My dog is an asshole.

[dr.girlfriend]

Urgh, so we have this cute but short-ish (maybe 4.5'?) fence around two sides of our yard. 



Last weekend the puppy figured out how to jump it, so she's been on "house arrest" with only supervised visits outside.  I thought she wouldn't jump if I was out there with her, but sure enough, she did.  So then I went to taking her out on a retractable leash (which I don't use while walking her normally, but I thought it would give her a little more freedom to roam than the 5' nylon leash we use for walks).  A dog came on the other side of the fence and she snapped the retractable leash and hopped it again.  Add to that the time she slipped by my feet when I was opening the front door and I've chased this asshole around our neighborhood for up to an hour three times over the past four week.  She will never let me catch her -- she lets me get just close enough to touch her and then runs away happily.  I've only caught her in the past from her going up to other people and dogs and them catching her for me.  Now she's on super-duper house arrest, and wearing the Leash of Shame even in the house until the new (6-foot) fence can be installed.  She's lucky she's cute.  :-P  I'm really sad about the new fence...it's going to make the backyard feel so much less open.

[grover]

Your post is missing a puppy picture

But yea, this is why we are selling our townhouse. New puppy's name is Trouble with a capital T and I don't trust him not to hop the three foot back fence (immediately behind said back fence is a state route with lots of traffic.) For whatever reason, the two side fences are both 6 feet, but HOA won't let us swap out the back one for a 6 footer.

[awick14]

One of our foster pups was able to climb our 6 foot wooden fence. My dog was all sorts of sad because he tried to climb the fence and he was very unsuccessful, lol. That was rough, we had to leash her to take her out to pee.

grover- 6 foot side fences but a shorter back one? That would just look odd wouldn't it?

[dr.girlfriend]

May 3, 2015 10:06:07 GMT -5 grover said:

Your post is missing a puppy picture

But yea, this is why we are selling our townhouse. New puppy's name is Trouble with a capital T and I don't trust him not to hop the three foot back fence (immediately behind said back fence is a state route with lots of traffic.) For whatever reason, the two side fences are both 6 feet, but HOA won't let us swap out the back one for a 6 footer.

When I read this I went over to take a picture.  Here she is, sitting forlornly by the front door, Leash of Shame and all.


But now it's hard to type, because she's decided that I'm interesting:

[dr.girlfriend]

May 3, 2015 10:19:04 GMT -5 awick14 said:

One of our foster pups was able to climb our 6 foot wooden fence. My dog was all sorts of sad because he tried to climb the fence and he was very unsuccessful, lol. That was rough, we had to leash her to take her out to pee.

grover- 6 foot side fences but a shorter back one? That would just look odd wouldn't it?

Oh, god, I don't want to hear that.  Apparently the breed that she might be at least part of (Catahoula Leopard Dog) are famous for climbing.  I'm hoping she stays this size, though...she's been weighing in just under 40 pounds for three months in a row now (she's 8 months old now).  Hopefully that'll limit her ability to climb a six-footer.

[awick14]

May 3, 2015 11:20:11 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

May 3, 2015 10:19:04 GMT -5 awick14 said:

One of our foster pups was able to climb our 6 foot wooden fence. My dog was all sorts of sad because he tried to climb the fence and he was very unsuccessful, lol. That was rough, we had to leash her to take her out to pee.

grover- 6 foot side fences but a shorter back one? That would just look odd wouldn't it?

Oh, god, I don't want to hear that.  Apparently the breed that she might be at least part of (Catahoula Leopard Dog) are famous for climbing.  I'm hoping she stays this size, though...she's been weighing in just under 40 pounds for three months in a row now (she's 8 months old now).  Hopefully that'll limit her ability to climb a six-footer.

Lol, most pups can't climb that high of a fence, and the bigger set they are the less likely they will be too climb.

Our pup was about 50lbs by 8-9 months and by the 15 month mark he hit 60 lbs and didn't gain much more after that. (The vet says his ideal weight is around 58-62ish)

[Deleted]

That is a naughty dog! Very cute though.

I hope the new 6-foot fence keeps her contained. For now I'd work on the "come" command (using the tastiest of treats for a reward) so that if she does get out, she will return to you much faster. It took a long time to teach my dog this, but now she is pretty reliable when we call her.

[orangeblossom]

She is so so cute. How could such a cute face be naughty I love when you post pictures of her.

[cmeon]

It would be a lot cheaper to do a good obedience class or two and get a nice long lead to give her some freedom while you're outside with her.

She is a cutie!

[dr.girlfriend]

The problem is, she's 100% reliable with a "Touch" voice command and hand signal in any other environment...except when she's off the leash and running away, and then she just ignores it. :-(

[cmeon]

Well, part of the problem is that you have a very, very needy mix as far as "give me something to do" goes. A clever pup without work is going to be trouble! Really, she would probably do well to have more than just a standard obedience class- is she a ball dog? We know she's got jumping and running down- ha- flyball?

Touch probably isn't the right command to rely on here, either- when touch is being taught and practiced, it doesn't get near the high earnings a solid "come" does! Sit/down-stay are also a godsend with runners- it's worked for me twice (that I can think of) with different stranger dogs that were loose in the neighborhood- the stay part may or may not be there, but, most dogs get enough practice in sit and/or down to do it without time to think (which nets you a few seconds to catch up, at worst).

It also sounds like you'd benefit from waiting at doors. "Wait" in general is even handier than a truly solid "stay", IMO. We don't even have to give the command anymore, at doors! Our dogs simply don't go through doors without being told to do so. Really easy to practice, because we go through so many doors in a given day- and at least for our dogs- the act of getting through the door is enough motivation to serve as a reward on its own! Obviously, practice on leash until you go testing her at the front door or in the backyard while another dog is walking by, but, this seriously is all stuff that can be addressed through obedience.

[cmeon]

May 20, 2015 14:11:21 GMT -5 jane6672 said:

cmeon, can you explain how to teach the difference between "wait" and "stay" to a dog?

We are doing pretty well with "stay" but I'd like to teach "wait" as well and I'm not sure how teach Fox "you can't go further but you don't have to stay exactly there" ...
I know he's smart enough to grasp it if I was smart enough to teach it


ETA: sort of related he already knows he's not allowed in our bedroom, does pretty well with that, and knows "out" (i.e., retreat from the room you are entering/have entered).

I was going to type out a book for you- but, this Whole Dog Journal post is pretty much exactly what I would've said! Right down to "stay" being not all that useful in day to day life. We teach a pretty strict stay- dog has to remain sitting/standing/down and can't change position or move until he's released.

We use it [wait-not stay-that was confusing!!!] (and taught it/practice it) primarily at doors and mealtime- but, also before they get out of their crates (so, no barreling out as soon as the door cracks), before they get out of the car, and plenty of other times. If you taught "Leave it"- it's really similar!

[spa]

Nice cmeon! I love the post. Our dogs are both abandoned rescues. They escaped the backyard and went and waiting on the front porch...

But we use stay while in sight and wait when we go out of the room. They are too smart for their own good but we have been lucky with the wanting to run away.

[dr.girlfriend]

May 3, 2015 19:21:46 GMT -5 cmeon said:

Touch probably isn't the right command to rely on here, either- when touch is being taught and practiced, it doesn't get near the high earnings a solid "come" does!

What's the difference between "touch" and "come"?  From what my trainer said, "Touch" is just a more exact "come" because the dog actually has to touch their nose to you, and also the word itself is less likely to be used casually and cause confusion. 

[cmeon]

Well, you can use any word/signal for any command for anything, of course- if you want to teach "touch" to mean "get over here and pay attention", sure!

But, she clearly needs some practice and/or a higher motivation to obey- at least when she's trotting down the street.

[tldtx]

She shouldn't run off from you to where you have to chase her around the neighborhood. You need to remind her who is the alpha!
My sister doesn't have a fence and uses a shock collar device that you can create boundaries and if they go further it will shock them. Have you thought about maybe something along those lines?

[kelley182]

May 3, 2015 10:19:04 GMT -5 awick14 said:

One of our foster pups was able to climb our 6 foot wooden fence. My dog was all sorts of sad because he tried to climb the fence and he was very unsuccessful, lol. That was rough, we had to leash her to take her out to pee.

grover- 6 foot side fences but a shorter back one? That would just look odd wouldn't it?

What breed is the foster pup that can climb?

I still can't believe our 40 pound aussie/border collie/heeler can jump a 6 ft fence.  He doesn't seem big enough but he's done it a few times!

[dr.girlfriend]

Aug 28, 2015 17:51:06 GMT -5 kelley182 said:

May 3, 2015 10:19:04 GMT -5 awick14 said:

One of our foster pups was able to climb our 6 foot wooden fence. My dog was all sorts of sad because he tried to climb the fence and he was very unsuccessful, lol. That was rough, we had to leash her to take her out to pee.

grover- 6 foot side fences but a shorter back one? That would just look odd wouldn't it?

What breed is the foster pup that can climb?

I still can't believe our 40 pound aussie/border collie/heeler can jump a 6 ft fence.  He doesn't seem big enough but he's done it a few times!

And the update is...Marley can jump the six foot fence now too.  She just takes a running start and sails right over it.  :-P  She's only 45-ish pounds too!

[kelley182]

Aug 28, 2015 20:14:04 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

Aug 28, 2015 17:51:06 GMT -5 kelley182 said:

What breed is the foster pup that can climb?

I still can't believe our 40 pound aussie/border collie/heeler can jump a 6 ft fence.  He doesn't seem big enough but he's done it a few times!

And the update is...Marley can jump the six foot fence now too.  She just takes a running start and sails right over it.  :-P  She's only 45-ish pounds too!

You're officially in trouble ;o)