I used to have a Border Terrier that could climb a five-foot wooden fence (board on board) and squeeze through the hole in the middle where I reached in to undo the latch on the gate.
I have no idea how he did it, but I know he did, as I found his guard hairs on either side of the hole one day.
At my current house, the dogs have free run of the yard and can come into the garage where they have heated dog houses, but they are sectioned off from most of the garage by a five-foot tall wooden barrier.
Yep, the same thing, though this time with a different dog.
Mountain managed to get over the solid wooden wall routinely until I put a 12" wooden lip all the way around the top.
A chain link fence? Mountain climbs those like a monkey!
If you have dogs long enough, you too will eventually get a Houdini, and discover that there is a place in this world for hot wires and/or an Invisible Fence system. .
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8 comments:
Now that is a talented dog! Too funny!
I too had a chain link climbing monkey dog. Even after I did my best to fix it, she managed to get over it once more, and to stumble into the neighbour's pool and drown.
Hot wiring might have worked, but invisible fencing never stopped a truly determined dog from going through it. My old Mastiff girl used to give a little shudder as the shock hit her, then keep on walking. The only thing it ever consistently did was make the dogs less likely to come *back* through it again.
We now have five foot fence, with a two foot under dig and a sloped section on the top. Even so, I walk it every day to check for danger points.
Beagles! People who don't know dogs claim they're dumb. Independent maybe, but not dumb. I've owned six beagles over the years. Five of them were escape artists. Drove me nuts, yet I remain an unabashed beagle admirer. Except for one incredible jumper, none of my very trainable bird dogs have been escape dogs.
Sometimes I shut my standard schnauzer in a horse box to keep him out of trouble when I'm visiting a new barn. He's now learned to climb the hay net, launch himself over to the front pannel, and scramble to get his bad little bottom over the edge. He still hasn't learned to land on his feet though, and the thud is my que to catch him again and tie him up. Bad dog!
My older jack Russell who is now 8 can climb trees and open windows often fitting his fairly large body through spaces that I thought impossible. His son can open doors and run up a human body standing upright to perch on my shoulder like a parrot. great, great dogs indeed.
Have to add too that I just spent quite a bit of money having a nice outdoor shed built for my terriers as letting them have access to my living space while I am away from the house is too much of a liability. The kennel stands on wooden posts and has about 8 inches ground clearance all round. Needless to say, the terriers are not interested in sleeping in the kennel but have dug a nice bunker underneath about 20 inches deep and are just using my expensive dog house as a roof for their bunker. Gotta love those working terriers though
Dalmatians! We had a group that would run, hook front legs on top of 6 ft fence, use back feet to push themselves up, and then go over the fence. The solution was two feet of chicken wire at the top of the fence. I have shared this story with potential Dalmatian owners several times.
Shibas! Notorious for being escape artists and door bolters. My brother once watched one of his Shibas climb up a chain link fence (spiderlike) and go over it. He also had one that used a knothole as the beginning for an exit hole right throught a redwood fence. For these reasons (and for her own protection from some nasty wildlife such as raccoons and cougars), my Shiba has a specially constructed kennel. Fortunately, she seems to like her home arrangement and has stayed put. Other Shiba owners have not been so lucky. For more on Shiba escape artists, see "The Misanthropic Shiba".
"Shibamutti"
Electric fences and invisible fences are fine as long as they function. But they all eventually malfunction, sometimes with tragic results. I, too, have heard of dogs busting past the invisible fences and then not wanting to come back. I have grown disdainful of any fence less than 6 ft. tall, with a mandatory 2ft. apron of fence along the bottom to prevent digging out. I also put TWO latches on each gate, one at the usual level, and one at the bottom, to prevent the doggie bulldozers from pushing out the bottom of a gate. AND an airlock(double gate system) is mighty handy if you just want to get one or two dogs out instead of the entire pack! L.B.
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