Over the fence and over the edge

Your replies are always so supportive and insightful here. I'm hoping to collect a little of that today!

I have a six-year-old beagle mix, very loving and sweet, for whom standard fencing is no obstacle whatsoever. We live on a quiet, dead end street with lots of other pet owners and he doesn't chase cars or critters of any description, so his constant escaping has been little more than a minor frustration. Until yesterday.

A man who lives several blocks away often ends up on my street during a daily fitness walk. My dog, husband, and I had just spent the entire afternoon playing in the yard, and I had come inside to take a shower. I heard FEROCIOUS barking. I raced to the front door just in time to discover that my dog had gone over the fence and was actively attempting to BITE the afore mentioned walker. Luckily, my husband was there to save the day, grabbing his collar before any real damage could be done. The walker was unbelievably understanding, but this behavior has left me more than just a little disturbed. Our neighborhood is absolutely teeming with children.

My husband wants to install an in-ground radio fence. I'd like to take some sort of formal training classes with my dog. Are these good ideas? Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

As this is a very serious situation, you can certainly try the radio fence. However, my experience with these is that they do not always work. For a dog who has been used to gaining freedom, the dog may well be willing to take the shock to get the freedom. This has been the case with many people I have worked with. I find it has about a 70 percent success rate.

I think it would be better to put up a higher, better fence. Invest in something that will really keep the dog in. You may even put up something at the top of the fence to keep the dog in. Fencing companies sell angled fence toppers to help keep dogs in - or people out. This would be a good option. If digging is a problem, as they put the fence in, have them put chicken wire down a few few under the ground so the dog cant dig out. Make sure all areas of the fence are tight, including the gate. Don't pile anything up against the fence that the dog can use to climb over the fence.

And, yes, a formal class is an excellent idea and a must do. Let your trainer know the problem so they can focus on those areas with you. If things continue to disinegrate, find an animal behaviorist in your area to help you.

One thing you must not do is tie up your dog when outside. This will cause the situation to worsen.

You sound like a great owner, and you are looking into all the right areas. I'm sure you will get this under control.

As you only got one reply, the situation was so serious and you sounded like the kind of dog owner that all dogs should have I popped in to try and help. Imagine my surprise when my opinion on the matter was already here!!! Could not agree more with the advice given.

Yup, a better fence may help. We just fenced in the back yard as we got a dog. Dad and I did the work. We didn't want chain link, or wood, and wanted something inexpensive. (My dog is a 9 year old bichon, so we are emore interested in keeping coyotes OUT than in keeping her IN.)

We got everything at Home Depot, and it looks like in this link.

http://www.purrfectfence.com/

See the middle photo? We didn't do the curved top - YET. But as I have 7 cats, we planned so that we CAN do that extra piece if we need to.

Just thought this may be helpful. If you and your husband are the DIY types, you will find this an easy project. Good luck!