Yes, Glacier - my property is treed! what a good idea. It would blend in so much better with the nature, too. Until my husband comes home, I could do the trolley thing between trees, rather than trying to set in posts to attach it to.

Why didn't I think of that? It's so obvious!

Now if I can just find a way to keep him from bolting.

I was talking to the lady with the life estate about my problem, and she says that she has solved the problem with her dogs' extremely high energy levels by setting aside two hours very early in the morning, before anybody else is up, when they are allowed to run. At that time, the only real risk is a porcupine - and she feels that by letting them run off the energy she's actually decreasing the chance of them getting injured, because they don't bolt out the door during the daytime when Big Dumb Jerk is next door. She's 82 years old and been raising dogs on this property her entire adult life. They've all lived to ripe old ages (except the ones who have died of cancer), so she must know what she's talking about.

She told me about why she got dogs. She used to live in the house we live in now, and one day she walked out in the garage and found herself in there with a mama bear and her two cubs! Through the garage is the only way out in the winter, as the snow gets so deep that it's not feasible to keep both doors free of snow. Every morning after that, she would find them in her garage and she just couldnt' get rid of them. So - she got dogs and never had a problem with bears in her garage or deer in her garden again. Her dogs have always been indoor/outdoor. They sleep inside and come in and out whenever they want. She says she doesn't know if it was the smell of the dogs or what, but the dogs never actually had to tangle with the bears.

I thought that was an interesting story.

Anyways - back to Max. I think a combination of a trolley (I'll keep it near my garden!) and limited run time would probably be the safest option.