How to Thwart a Canine Houdini

[GarryP]

Suggestions sought.

Due to recent changes in circumstances, during the daytime there is no longer anyone at home to keep my dog company. I tried keeping my dog in the front yard, but he climbed over the fence and visited his canine friends in the locality. I then tried keeping him inside but he has wrecked the mosquito netting. I have made changes to the front gate - I hired someone to do it- and front fence, increased the height, removed bars he could use as steps, etc. The latest measures were made on Saturday, but this morning he escaped again. The fence is now nearly two meters high, but he does not jump it, he climbs it.

I am at my wits end. I do not wish to chain him up as I do not believe it is fair on him, but at the same time I cannot have him escaping all the time. Not everyone in the street is a dog lover and you never know what some may do if he pees on their car wheels one more time. I also do not wish to lock him in the house all day as that is also not fair on him either.

Any suggestions? I live in an end town house but the only way out is over the front gate or fence. He is lonely but getting him a friend is not an option.

[wayned]

Your options are to either chain him or build him a chain link dog run, not a small cage, with a shaded area that he can not climb or jump out.

[robblok]

Sometimes it helps to just put a leash around his neck.. don't tie it to anything but the weight of it will keep him calmer. That worked at least with my dog, if he has his leash around his neck he wont run off.

I just saw a tv show about a dog climbing a 2 meter fence.. it was amazing everyone was amazed how he did it. So if your dog is like that then improving the fence wont help.

[GarryP]

Sometimes it helps to just put a leash around his neck.. don't tie it to anything but the weight of it will keep him calmer. That worked at least with my dog, if he has his leash around his neck he wont run off.

I just saw a tv show about a dog climbing a 2 meter fence.. it was amazing everyone was amazed how he did it. So if your dog is like that then improving the fence wont help.

Unfortunately, the greater I raise the height of the fence the more his ninjas abilities improve.

[GarryP]

Your options are to either chain him or build him a chain link dog run, not a small cage, with a shaded area that he can not climb or jump out.

Actually on my lunch break today I went out and bought a stainelss steel chain. I am loath to use it though.

[padsterj]

simply type "stop dog climbing fence" into google will give you your answer,my initial thought was curved over tops of the fencing seems I wasnt far off the mark

[GarryP]

simply type "stop dog climbing fence" into google will give you your answer,my initial thought was curved over tops of the fencing seems I wasnt far off the mark

From doing as you said, it would seem that my dog's attempts at escapology are caused by separation anxiety. He appears to have classic symptoms. When I leave my home for as few as 5 or 10 minutes, upon my return he acts as if he has not seen me in years. He follows me around the house and is sitting beside me as I type. As soon as I look as though I am about to leave the house he comes over all morose and gives me a real hand dog look. He does not escape when I am at home, but if only my son is home, the dog will sometimes take a trip if you ignore him for more than 10 or 15 minutes.

The dog never used to be left alone, but now with my wife gone, there is no option but to leave the dog alone when my son and I are at work.

So now the next question how do I wean the dog off me, figuratively speaking. I have already spent too much upgrading my fencing (a waste of time and money) so other options are high on my list.

[sustento]

When I lived in Oz we had a strong washing line that stretched all the way across the yard at the back. We used to loop a long leash over it so the dog had the run of most of the back yard. We put a kennel in the shade so he'd got somewhere cool to sit and left plenty of water out for him.

[jvs]

You could try to leave a radio playing,he might think someone is home.Buy some bones with meat on it and freeze them overnight and give him one when you leave.You can also throw his food around or hide it just before you leave.

When you come home totally ignore him and only pet him when he has calmed down and when you are ready for it.

Leave in the car,park it and walk back home.

This is not yet really a problem until he starts complaining by using his voice,then the people around you will demand you do something about it.

[cooked]

We have a small, aged, poodle. She has, up to now: eaten through (not bitten, eaten) a bamboo gate about three times. We put chicken wire behind that and most of it disappeared. We don't know how it was disposed of although she has been wincing when she goes for her morning walks. She also bit a hole in a plywood barrier. She wins, she sleeps indoors now. I am now building a dog pound with concrete blocks and chain link fencing,

Don't worry, they will have plenty of room (6 dogs!).

[wayned]

Currently I have 9 dogs and they are nice enough to let me share their dog house with them as long as I feed them everyday!

[misterphil]

Fix some of this plastic mesh fencing to your fence. Its slippery and he wont be able to climb it. You can buy it in Home Pro and all the other DIY stores.

[misterphil]

simply type "stop dog climbing fence" into google will give you your answer,my initial thought was curved over tops of the fencing seems I wasnt far off the mark

From doing as you said, it would seem that my dog's attempts at escapology are caused by separation anxiety. He appears to have classic symptoms. When I leave my home for as few as 5 or 10 minutes, upon my return he acts as if he has not seen me in years. He follows me around the house and is sitting beside me as I type. As soon as I look as though I am about to leave the house he comes over all morose and gives me a real hand dog look. He does not escape when I am at home, but if only my son is home, the dog will sometimes take a trip if you ignore him for more than 10 or 15 minutes.

The dog never used to be left alone, but now with my wife gone, there is no option but to leave the dog alone when my son and I are at work.

So now the next question how do I wean the dog off me, figuratively speaking. I have already spent too much upgrading my fencing (a waste of time and money) so other options are high on my list.

If your dog suffers from separation anxiety you need to take him for a very long walk or run before you leave him. This way he'll be exhausted and wont be interested in going out and looking for other dogs to play with. It will last about 6 hours depending on the breed, but then he will be back up alert and trying to get out again. Our Doberman was the same until we learnt about separation anxiety. Get yourself a bicycle and take him for a run for 30 minutes before you leave the house.

Get the Ceaser Milan Dog Whisperer books, they are great help.

[HerbalEd]

Dogs are by nature social animals. It very cruel to them to be left alone for long periods of time.

[GarryP]

Dogs are by nature social animals. It very cruel to them to be left alone for long periods of time.

It is not by choice. He never used to be left alone. But with my wife now gone (mentioned in one of my earlier posts), what do you expect me to do about it?

[Pii Kate]

If your dog is fully immunized and his dog buddies are friendly, what's the harm in him letting out? Is there a lot of traffic? Worried about being kidnapped?

Dogs are pack animals are happiest with pals.

[cooked]

Well, an electric fence will do it, accompanied by a yellow tape. One shock off of that (you can try it yourself, unpleasant but not dangerous or really painful), he won't go anywhere near a yellow tape again. A bit of a bind to set up though.

[GarryP]

Well, an electric fence will do it, accompanied by a yellow tape. One shock off of that (you can try it yourself, unpleasant but not dangerous or really painful), he won't go anywhere near a yellow tape again. A bit of a bind to set up though.

Sounds interesting. I assume they are like those cattle wire fences I used to see as a kid. Give you an uncomfotable buz but nothing more.

[HUAHIN62]

We had the same problem and solved it by having an over hang at the inside (on top) of the fence . It looks and works like a security fence, just look at security fences and you will see how the construction should be. The dog can still climb up but can't go over.

Edited October 21, 2014 by HUAHIN62

[angeltwossister]

I really do feel for you, only time and routine will help.

Cesar Milan's methods can seriously help, and I have recently watched a British 2 part series called 'Dogs Their Secret lives' which addresses causes and cures for exactly your dogs problem. It is from Jan and I downloaded it from EZTV. I have just checked, you can still get it.

It is an excellent idea to try to make the time to walk him before you go, a dog exercised is always more content.

Depending on where you live there may be a dog psychologist/expert who can assess and advise you on a personal tailored/structured plan, I know there is a good one in Chiang Mai.

It is clearly an insecurity issue and that will have to be cured. I have one dog a little like yours but only at night and during thunder storms/fireworks does he stress and escape. In my case, I am lucky, he is sociable and harmless and causes no trouble locally, but I still prefer him to be safe at home, so I do lock him in. That sometimes means he does scratch at doors and chew things up, but only in the event of a prolonged and loud storm. The companionship of his 2 siblings, who couldn't care less about thunder or fireworks/gunshots doesn't actually help him at all, which amazes me. The louder the noise the louder they snore ! Yet all 3 are Thai mixed breeds.

Making stronger barracades will only mean he risks hurting himself more in his attempts to escape and gets more anxious and develops other anxiety issues as he is imprisoned probably then directing his stress at something else. Wishing you the very best of luck. Don't give up.!

[dotpoom]

I would love to have a dog but as i love dogs I could never have just one for the very reason you state....i couldn't bear to think of him being lonely when we could not take him somewhere. It would have to be at least two dogs or nothing. My father always had at least 5 dogs at any one time. In my Moban there are two houses with a dog. and by all appearances they love them very much. But I wonder if they know how much the dogs fret and yelp when they are left alone. They pine all day and night until somebody shows up.

[Keesters]

If your dog is fully immunized and his dog buddies are friendly, what's the harm in him letting out? Is there a lot of traffic? Worried about being kidnapped?

Dogs are pack animals are happiest with pals.

Are you volunteering to be there and monitor him? In many parts of Thailand (e.g. Bangkok & Pattaya) it is illegal to have your dog running around free on public land. You need to monitor to ensure no damage to 3rd party property and clean up any poop.

[Suradit69]

Sometimes it helps to just put a leash around his neck.. don't tie it to anything but the weight of it will keep him calmer. That worked at least with my dog, if he has his leash around his neck he wont run off.

I just saw a tv show about a dog climbing a 2 meter fence.. it was amazing everyone was amazed how he did it. So if your dog is like that then improving the fence wont help.

If it's the one I saw, they built him a ramp (well away from the wall) to climb up and sit on that allowed him to survey the neighborhood from his perch without actually climbing out of the compound. He was a fairly small dog and seemed content with being able to look down on the world around him. Unfortunately this video only shows him escaping, not the solution, but I believe it was on Bondi Vet Season 5 episode 6 if you can locate it.

Anyway if you fast forward to minute two you can see him scale the bench.

Edited October 21, 2014 by Suradit69

[Suradit69]

Here's a few screen shots from the "solutions." They put something to block him getting over the fence where he had been spotted climbing over before and then they built him something like a lifesaver's perch to climb up to use an observatory.

[GarryP]

Here's a few screen shots from the "solutions." They put something to block him getting over the fence where he had been spotted climbing over before and then they built him something like a lifesaver's perch to climb up to use an observatory.

I have already spent way too much on my fence and gate. Also, the overhaging frame while workable on the fence would not work on the gate unless I put it on hinges so I could fold it up when opening the gate and lock it into place when the gate is closed.

At this rate the front of my house is going to start to look like Parkhurst.

I could certainly see my dog sitting on a lifesaver's perch, not to look out at what is going on but as King Pete looking down on his subjects (my son and I), full of disdain, waiting for his dinner to be served. I'd never be able to get the little bugger down except at meal times.

[Si Thea01]

Doesn't matter how old you dog is, just train him/her. There is no doubt he/she is stressing out when you are absent but with the correct amount of training this can be brought under control. You need to build confidence in the animal and this does take time but you will find it's worth it. If you have the time, walk the animal morning and night, half an hour is fine. If the dog only escapes to be with his pals and returns home without problems and there is no traffic around then I would not worry providing it is not an aggressive animal.

You need to show the dog you are the pack leader and that his behaviour is not acceptable but this needs to be done with all the love and care you can give. Never hit him for doing wrong, a low scowl will suffice as you dog will learn quickly what is right and wrong but whatever training you give has to be repetitious and no longer then 10 minutes a day as you dog will soon get bored. And remember, praise and praise and praise when it does good and a few good greats when he performs to what you expect helps immensely.

I notice that you stated that another canine is out of the question. Have you thought about a cat. I have two and they were here before the dog and now after two months they are great mates. My dog is a four month old German Shepherd, who undergoes training everyday and owing to the type of dog I keep him within the premises to prevent anything happening that I am unable to control. There are a couple of small soi dogs that get into my yard, which is ok, as my dog is now too big to get out where they come in. They all play together, the three dogs and cats but I still have to watch my pup as his play with the cat sometimes gets a little rough.

You will find that if you can train your dog with love and care, a limited use of chain or leads, make sure he knows you are the pack leader, give him treats and plenty of praise he will respond but it will take time and plenty of patience from you. Just remember, although we always make sure our dogs are part of out family, they are animals and can only be trained through repetition and if treated properly will respond much more quickly then if treated poorly.

[GarryP]

..........

I notice that you stated that another canine is out of the question. Have you thought about a cat. I have two and they were here before the dog and now after two months they are great mates. My dog is a four month old German Shepherd, who undergoes training everyday and owing to the type of dog I keep him within the premises to prevent anything happening that I am unable to control. There are a couple of small soi dogs that get into my yard, which is ok, as my dog is now too big to get out where they come in. They all play together, the three dogs and cats but I still have to watch my pup as his play with the cat sometimes gets a little rough.

........

My dog goes nuts even at the sight of a cat so that is also out of the question. I am leaving the office now so I will have a chat with him when I get home. See if I can talk some sense into him.

[realenglish1]

All I can say is Smart Dog. There was a report on Discovery about Dogs intelligence Before They thought dogs can understand about 250 spoken words Now they believe they can understand more than 1,000 words.

Dogs have the brains of a 3 year old . Don't underestimate them

[RTH10260]

simply type "stop dog climbing fence" into google will give you your answer,my initial thought was curved over tops of the fencing seems I wasnt far off the mark

From doing as you said, it would seem that my dog's attempts at escapology are caused by separation anxiety. He appears to have classic symptoms. When I leave my home for as few as 5 or 10 minutes, upon my return he acts as if he has not seen me in years. He follows me around the house and is sitting beside me as I type. As soon as I look as though I am about to leave the house he comes over all morose and gives me a real hand dog look. He does not escape when I am at home, but if only my son is home, the dog will sometimes take a trip if you ignore him for more than 10 or 15 minutes.

The dog never used to be left alone, but now with my wife gone, there is no option but to leave the dog alone when my son and I are at work.

So now the next question how do I wean the dog off me, figuratively speaking. I have already spent too much upgrading my fencing (a waste of time and money) so other options are high on my list.

My father used to tell his dogs before leaving that he was doing so, showed them the rug where they should lie down on, and told them all over that they were good doggies (aka not punishing them by turning away). And when coming home giving them a hug and telling them how good they were, together with a small treat (one dog biscuit). After a few times they got the message and withdrew to their rug as soon as father put his shoes on.

Try this procedures with just going round the corner, then going shopping, for a few times.

The dogs did find the correct signals too as they were not told they would be going on a stroll nor their leash was readied.

my 2 cents.

[KhnomKhnom]

Simple ... build a higher fence....... much over three meters and even if he gets to the top, inside, he will have to JUMP down and should be scared to do that...... or he breaks leg landing and you deal with that. Most dogs get scared at about the 6 or 7 foot height.

DEFINITELY DO NOT leave a leash or collar on him unattended. He will jump or climb something and get leash or collar caught on the fence and choke to death handing there. Happen to my dog decades ago on farm.