[Tracey]

I am quite fortunate that I have a couple of acres of land with my house but I am getting to the end of my tether with Scooby who keeps disappearing through the hedge when I take my eye off him for a second and I literally mean one second. He must run like hell when he sees me run away - and then goes deaf!

If he hears me calling then he will come back but if he is sniffing then I can't recall him for love nor money!

He loves going to the farm barns next door and in the dykes and running after people walking down the lane (thankfully, very few).

I realise that I must do something before he is run over or lost forever.

Any ideas? I could see about erecting a run but it will be expensive.

I could try attaching him to a long rope/lead but I am worried about him strangling himself or getting caught up.

It isn't feasible to put any other type of fencing up as I have horses and there is a lot of boundary, which will be a lot of work and expensive.

BTW He has been castrated.

 

[JohnW]

I'm sorry Tracey but you have three choices.

1/ Make a kennel block for him, preferably incorporating the back door or your house so he can go out safely.

2/ Fence your garden in, again so he can go out safely

3/ Risk your dog's life!

There is no reason why a dog needs a couple of acres to run in and the risks of him getting out and run over, getting out and getting shot by a sheep farmer or getting out and making other dog walker's life a nightmare is immense. I date back to the days of “Latch key dogs” and have seen too many run over. I have also had motorcycling friends in hospital after stray dogs running in the road. One suffered kidney damage and one a smashed leg and his knee cap removed. Sorry but I feel quite strongly about this. It is not fair to your dog or to others.

Regards, John

 

[Cristina]

I have to agree with John here, I know someone who was killed by a stray dog runing out in front of there car. The car swerved and hit a tree, It is not just your dogs safety you have to think about but other peoples too.

 

[CharlieBrewer]

I agree with John and Christina too - we are lucky enough to live next door to my parents who have a 3 acre garden (our house does have a garden but it wasnt fenced off) within a few weeks of living here we had a fence put around our garden so that I knew when I had the door open that my dogs were 100% safe, also when we do go into my Mums garden (up to 10 times a day!) its a special treat to them and its like another walk for them!

Could you not fence off a small amount of garden for him to play safely and when you are available you could take him for a walk in the rest of the land, on a trailing line if needs be so that you can always have hold of him.......

The cost of a fence is far nicer than losing your precious dog...

 

[Tracey]

Thanks for your replies.

if I go out and do not have 100% attention on him then I have started to clip him to a lunge line that I have attached to the fence. I leave a few toys with him and water and shelter but he still whines a lot. It does drive me mad but I am ignoring it. (it's only for about 30-60 minutes and he can see me)

For the longer term I am hoping to get our garden dog proofed - how high a fence do you recommend? There are a lot of hedges but he still managed to squeeze through the most tiniest of gaps.

 

[JohnW]

The fact that he has been castrated leads me to assume that he is no longer exactly a puppy. Normally a four foot fence would suffice to contain a Labrador who was not in the habit of wandering, but in your case that may well not be enough! The fact that he is in the habit of wandering means that when confined he may well decide to take the matter into his own paws! A Labrador can easily clear a four foot fence from a standing start. As a scale 6 foot is certainly not impossible. Again, because they are wonderful diggers burying the bottom a foot into the ground may or may not be deep enough. As to "Chain link fencing" When I was putting up a new fence I attached one end then walked up the garden unrolling it as I went. Before I got to the end of the roll it all went slack. Walking back I found Lucy had "Unknitted" a strand in the middle! I think most kennels have had one in at sometimes who has no difficulty unknitting chain link with their teeth! I finished by facing the chain link with chicken wire!

Regards, John

 

[megaloo]

Hi
Because I hav been away I can only join in, when probably you think is too late. I can only say Amen to what John and others have said have already said. I am afraid it is down to you to keep your dog and other people safe, I know it can be costly but that is the price that has to be paid. Also chain link fencing is not any good in my opinion, Many years ago my Honey was very good at going under chain link and even pulling away the chicken wire when we tried to repair it.
As it has presiously been said a dof does not need acres to run in, good walks and socialising is by far the best good luck Meg :wink: :wink:

 

[Maddie]

One of the very first things I did was to fence my entire plot in (13,400m2) with sheep fencing (square wire - small at bottom and large at top). It's about 1.4 m high. It was not cheap but for the safety of my dogs and the livestock around us it was well worth it. In the meantime, while you figure out a solution, have you considered getting a bell to attach to your dog's collar so you can always hear him and know where he is? All my neighbours got to know if they heard the bells it was my dogs! I got them from an online store based in the States. Something like Lion Country Stores http://www.lcsupply.com/store/flashcart.cfm?section=268
They are not expesive and they do ship to teh UK. Mine don't need them now as they can be trusted but they were a godsend when we first arrived at our new home.