Dog escaping

chabsey

Have a rescue dog (jack russell / beagle cross about 2-3 yrs old) about 10 months now, for the first 6-7 months she was fine then she managed to escape from the garden and the trouble began.

To give a brief bit of background, she's an extremely quiet dog, very timid, rarely barks, very few of the normal JR traits - hugely scared of traffic. We leave her in the back garden with toys, warm dry kennel etc. and I come home at lunch and take her out for a walk so the longest she's left alone is about 3 hours.

She escaped a few times eventhough our garden is in a terrace and seemed very secure, we patched the obvious escape routes and all was ok for about a week or two.

Then yesterday (maybe because of that massive rain shower) she seemed to freak out and escaped again. Went home, got her from the neigbour and cut back bushes she was (I thought) using to climb on to get out.

Today, same deal - another escape.

Here's the thing, she suffers from separation anxiety that seems to be most intense for the first 10-15 mins after she's left alone. So it's not viable for us to get a dog walker to walk her during the day as she'd just freak again when left alone even briefly. In any case I do split her day up by coming home at lunch to walk her and most of the time that's fine. Maybe it was the extreme weather battering her kennel, who knows, but this can't go on.


Possible solutions:

1) 110% check garden for escape routes - this will be done in any case.
2) Get one of those radio fence things (although we've only got a 40ft garden so barely worth it)
3) Get a full time dog minder - too expensive really as it would be all day, 5 days a week.

Can't really keep the dog if she keeps freaking, I'm not sure why it suddenly started now, she used to be fine with the routine.

ppink

If the longest she is left alone is just 3 hours then why dont you leave her in the house? Obviously you will still need to dog proof your garden for when you do want to leave her out, thers no magic wand for that except block all holes, leave no springboards and make sure she cant get out over the top.
if she is of nervous disposition i think you could destroy her by putting a shock collar on her.
can you leave her in the garden and pretend you are heading off and maybe watch from an upstairs window to see her escape routes?
you could also try a behaviourist if you want to try to help her nervousness?

perri winkles

Hi op,

The most logical thing to me would be to just keep her inside when you are out at work. From your description, she doesn't sound like she is a destructive dog. Is there any reason why you wouldn't keep her inside?

Other then this, if you think she is getting out through the bushes, then you could replace the bush with a fence. We did this in our garden and it worked fine.

TooManyDogs

I have to have one of my dogs on a zip wire when I'm out because she can escape out of anywhere.

I agree with the others though, if you're only gone for 3 hours at a time leaving her indoors would be the safest

Zapperzy

I second the suggestion of leaving her in the house, crate train her if your worried about her destroying things, if she's only ever alone for max 3 hours then she should have no problem at all holding in her pee for that length of time.

If your going to leave her in the garden then set up a webcam on the garden to record her during the day to see how she is escaping. You say she's already walked at lunch time but if your not already doing so then increase the exercise to wear her out even more, something high energy both physically and mentally like letting her offlead (depending how beagle-like she is you may not be able to do this, try a long lead if you can't let her offlead) and playing fetch and doing some training. Leave her with some stuffed kongs to keep her busy.

I agree that a shock collar on an already nervous dog is a bad idea.

chabsey

Thanks for all suggestions.

Bit more info. We've tried leaving her indoors before, and the first 10-15 mins of panic meant that we came home to mess every time. She also chewed things, but not too badly, she's not much of a chewer.

We tried the webcam already, in fact caught her escaping previously and closed that hole up so she couldn't get out there any more, may try it again if this continues.

Have a crate and tried to crate her at night (she sleeps outside now but originally slept indoors) and she completely freaked out, ripping up her bed etc.
I'm not too keen on crating her during the day as she pees and craps pretty much instantly once she thinks she's being left alone.

I may try the long lead idea.

In terms of exercising, I've tried the whole 'knacker her' approach by running (she won't run much), throwing things (she chases for about 2 seconds then gives up - unless it's a cat but I can't throw them that far!) and in general she prefers sauntering around talking to other dogs.

Whispered

With regards to the "knacker her" (:D) If she's healthy etc then don't give her a choice not to run. Stick her on a lead and jog, if she stops gentle but persistant pressure to keep her moving, even slowly, then back to jogging. You'll be wrecked yourself too. You could also find someone with a dog who loves to run and bring them on off lead walks together. (after introductions and only if she returns of course!) She'll be too interested in being with her new friend to realise she's exercising.

A crate can work very well with a dog who suffers with anxiety. Did you do the full introduction routine? If not, I'd seriously try it again, very slow introduction, and don't leave her alone in it until she's comfortable.

Cutie18Ireland

This time of the year it could be bangers or fireworks that are freaking her out.

Sigma Force

Keep her in the house, she won't calm down in the house until she's used to it so the safest thing to do is to keep her in one room in the house where it's tiled...so what if there's a mess just have a mop and bucket pre-prepared (out of reach in another room) and just expect to come home to a mess..that way it's not such a hassle and you soon get used to the routine of cleaning up...by the time you are getting used to it the dog will of calmed down and you'll come home one day expecting a mess but there'll be none. This doesn't actually take long at all to happen usually and it's the kind of thing you would do with pups and although she's older you have to go right back to the start and treat her like a pup.

She will chew things she's a pup! Keep everything out of reach and provide her with kongs and safer chew toys be prepared to have legs of chairs chewed anyway.

If you can't face the mess then start using a crate. Read up on crate training (I think the dog training ireland website has an article about it) you have to put the work in with her or she'll always be like this.

Obviously also secure the garden properly she's a small dog so it should be cheap enough to do. Don't use a radio fence collar they're very expensive and being a nervous dog you do not want to make her more stressed by using something like that.

You need to give her more time, it's not much fun for us owners but you get used to it. Think we've all been there one time or another. It'll be quieter in the house while you're gone so stick a radio on to block out any potential fireworks. A good mop and bucket is your best friend oh and snuggle safe heat pads..I find they can help calm a dog by having something warm to cuddle up to while you are gone. Plus plug in a DAP it can help..aparently..calm a dog as well.

Do try her in the house again it won't take long for her to get used to being in once you stick to a routine she'll thrive. With any dog you need to put the work in especially a rescue they just need a bit of extra time is all.

catherine1984

Hi,

Where would i get one of these zip wires. I am tortured with my two dogs escaping I have tried and done eveything at this stage.

TooManyDogs

I made our one using plastic covered rope wire


secured to huge screw in eyes


with these wire rope clips


I put it on the edge of my 15ft garage and bought a 15ft tie out cable to run along it


You have to be very careful not to put it too near a fence they could jump over and hang themselves, and not near anything they can wrap themselves around and around so poles stuck in the ground to run a zip line between generally don't work