Dog Fence

michdee

Hi all. We have a lab cross German shepard. Lovely dog but at the minute he's breaking our heart getting out at night time. He is an outdoors dog, very happy but at the minute come night time he seems to break out. We have the underground fence, he gets the dart but doesn't seem to bother him. He doesn't go far and we always go looking for him the minute we notice he's gone but I don't want him to think this is the norm or he's ok to do this because he's not....
Has anyone experience in this, what can we do to stop it?We will lock him in if comes to it but I like the fact he's able to be out but yet secure.
Is there a stronger fence we can invest in or is there something we're missing?

volchitsa

Why don't you bring him in at night? Our dog sometimes gets wound up by noises when she's outside at night, that's why I don't really let her out on her own when it's dark, so she doesn't disturb the neighbours.
If she was left outside to sleep she'd probably be up all night investigating noises. I'd say that's why he wanders at night, he's worried about stuff he can't see in the dark.

Take him inside, it should solve the problem.

michdee

Thanks, I'm beginning to think that could be the solution alright.
He's three, he has always been an outdoor dog, I'm just phased as to why he'd start this escaping now
For any of you that have big dogs in is there anything you use to protect press doors or pipes where they'll be sleeping so They don't chew or scratch them, that's my big fear if he was in over night, til he got use to it

volchitsa

My dog is that size, mixed breed, very energetic. She needs a garden during the day, I've seen her playing ball by herself rolling her ball down the slope of the driveway, and she buries her treasures and digs them up again and stuff, but there's no way I'd leave her outside at night (she has a kennel and we thought she might want to stay out in summer but like I say she barks at leaves or whatever so we always take her in).

Once past the puppy stage she never damaged anything inside the house, though she still has a bad habit of chewing up her own bedding when she gets bored. But even that is mostly during the day, when it's too wet to put her out and she hasn't been walked enough. She doesn't damage stuff at night - she sleeps.

michdee

Oh yes energetic all the way:D
He balls ball, digs up treats, he's ran through our fields to burn it off. Yes I'm going to go but a new bed later and leave him in tonight and see how it goes. Thanks, it'll be great if this solves the problem

volchitsa

If he's never slept indoors, maybe for the first few nights in case he's unsure, is there any way you can leave him in one room where he can't do too much harm? But IME they know they're in your home/with you and feel safer anyway, it's not like sleeping in a shed or garage. Just watch his reaction when you leave to go to bed, you'll know if he's calm or not.

When we travel places, she's always grand as long as she's near us, even though it's a place she doesn't know. On the ferry when there was a storm we sneaked her into our cabin and she was perfect, though she'd been completely panicking in the kennels. She never sleeps in our room at home, btw, she doesn't even try to come upstairs, just sometimes when we're away. But other times she'll sleep in the kitchen of where we're staying and that's always been fine too as long as she's been in there hanging out with us beforehand.

D13exile

My two collies sleep inside every night without issue. Well except for this morning when I came down at 6am to find one of them had left a little present on his sleeping mat for me. I wasn't that surprised as they'd been in since 6pm last night as it was bitter cold out and when I tried to get them to go out around 11pm to relieve themselves, they wouldn't budge as they smelled the cold. Guess the older collie just couldn't wait anymore. Hard to balance wanting your dog to be warm and cosy inside on a cold night with knowing they might not be able to hold it until morning. Joys of being a dog owner:rolleyes:

As for your dog wanting to go wander, I don't know where you live but in the countryside, he might be shot if he's worrying livestock. He might just be sniffing after a rabbit or a fox but a farmer won't hesitate if he sees a dog around sheep especially as we're approaching lambing season. Best to keep him indoors as its safer for him and its bloody cold at night lately.

Can you lock him in shed outside or get a kennel so that he is enclosed at night? That would be the best solution I think. You will just get a load of pressure to bring him in the house around here despite the fact it’s common for a dog to live outside only (with adequate shelter) and many dogs much prefer this. Many people don’t want a their dog in the house for a vast array of reasons.

D13exile

Adriel Prehistoric Paragraph wrote: »

Can you lock him in shed outside or get a kennel so that he is enclosed at night? That would be the best solution I think. You will just get a load of pressure to bring him in the house around here despite the fact it’s common for a dog to live outside only (with adequate shelter) and many dogs much prefer this. Many people don’t want a their dog in the house for a vast array of reasons.

While I agree that some dogs prefer being outside, it was minus four at my place last night and you'd want a hard heart to leave a dog outside in that weather, even though my two have insulated kennels that I built for them. One of my boys sheds his hair like mad and everything in my house has some of his hair on it despite my best efforts but I'd still prefer that to leaving him outside in subzero temperatures. But each to their own!!!

As for my earlier point, if the OP lives near livestock and her dog is starting to wander, keeping her dog inside is the safest course of action. A german Shepard, even a cross variety is a big strong dog. I had a full breed once who could chew his way out of any enclosure, even through a wood shed door. I should have called him Houdini:D

michdee

Thanks for all the msgs, yes I think I am going to Try the indoors for the immediate solution. I will see how it pans out. Yes we are in the countryside, our dog is reared with animals but I still wouldn't trust him 100% if off himself. You just don't know. Thankfully he has nvr gone near any animals when he has got out.