Jumps the fence to follow me

Posted by maxboudroux
Sep 3, 2007
We have a new dog that was a stray. Chocolate lab, one year old, unneutered male. Will be neutered next week. Knows sit, down, stay, well behaved, potty trained, great dog. However, stays in the yard when we are there but as soon as we leave he jumps the fence. Hot wire doesn't help because he clears it in one leap. We have 3 other dogs, 2 labs & Westie, all older, 8 to 11 years, who all get along great with new dog (Duke) & stay in the yard. Any training suggestions besides electronic containment that will keep him in the yard when we are not there?? For now we are locking the dog door & even the regular doors ( he knows how to open doors) so none of the dogs can go in the yard while we are gone.

Thank you
Posted by eyeluvdogs
Sep 6, 2007
Hopefully you will find that neutering your dog will help with this escaping behavior. Intact males have more of a tendency to roam.

Is it possible for you to take your Choc Lab on a nice long walk or run just before you go out for the day? In doing so, you might find that he sleeps instead of jumping the fence.

You should also ensure that he has lots of fun toys to play with. Lots of chew toys allow you to put food inside them, and these help keep dog's occupied. I also saw something on the TV a while ago where a trainer recommended taking empty plastic peanut butter containers (preferably still with peanut butter stuck to the inside of the container) and throwing in some dog biscuits and some chopped vegetables (my dogs love carrot). Fill the jar up with water and freeze it. Once frozen, give to the dog to play with. I tried this on one of my dogs, and he loved it!

It's frustrating and stressful when a dog escapes the yard. We have to have very high, and secure fencing at our house because our dogs cannot always be trusted to stay put.

Hopefully you will find that with some exercise, neutering, and as the dog gets older, the escaping becomes less of a problem.

Good luck