NO fence discussion

[SilentHill]

This whole fence thing is silly, My sheltie is often with us in the yard with no fence and he never leaves our side, I have even trained him so that he is not to leave the yard unless he is instructed to do so, he will sit obediantly at end edge of the grass and await a command or wait for me to come back to the yard if I enter the street, he is always under supervision while outside and never left alone, but it is really silly to require a fence.

 

[danisgoat]

This whole fence thing is silly,

Not silly those who are the ones writing up the Lost Dog posters.

Or to those that spent countless hours rehabilitating a dog in foster care, and placing the dog into a trusted home where having the dog take flight happens all the time.

 

[mlamont]

I'll keep my silly fence

You are very fortunate to have a sheltie that is boundary trained was well as your pup but even the best of training may not prevent a pup from getting spooked (fireworks / car backfire) and bolting. This happens every day to folks that truly believed their pup would never leave their yard…. ever. At that point the lost dog posters may be a good thing… as opposed to picking your pup out of the street, his last breath gone, after being hit by a car. It’s not silly any more at that point. I've seen this first hand... and all the tears in the world will not turn back time.

Just way too much to lose (IMO)… you can’t get them back after their gone.

 

[Emmasmom]

I would never trust a dog without a fence, no matter how well trained they are. My fence also has a lock on the gate - just so it doesn't get opened and left open. It isn't worth the agony and despair of looking for a lost pet, finding it dead on the road, or injured somehow. I have a neighbour I had words with about her lab on the weekend. She usually lets it run loose (against town bylaw by the way) and run up to people walking down the street, run across the street. On Sunday, it charged through my rose gardens, the roses are the only flowers I have left that were my Mom's. I notice now that she has it on a leash when it is outside.

So, is it worth it to have no fence? IMO, no. The breeder I got my dogs from insists on a fenced yard. In fact, I underwent a home inspection before I got Emma.

 

[Tagg]

Having gone through Tinsel and his rehabilitation there is no way I would want him to go to a home without a securely fenced yard. He's not going anywhere - we adopted him early in the exercise but if I hadn't failed Foster 101 then that would have been a deal breaker.
It really doesn't take much to make even the bravest dog bolt. A roaming neighbour dog, a cat it doesn't know, a new scary sound can all make a dog forget it's training and flee. I hope you never have a problem with your dog. Trust me, it is heartwrenching to be out beating the bush looking for a lost pet, hoping that it isn't already dead, visualizing it cold or having no relief from heat, hungry and scared or injured and unable to help itself. As a breeder I insisted on fenced enclosures for both my Westies and my Belgians. The one time I didn't I lived to regret it.

 

[Sharon]

Fences

This whole fence thing is silly, My sheltie is often with us in the yard with no fence and he never leaves our side, I have even trained him so that he is not to leave the yard unless he is instructed to do so, he will sit obediantly at end edge of the grass and await a command or wait for me to come back to the yard if I enter the street, he is always under supervision while outside and never left alone, but it is really silly to require a fence.

I don't think it is silly!! It is for the dogs protection.Your dog will bolt no matter how well trained you think he is.If he sees something that he wants to chase he will go .Give it time.

 

[SilentHill]

I don't think it is silly!! It is for the dogs protection.Your dog will bolt no matter how well trained you think he is.If he sees something that he wants to chase he will go .Give it time.

I think you guys are wrong. Levi is well socialized with other dogs, if a dog walks buy he will sit in the grass and watch them walk by, and cats? He loves them, he cuddles with some of the neighborhood cats all the time. He will not leave the yard. There was a big storm here last night, he was outside before it hit and a loud thunder cracked, he walked at a fast pace towards the door. Maybe I have a very smart sheltie, but my parents older sheltie Zack also will not leave the yard, again no fence.

I'm actually very surprised that a lot of people haven't trained their dogs to know boundaries. I got Levi at 8 weeks old and the training started immediately. He was house trained within 2 weeks, only EVER having one mistake in the house.

I can understand requiring a fenced yard for an adoption of a pup that is a bit older, and no longer a puppy as they may be used to that situation and it would be very difficult to break them of this.

Also FWIW, puppy's will learn from older dogs, so If you can get one trained well training another the same rule set shouldn't be too hard.

 

[Ann]

I applaud you for the wonderful way your dog is trained. But I can tell you from experience that it isn't only rescue dogs who bolt or spook and disappear. A look through the threads on this Forum will show you that all kinds of dogs get lost in that one millisecond you think they're OK but another dog or a squirrel or something catches their attention and they're gone.

It happens even to dogs with great recall. A month ago, we were at a dog show when a trained, adult Sheltie show dog was spooked by the wind and escaped her pen on the fairgrounds where the show was. She was frightened and would not come to anyone, and swam across a river before disappearing into the woods around the fairgrounds, which were unfortunately near a major highway.

It took more than 10 days, countless people, hundreds of dollars and man hours to finally capture this little girl who was finally returned to her owners. It was a lesson to us all that you can never be too careful or too cautious.

My dogs are well trained too but I never kid myself into believing that given the right circumstances, it could happen to me. I trust my dogs but I like the security my fence gives me.

 

[Sharon]

Fences

I think you guys are wrong. Levi is well socialized with other dogs, if a dog walks buy he will sit in the grass and watch them walk by, and cats? He loves them, he cuddles with some of the neighborhood cats all the time. He will not leave the yard. There was a big storm here last night, he was outside before it hit and a loud thunder cracked, he walked at a fast pace towards the door. Maybe I have a very smart sheltie, but my parents older sheltie Zack also will not leave the yard, again no fence.

I'm actually very surprised that a lot of people haven't trained their dogs to know boundaries. I got Levi at 8 weeks old and the training started immediately. He was house trained within 2 weeks, only EVER having one mistake in the house.

I can understand requiring a fenced yard for an adoption of a pup that is a bit older, and no longer a puppy as they may be used to that situation and it would be very difficult to break them of this.

Also FWIW, puppy's will learn from older dogs, so If you can get one trained well training another the same rule set shouldn't be too hard.

My dogs training started the minute I got them home also.Both mine also know boundaries.Both mine are agility dogs and show all over the place .But your is going to see something and take off after it.They all do no matter how well trained they are.There is gonna be a time when he will.It might not be now but it will.

 

[SilentHill]

My dogs training started the minute I got them home also.Both mine also know boundaries.Both mine are agility dogs and show all over the place .But your is going to see something and take off after it.They all do no matter how well trained they are.There is gonna be a time when he will.It might not be now but it will.

I'm not sure what he would take off after, We have bunnies where I live, he sees them in the yard and walks within 10 feet of them watching them, but not showing any interest beyond that, they of course run away, and he still doesn't pay any mind to them. He looks at squirrels in the same way.

I'd be willing to bet my life savings they Levi would never take off running after anything. When he see's his dog friends he gets excited, but he is always obedient to any commands I issue. He really strives to please his owners, much more than any other dog i've seen. He gets very very upset if he is reprimanded for any reason, he hangs his head down and lays on the couch.

It's unfair to say "not if, but when" it will happen. I pride myself in how my dog was trained, Not all dogs are created equal.