Broken Fences

Is your dog the type that just wants to go where no dog has gone before?

My Belgian Shepherd cannot be restrained by obstacles including gates across doorways, garden plant containers strategically placed to stop him from diving off the deck, and wire fences.

Blockades mean nothing to him. When he wants to go, nothing will stop him. If he can’t get through one way, he’ll keep trying until he finds a weak area that he can break through.

Tyler has broken the 6 foot high wire fence that is supposed to prevent him from leaving the back yard. For the past 1-2 years, he hasn’t made any attempts to crash through. But recently, he decided he was going, and that was it.

While I was not looking, he somehow managed to climb up onto a wobbly wood pile, get his from paws over the top of the fence and force his way over.

I fixed it 3 times. But the last time he made it impossible to fix.

You would think the struggle to fight his way over insecure structures (the constantly slipping wood pile) and now weakened fence rail would stop him. Not.

Fortunately, I have a second fence and gate in the side yard, so he was not able to escape entirely. Given enough time, however, I just know he will one day.

So I have a new fence to build soon.

Never trust an enclosure, regardless of how good you think it is. A smart, determined, and strong dog like Tyler will find a way out. A bullishly strong, small dog, like the Jack Russell I wrote about in another post will find a way under. And any dog, given enough incentive, will do his or her best to get past such an obstruction.

Word of warning: Make it a habit to check your fencing and gates to make sure your dog isn’t working on his escape route.

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