How do I get my dog to stay in the garden?

[coreyjay]

We have a 10 month old springer who continually bounds over the gate and wall whenever the front door opens and has a run around the street, this can be a nightmare with the little kids if I have to go running after him as I can't leave them in the house alone and I can't leave him running around as he could run on the road or knock someone off their feet with his bounding. Any suggestions on how to get him to stay in the garden would be greatly appreciated. A higher fence wouldn't work as he jumps the front gate which cannot be raised.

Also welcome any suggestions on how to get him to stop pulling when out a walk as after various people's attempts to walk him and get him under control they have all been beat by him and ended up with arms, hands, shoulders in pain.

[elamik@tiscali.co.uk]

Hi , HAVE YOU THOUGHT ABOUT BUYING/ MAKING AN OUTSIDE KENNEL WITH A RUN ATTACHED. YOUR DOG WILL ALWAYS BE SAFE, AND YOU WILL FEEL MUCH HAPPIER IF YOU HAVE TO LEAVE HIM UNATTENDED FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME. REGARDING THE PULLING I HEAR THAT HARNESSES ARE VERY GOOD, WE HAVED USED A HALTI IN THE PAST AND FOUND IT TO BE VERY EFFECTIVE.HOPE THIS IS OF SOME HELP.

ELAYNE:)

[coreyjay]

Thanks for your reply, we do have a kennel and run in the back garden but he ate his way through the wire on the front and escaped plus in the winter I hate the thought of him being cold outside during the day while we are at home so would like him to be able to be inside with the kids but just to be able to stay in the garden when we let him out for the toilet. :confused

Yeah have tried the harness and made no difference at all :( he is a very determined mite. When he is off the lead on a walk he answers me and comes to my side when a car appears but at home or near houses he is unanswerable.

[elamik@tiscali.co.uk]

Hiya, guess its just time and perseverence, he will get better with age. Have you tried puppy obedience /agility classes, MIGHT GET RID OF SOME OF HIS ENERGY , dog and owner normally need a wee sleep afterwards . good luck for the next few years.

[unicorn]

could you not just take him into the garden to do the toilet on an extendable lead until he starts to get used to the fact that he is expected to stay in?

[Robertson]

hiya

I once saw a wirless dog fence in a magazine they look quite good but are a bit pricey here is an example of one.
http://www.canicom.co.uk/canifence.htm?gclid=CM3murvp3ZYCFQpuGgodm2pW2Q

To get my dog to heel when she was pulling i turned the opposite way and it seemed to work over time, i also would hold a dog biscuit by my side which helped alot.

Hope this helps.

[GruesomeTwosome]

I swear by half check collars (mostly material but incorporating a check chain) combined with training for the pulling problem but everyone is different and you need to find what works for you, what works for one dog/owner doesnt always work for another. As Robertson suggested the changing directions worked really well for me too, really gets the dog paying attention to you. Springers are usually very intelligent so he should catch on eventually.

Good luck and hope you find a solution.

[justine]

Have you ever watched the Dog Whisperer. if not i think you should. He specilises woth problem dogs and you can get some helpful tips on how to get your dog to understand the boundaries that you set for him. I had the same problem with Bingo, a staghound x GSD. He could leap over a 5ft fence with ease and he kept legging it.if dogs are determined there seems to be no easy answer but i do recommend that you at least watch a few of his programmes and get an insight in what is happening in your dogs head.

Every day at 7pm sky three..anyone with a dog or kids for that matter should watch him. he knows his stuff.:cool:

[porshiepoo]

Unfortunately this is one of those problems that I have also recently had to overcome.
My advice would be to not just look at ways to keep your dog in - building fences, enclosures etc or using certain collars (I also was desperate enough to look into those too) but rather try to understand Why your dog feels the urge to leg it. Is your dog entire? Entire dogs / bitches often roam in search of a mate and usually only one thing will prevent that - the chop!!!! Is your dog bored? Does he get much mental as well as physical exercise?
If you can be deadly honest with yourself on these issues then you may find the problem jumps out at you and then it's relatively easy to start putting resolutions into place.

We have a GSD 'Atlas' that really is the biggest escape artist. He scales a 6.5 ft fence with ease despite us putting all sorts of things in place that "He can't possibly get over now". A determined, focused dog is extremely difficult to detain unless you give him something else to think about.
We have spent hundreds on attempting to keep Atlas where we want him. He used to have free run of our 4 acres until he started worrying the sheep. Then we built 3 insulated shed kennels (stereos too. lol) and attached a massive 6.5 ft stock wire fence. Nothing kept him in.

Finally we looked at what the problem is - boredom! GSD's need their minds stimulated else destructive behaviour can quickly set in.
Atlas still has to spend time in the runs (we've had to nail sterling board to the entire run jutting in so he can't get over it) but we try to keep him occupied as much as possible and he spends as little time in the kennels with our other GSD as possible and is never left out at night.
When we walk him (usually round the land) he chases a ball or a frisbee, we give him Kong toys filled with goodies and generally try to structure something to keep him occupied. When we go logging he comes with us and tries to help lol. It's still a work in progress.

Good Luck finding your solution but I do think you'll get there if you really look into the problem.
As someone has already pointed out, check out Cesar Milan. I was using similar methods to his way before he hit the screens but his methods are kind and usually produce immediate results if done correctly.

[coreyjay]

Thanks for all your messages and suggestions, hopefully we will be able to work together with the dog to try out your suggestions and find a solution