Keeping Dogs in Our Yard

You should be able to rent something to make the wire install easier. I always complain about the cost of a tool rental but after the job is done in half the time & effort , then it's always worth the extra cost.

Your living situation sounds like others. We just moved out into the suburbs (more rural than suburbs really) and I have to say I was part appalled and part intrigued about the number of neighbor dogs just roaming the street.
But it is not for us. I grew up in a rural area and have hit more the 1 pet (cats and dogs) with my car. It is just too dangerous.
Then they could also be shot or attacked by other animals (racoons, coyotes, bears)... nah.
Then there is the liability - even if your dogs are the sweetest pups out there, should someone get hurt while they are roaming any insurance you may have on them may not even cover it...

When our pup figured out how to get through a hole in the fence we bought a tie out leash. We don't tie her out for more than 20 minutes or so, just enough for her to roam the yard a bit and do her business
Other than we either supervise her in the yard (throw a ball and such) or take her out for a walk on a leash.
Good luck.

We live on 9 acres and trained our dog to stay on our property (she only took off once and that was b/c she was chasing another dog off our property and someone picked her up). She had free range but had to stay home. Most of our neighbors have their own pets (horses, cows, dogs, llama, cats) so we did not want her taking off and pestering our neighbors and their animals and I did not appreciate when their animals would wander onto our property (unless we knew them and knew the animal was friendly/safe).
I think, out of respect for your neighbors, you need to keep your dogs at home. Either fenced in or trained to stay on their property.

You could keep your dogs in your home and take them out on a leash. That seems the most responsible option. Dogs that roam get hit by cars, fight with other dogs and wildlife, damage people's property, occasionally attack livestock and occasionally attack people. Assuming you live where there are leash laws - you pet can be taken away by a judge. Many will order a repeat offender to be euthanized if you cannot keep them in.

I would think you'd need a stronger higher fence. Not a fence... but a WALL.
And/or, a proper Kennel for them.

To me, the problem with dogs roaming around willy nilly is: they can get stolen or, cause property damage to others or cause damage/harm to other people, or to other people's dogs or children.
If your dogs are getting loose etc, I would micro-chip them, too.
A collar and tag is not enough.

I was at a person's home recently, in an area where dogs are loose.
Um yah. So I was IN their driveway, getting something from my car trunk... and WITHIN SECONDS... the neighbor's dog from across the street... SUDDENLY appeared and was within 3 feet of me before I even knew it. The dog... was barking and growling at me... aggressively and sort of pouncing in place as though he was about to charge. Things like this, happens in SECONDS. I didn't even see, the dog coming at me from across the street. He ran, "silently." THEN started barking/growling at me, ONCE he was almost, at me. 3 feet away.
I, froze. My kids were farther in our friend's garage... not by our car trunk like I was, and they were SCARED... for me and themselves, and the dog also looked at them and growled at them and barked at them, too.
I told them to slowly, go into the house. Meanwhile I froze, didn't move. And tried to use my voice to calm the dog. The dog, was a German Shepard, mind you. It took about 3 minutes I think, for the dog to sort of walk back to his side of the street. It is a LONG time when you are being threatened by a dog who is only 3 feet away from you. And I did not move, until I saw the dog move farther away. Those neighbors across the street were not home. My friend said, that their dogs, ROUTINELY go roaming around, and escape their fence too. And they go onto OTHER people's property... too. AND they are, really not nice dogs. Oh but they are so nice and cuddly with their Owners.
So you see... scenarios like this, can happen.

And it is REALLY preventable.
And it is not cute or fun or responsible, to have dogs running loose in a neighborhood.
One day, someone or something will be harmed. By a "cute cuddly" dog that is someone else's.

I have had dogs all my life too.
I made sure, they were secure in our own property.
We had a cement brick, WALL. Around our property. A high one.
I grew up in the country too.
We had many dogs growing up. I would have hated if our dogs harmed another person or child or habitually went on other people's property.

Take them out on a leash, instead of just opening the door and letting them go?

Don't just leave the gates open. You are thinking like a human, and not a dog. The thrill of escaping and wandering will always be there, you are just making it easier for them. I hate it when dogs run free. I actually hate electric fences too. My kids have a deep fear of dogs thanks to a neighbor that let her 2 little jack russels run free all the time. She thought they were so cute and dear that all of the neighbors would enjoy them pooping and peeing on their lawns and jumping at their kids. On several occasions we were trying to get into our own house on our front step when these 2 damn dogs would run up circling the kids, jumping at them and barking. It is really scary when you are only 3 feet tall. The neighbors would stand there and say "oh they just want to play!" I don't think so lady. Even when she zapped their collars they still didn't retreat.

Electric fences are common in our new neighborhood. We had to change our bus stop because there are 2 giant labs that bark at us constantly that have an electric fence. The kids are terrified of them. One day a golden retriever got through the fence and came for us. Thankfully he was friendly but try explaining that to a terrified child. Our other neighbor admitted that her dog regularly gets out of the electric fence.

Not to mention running free your dogs could be hurt or picked up by animal control. If you can't contain them then get leashes for them. And watch the Dog Whisperer--he could give you a lot of tips-this comes up quite frequently on the show.

We started having problems a year or so ago with our dog, a Blue Heeler mix... he is about 60 lbs, and discovered that he could get over the fence. For a while, it was just once in a while, and he always came to the front door and barked. (Oddly enough, he didn't bark at the BACK door to be let in..... just jumped the fence and barked at the front door.)

Recently, it was just about every time, unless someone was with him. We knew he was getting over at the gate, so we bought an electric fence system and ran a few strands of wire in front of the gate.

(Actually, the one we just bought really wasn't strong enough... Bubba still went between the strands...so we dug out the old one we had from many years ago and hooked it up.. we didn't know if it would work, or not, but it does still work, and that is a bit stronger and keeps him from going over the fence.)

The electric shock isn't that strong to really hurt anyone... it isn't as strong as a standard cattle charger is..... my kids used to "play" with it to see what they had to do to properly ground themselves and keep from getting shocked.

We have just a short area to block, however.

The biggest worry is if your pets start harassing people or pets, or biting, or possibly getting hurt.... they don't understand WHY they have to stay in one area.... but it is your responsibility to protect them from the dangers out there, like cars.

I would suggest replacing the electric fence system you already have... you don't have to wire the entire yard... just the back yard. If you properly train the pup that as he gets closer to the wired area, he will learn quickly to stay away from that area. Hopefully with both the wired system and the regular fence he will learn to stay in the backyard as you want them to.

This is a hard one. I grew up in the country, so I know what you mean. We had a dog that did this , he even ate his way out of the front door. But, once we let him come and go as he wanted he stuck close to home.

Now, we have a Jack Russell who thinks that our 5 foot fence is a suggestion. I don't know what the best answer for you is, but it seems like maybe you should do some really good foundational training with your dogs, and then let them roam free. But, only if its relatively safe.

I would worry about them getting hurt or lost also. I would go the cheaper of the second and third option. Most probably the wire and if they get brave and run through that, there is always the fence option. Another option would be to train them where the boundaries of your yard run. You have two very smart breeds, but they are roamers if they get on the scent of anything! If it were just one dog I would suggest a tie out leash but with two they would ALWAYS be tangled.

Lastly, I sure hope they are fixed!

have you tried the collor with the little flags all over the yard? it only takes a couple of days. if you put the little flags flying in the trouble spots and the shock collar on them so that you can zap them when they go near the fence it will do the same thing as the electric fence but your going to have to be watching each time they are out there to do the zapping. pretty soon they won't go near the part of the fence that they got zapped on.

Taller/stronger/better fencing.
Or
Train the dogs to stay on your property-- might need to hire a dog trainer, but it would solve the problem.

Our rescue dog spends all her time outside trying to dig under the fence. Each time I fill a hole and secure it, she digs one next to it. I've added soil, added a small picket fence that covers lower areas on both the front and back of our fence, and placed flowerpots along the fence and more. She manages to knock the flower pots over and dig and try to get out. The vet tells me that the only thing that is going to work is an electric fence set for her to stay back 10-20 feet from the wire. The dog trainer mentioned spraying dog repellent in the area, which I did, but it comes off with the sprinklers. Plus, she doesn't mind it all that much. The dog trainer also said to bury the dog's feces in holes in the area to repel her, but I just can't go there. I totally sympathize, as I too have a Houdini.