DOg keeps escaping

[kahaftl]

I am at my wits end I have a 8 month rott spayedand she has been to puppy classes.I can't keep her in the yard or the house. Just now I have learned that she can jump our 3 ft fence. Also she busts through my front door and I can't get her to stop. If any one has any suggestions that would be great.

[lv4dogs]

I would enroll her into obedience class.
In the meantime do not allow her to jump the fence by chaining her up.
Also if you do not crate her maybe keep a lead on her in the house, especially if you know people are visiting. When you hear a knock or the door bell etc.. grab the leash.

Also when you let her out to potty or excesize make her sit & stay by the door (have a lead on her) once she is settled in the sit (or you can use a down command) you may open the door, if she gets up quicky shut the door, and make her sit & stay again.
She will quickly learn that she can not go outdoors unless she is sitting.

Does she have a good re-call?

[dragondawg]

My 13 month Clover dog learned how to climb the 4.5 ft chain link fence when she was 4-5 months old. At first I chained her to 2 cement blocks. Then I got her a little brother and that kept her happy for about 3 months free in the pen. Close to 3 weeks ago she got hung up on the fence after climbing over, damaging a rear paw which is almost healed from the infection. Up to that time she and I were playing the game where she would find a place to get through, and then I would attempt to block it. For the fence I have bought vinyl poultry fencing drapping 1 ft outside, and 2 ft inside to form a canopy. I then tie wrap the outside to the chain link fence, and have attached a few ropes between the vinyl and the inside trees in order to keep it tight. Right now the main weakness in the system is the gate- which I try to barricade with poles and anything else I can find. I still have hope that she is afraid now of climbing the sides, and if I can just keep the gate well blocked the problem might go away.

I previously tried an invisible fence inside the chain link fence- she went through the electric shock, and then over the fence.

Although my Clover has not been to a puppy class, I can not think of any value to it. For example if I tell her to come when in the house, she comes. When on the outside if I tell her to come when on the leash, again she comes. Take off the leash and yippee over the hill we go. No command, enticement (e.g. treats) would work- does it sound familiar?

Also I got her at 3.5 months of age, so I do not know her complete history. But I do know if I act angered or yell at her while she is escaping, I may not see her again for hours. If I downplay her antics, she will return after about 20 minutes, usually covered in mud- my Wharthog. I had to make a major adjustment in my reacton to her escapes.

Through it all though I have found a solution to keep her from running out of the yard, yet not be chained to a given spot. I do this by attaching a 15 ft chain to her, that she can drag around the yard after her. I call her my "convict puppy". She has learned that if she takes off like a shot into the woods she will get tangled up in short order and I will find her quickly- what fun is that? Actually I have her little brother Barney the snitch, where if she disappears I ask him "Where's Clover", and he takes off running leading me to her.

Over a period of a couple of weeks she went from a dog that wouldn't stay in the yard to one who lays nearby watching me do gardening. My hope is that her behavior will become "conditioned", and in some future time I can take the chain off of her. But that is many months if not maybe years in the future. For now she seems content with the arrangement, and so am I. Of course Barney has now decided to try exploring for himself- but unlike his sister I can yell at him (makes me feel better at least) and he'll come back and wag his tail at me. In between times the two play in the yard together. All of this after 11 years with the perfect dog.

P.S. She still gets a "weekend pass" to run through the woods to the pond and back with her brother and a neighbor's dog (with humans)- a "dog patrol". So she isn't on the chain gang concept continuously.

[Karen]

How big is your yard? If she can jump the fence, you need to either never let her out unsupervised, or get a taller fence.

Taking her for long, tiring walks, and giving her plenty of toys to keep her occupied may help.

[kahaftl]

Well I just got a 15 ft chain that ai have outside and I placed a new door handle and lock on the front door. so All I can do for now is wait and see if she still tries to ecape on me. Wish me Luck

[kahaftl]

Thats the thing that I don't get is that We take her to the park and let her run and she has plenty of toys. The thing that gets me about it all , is that she doesn't do it all of the time but we will just wait and see. Thank You for all your responses

[Kfamr]

I don't want to scare you, just want to warn you. Make sure the chain that she is on, that she won't be able to still jump over the fence, or go anywhere near it.

The people who used to live behind us owned a Keeshond, which they chained one day and it tried jumping the fence.... and sadly hung himself.

[dragondawg]

In my case even if the "gate" was 15 ft or 20 ft (30 ft?) Clover would lumber jack (sort of like Quarto drive) climb right over it.

I'm not sure if it's possible to give a puppy dog enough exercise to satisfy it. Seems their batteries recharge fairly quickly when young. Plus the more important factor is the sense of "freedom" they have. In human terms one would think an acre of land with a few acres of woods behind it would be enough for a dog. But from the dog's point of view they are thinking in terms of territory as big as they can roam which could be as large a mile (depending on what other dogs are around). The intoxifying feeling of being able to roam free is just too much for some dogs. That's why it's so hard to break them of the escaping.

The one poster has a good point on chaining inside a pen. Make sure the chain isn't longer than the distance to the perimeter, and the dog can not drag the anchor close to the fence. I wish I could still use that as an option, but with another puppy in there the chance of injury is too great.

[stacwase]

I had the same problem with Max (rott/shepherd).

We solved the problem by putting a dog run inside the fenced-in area. There are two posts in the ground, with a cable between them and a chain hooked to the cable. He can run back and forth between the posts. You have to be VERY, VERY careful not to make his line long enough that he can still jump the fence while he's attached to the run. Otherwise he could strangle himself, KWIM?

We have changed our lifestyles a lot in order to not allow Max out! We have to keep all windows shut enough that nothing more than his head will fit out, otherwise he breaks the screens out and jumps through!

Our screendoors are the type that he can't get through, and we keep them latched at all times.

We sat down with all the kids and talked to them about the risk of him getting hit by a car if he got out of the house. So they're all very good about checking to see where he is before they open a door. When we're coming in the house we open the door a little and stick our heads in to see where he is before we open it all the way.

I also take him to a place where he can run offleash as often as possible. There's nothing in the world that this dog loves more than running - that's why he tries to get loose! Do you have a dog park?

[dragondawg]

my wild one would jump through the screen off the second story?

Your idea of a run inside a pen is an interesting one. I'm still losing the battle of the pen, while making progress outside the pen. I took her chain-gang chain off Saturday so she could play with a visiting dog, and she stayed right in the yard. That is until I said "let's go in", then she tore off into the woods, but came back in about 10 minutes. Not too bad for her. A few more months of being a convict dog with a chain trailing behind her might work yet.

[anna_66]

When Angus was a pup (also a rottie) he started climbing over the fence too. We ended up getting an electric fence (not the invisible type-he would have went right through it). All it took was one time getting shocked and he never tried it again! It's cheap, easy and works!

[dragondawg]

The Vet keeps on recommending the electric wire. Guess I would have to figure out how to string it up.

I found the run I had made 10 years ago for my previous puppy before I put up the pen. All these years it has survived in what is now a dense cluster of trees etc. Not sure how well it's going to work in the pen given the number of trees inside. It's up in the pen.

I found the latest escape route, and have piled some branching around that corner of the pen as a deterent. Currently the Clover dog is laying on the floor next to me snoring away- she escaped again today, and is probably all worn out.

So Plan A is to try one more day to see if by plugging up her favorite escape corner that will do the trick. If not then we try the run. If that doesn't work out then it might be time for the electric wire trick.