front of the door, so the 4 year old has to open and close the baby gate to get to the door to open and close it?

I bought a wireless electric fence for my escape artist, it works well, unless someone unplugs the transmitter or the battery is running low. It gives warning beeps before it shocks, and if it doesn't beep at my dog he RUNS. I had really high hopes that he could just wear it for a couple weeks and then he'd be trained to stay in the yard..but it didn't work out that way =(

 

[mandib50]

i had an escape artist too. she wasn't a husky but her mom was a sled dog. there was literally no way to keep her from escaping. even with a fence she would dig out or work on a board until it came loose. when she was tied she would twist her chain until it snapped. if you gave her one millisecond of a chance to be free, she would take it.

it was hard. i lived in town for a long time and my one neighbour hated her, so i was always worried about her escaping because that particular neighbour was one to phone the town and complain about the littlest thing with the dog. i had no choice but to tie her when she was in the yard, even for a pee because i always worried about her getting run over (which is rather ironic because this winter we took her for a run and she got run over

)

i have no bright ideas. it got better when we moved out onto an acreage because at least if she escaped i knew my neighbours didn't hate her. of course, she did escape and would come home. when she started hanging out with the cows though, i had to be extra vigilant about making sure she couldn't escape because farmers around here kill dogs.

anyway, all that to say i hope you find a way.

 

[Super~Single~Mama]

Oh yeah, my escape artist made friends with the next door neighbor who just loved him. When he escaped from our yard and went for a run you just couldn't catch him. It was a lost cause. So, sometimes we had to leave to do things like go to school while he was escaped. His solution? Go visit the next door neighbor that loved him and she would let him in the house since she had a key

He was a great dog. I miss him!