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Escape artist


Lui ovens
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I have a 15 month old intact male golden retriever. We live in acreage and the house yard has fenced probably 1-2 acres. For months now he escapes to the neighbours they have dogs and are often out and about feeding stock etc also their dams are not dry so I understand the lure. He digs under our house yard fence we are home most i for the time and I walk him 6kms a few days a week as well as playing in the yard. We are no worries unable to take him out and about to the dam or chopping wood in our paddocks as he will go next door as soon as you turn- once he is under the fence ears are back and he runs when you call him back. This morning he went while said neighbours were on our verandah with us! With all but one of their dogs. So that is first problem we plan to dig and add a skirt to fence. Second problem when neighbours went home he apparently rushed up and aggressively attacked their chihuahua actually puncturing him. I have never seen him be aggressive to chooks, children dogs large or small which often visit. I don't know why this would have happened unprovoked I'm feeling concerned . We have stock and small children 

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Sorry but have to say you have not been a responsible dog owner.... NOTHING works as well as a good fence....Unfortunately you have allowed him for months to learn how to escape and he enjoys going to the neighbours to visit as it is more fun there... I

 

I am surprised your neighbours have been so good about it up till now... if I was your neighbour I would be holding on to the dog and ringing the ranger probably after the 2nd time I had asked you to comply... 

You need to secure the yard,  In fact the. bigger the yard the harder it is to secure the perimeter - Instead you are better to create a back yard of perhaps 400sqm and make this secure... Just like a house backyard..... if he tries to dig under then you can have an electric tape placed low so he learns to leave the fence alone... It should be tall enough that he cannot scramble over - but you can provide an electric tape higher up if needed.... It is your responsibility to keep your dog contained to your property... so when you consider spending perhaps $1000 to provide a proper fence is better than a bad relationship with the neighbour or fines from council.

 

Desexing won't help prevent this bad habit... however it will do no harm as he is now mature enough for desexing to not affect his growth...

 

Once you have effected a secure fence you then need to work on building your communication skills with your dog.... Find a good trainer to help....

Edited by alpha bet
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Actually there isn’t a lure to go to the dam ,he is simply able to do what he wants and he does .

Agree you need to build a secure dog yard for him otherwise his future is not going to be good especially if he starts annoying others with stock .

His own yard can then be turned into his playground ,paddle pool,digging sand pit and you need to take some serious control back and teach the dog the correct rules and enrich his life more 

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We are on acreage (220) but we still have a securely fenced house yard for our two border collies.  The fence is only 900 mm high but we have an electric fence wire running 18cm from the top & if they were to ever try to dig under (which they don't) then we would run another electric wire just a few inches from the ground.  They will only touch it once & then they learn not to go near it. Not only does it stop them escaping, but it stops any wild dogs trying to get in.  We have the same set up around our chook yard.  Roaming dogs in rural areas usually end up either getting shot, taking a bait or getting beat up by wild dogs or kangaroos.

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Thanks for your replies, we have spent close to $10000 building the house yard fence which is post and rail chicken wire was secure until he started digging under it. Alpha bet I did state there was house fence and obviously I have tried making it secure as possible! But was actually after constructive ideas that I may not have already thought of!! And have installed the collar electric wire which then didn't work. The neighbours dogs wander the neighbourhood freely including our place but have a mate and are not puppies therefore don't. Really cause as much problem so the neighbours would only be setting up a future of disharmonious neighbours if they were to call te ranger I have thought of the electric tape and will look into it but was more reluctant to go down that path as the house yard fence is also for the children and yes they will learn from it to but it can be dangerous to young children unlikely but possible hence my looking for any advice I hadn't though that of yet. He does also have a paddle pool and sand pit. The problem became worse when my older dog passed suddenly he had no mate. 

Sheena perhaps this lower electric fence would work on the outside of the fence he would still get a shock trying to go under but kids wouldn't accidentally touch it from inside the (not so) secure 

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These are some of the ideas I’ve found effective:

A large run (approx 20 metres by 5 metres) made from 1.8 metre chain wire and 2.4 metre star pickets, with an electric wire on the inside. When we moved to the country, I had no experience building fences, but my teenage children and I were able to build that run for a few hundred dollars and it lasted 15 years. Most of the time my dogs are inside with us, but the run was a safe place for the my German Shepherd and Husky when nobody was home. More recently, I’ve used pool fencing around the verandah. When I purchased a puppy a couple of years ago,  I took a panel out of the pool fencing and installed a commercial run half on the cement and half on the grass, where the puppy would be safe when we weren’t home. 

When I was helping a relative whose dogs were digging under her fence, I loosely fastened star pickets to the bottom of the fence, parallel to the ground, so that their edges bumped against the dogs’ noses when they tried to squeeze under the fence. I have used star pickets in the same way to keep goats in their paddocks, and as an alternative way to stop goats squeezing under fences (for long fence lines) I have used heavy fire-fighting hose (10cm diameter).

I spend a lot of time recall training my young dogs, walking them on a long leash and calling them back to me for treats. This was so effective at conditioning my husky’s recall that, on one occasion, when a flock of birds burst from the long grass just in front of her, I called her and she turned to me out of habit before she could set off in pursuit. ( I learnt my lesson, however, and I was more careful about keeping her on leash after that.) 

Huskies are notoriously unreliable off-lead, but I didn’t want my husky to miss out on companionship or exercise, so I’d take her with me when I was working around the farm, but I’d walk her on a long cord and tether her when I needed both hands for a task - taking care that she couldn’t get tangled or hang herself by jumping a fence.

 

A caution about electric fencing: If it is installed, be wary about leaving it switched off. One of my dogs was injured when the wire of an electric fence tangled around her leg. If the fence had been switched on, she would have avoided it. 

I would also worry about installing it on the outside of the main fence, in case the dog pushed under the main fence, touched the electric fence and was trapped there, getting shocked.

Edited by DogsAndTheMob
Correction to hose measurement
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Welcome :) 

You are right to be concerned - Your dog  is finding more interest and excitement away from your home . 
- YOU and where you live should be SUCH a fabulous spot  that he never needs to wander  ... YOUR RULES and psychological boundaries also need to be reinforced to  keep him at home . 
Good physical boundaries - definitely !!

A single young and very fit dog dog will get bored very quickly  unless he spends a lot of time 'working' his brain with his humans ..not just roaming/walking .
 They enjoy training, doing tricks , LEARNING ... to carry things .. to pick things up off the ground for you ..put toys back in boxes ....to  do all sorts of stuff ..and to be well rewarded  for this brain work :) 

LOL ..I was almost about to suggest teaching ParKour ..that could be a big mistake  .

mostly, he needs your attention /company . To be with you indoors & out ....possibly on a long leash outside while communications are established ?  It will take some time  :)




 

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18 hours ago, Lui ovens said:

Thanks for your replies, we have spent close to $10000 building the house yard fence which is post and rail chicken wire was secure until he started digging under it. Alpha bet I did state there was house fence and obviously I have tried making it secure as possible! But was actually after constructive ideas that I may not have already thought of!! And have installed the collar electric wire which then didn't work. The neighbours dogs wander the neighbourhood freely including our place but have a mate and are not puppies therefore don't. Really cause as much problem so the neighbours would only be setting up a future of disharmonious neighbours if they were to call te ranger I have thought of the electric tape and will look into it but was more reluctant to go down that path as the house yard fence is also for the children and yes they will learn from it to but it can be dangerous to young children unlikely but possible hence my looking for any advice I hadn't though that of yet. He does also have a paddle pool and sand pit. The problem became worse when my older dog passed suddenly he had no mate. 

Sheena perhaps this lower electric fence would work on the outside of the fence he would still get a shock trying to go under but kids wouldn't accidentally touch it from inside the (not so) secure 

We raised both our children their whole life with electric fences.  We have all touched it on occasions as it runs all around & through the farm.  It has never harmed the children, & like dogs, cows or horses, they only ever touch it once then they have a good respect for all fences.  Do you understand how electric (farm) fences work?

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The way we fox proofed the chook pen, and would work for a dog, was to run chicken wire under the ground about a meter in from memory- whatever the height of the roll is. Can't dig through that. Also did the whole top so foxes couldn't climb in, but unless dog is jumping out, that wouldn't be necessary.

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