Kingdom of Pets

Posted by sandra-scott
Jan 31, 2012

My sweet black whippet (she must be with her long legs and small feet) mix something Gracie, has found her best friend next door. No matter how many obstacles i have placed under, over and around my 8' chain link fence, my little escape artist is ALWAYS determined to have a play date. When i retrieve her with a leash, she knows it's time to go. But if i leave her in hopes (silly me) that she will return UNDER the fence, after their playdate she finds a way out of the other fence and tends to roam the neighborhood. I am afraid that she will go out in the street - and then ultimately be hit by a vehicle. She is very active - obviously - i TRY to take her for a walk once a day and for a run in the park once a day and play fetch. This "puppy" (now 1-year old) has chewed the wood frame on my picture window - no matter how much hot pepper i put around it.

I love her dearly and my other two dogs play with her every day (she definitely livens things up at the house)...but can't seem to control her behavior. THANKS!

Posted by KOPCaroline
Feb 2, 2012

Hi Sandra Scott,

You have a houdini dog!

First off, is Gracie neutered? And is her playmate? It may be a pheromone driven desire to visit, and you may want to look into that further if both of them are intact.

Some dogs just like getting out, though, and its pretty much just a trial and error system to figure out how to keep them in - even with training. As you said, she responds and stays home when you get her, but otherwise roams, and its hard to train a dog to return if you're not always there every time she gets out.

You may end up needing to consider putting her in a run when you're not around to watch her. Exercise leads attached to a cable are a good idea as well, so long as she can't slip out of the collar.

Otherwise, you can do things like extend the fence into the ground, or put an electric system in - either a ground wire or an underground one.

If your neighbor is always home, you could talk to them about a joint training effort where they bring her back when she goes under the fence?

I'm not really sure what else to say, like I said its mostly about finding a solution by trying a few. Let us know how you go, though, and hopefully other members have some good ideas

Digging to play with next door neighbor