Does anyone know what can be done to help deter my 1 yr old German Shephard name Butch from tearing up my privacy fence. He literally walks around the yard and looks for grooves in the wood. Once finds a groove, slit, soft dirt below the wood fence, he grabs it with his paws and or mouth and pulls at the area until the woods brakes. Then once he has a space, he squeezes himself through and runs loose in the neighborhood. I am very scared for his safety because although he is just a puppy, he is a big, 70 pound dog
my husband has replaced every board, but Butch still finds a way to pull back or break the baords. It is so bad that we have been keeping him inside a cage in the garage. I need help badly or I may have to find him a new home.
I am open to all suggestions. I was even thinking about having someone build an iron fence inside of the privacy fence, but I know that wil be costly.
I would like to thank everyone for taking time to respond. I received some very good advice and tips...even a offer to take Butch if need be. I know fir sure that Butch is lonely and bored. Because if our schedules, we don't get to run him as much as he needs to be. In addition, my husband nor I like the idea of a house dog. However, I will try to bring him inside for a couple hours on my off days.
My neighbors have dogs, and I think that he tries to get out to play with them or mate...LOL. I am going to check into the price of an electric fence as well as the setup.
I love you all for responding. I feel so much better now.
Well, training, be calm and assertive. Be the alpha. They are super smart. And exercise, exercise, exercise. Run that pup ragged like you would a high-energy toddler. LOL.
You could always set up an electric fence. You could place the line inside the wooden fence already there. That way your dog would not be able to get within 2 feet of your wooden fence. We have 2 labs and use just an electric fence due to and size and shape of our yard. They learn very quickly where they can and can't go. Your dog would not get "shocked" unless he was trying to cross the line or crawl under the fence. You can get these fences on e-bay for under $100.00. This way your dog can still enjoy the outside and you don't have to worry about him getting lose. Hope this helps. D.
We did this (as a child, my parents did) for one of our dogs...put a chain link, bury it 2 feet down and go up 6 feet- you'll need 8foot high chain link fencing! Put it OUTSIDE the wood fence, but up against it. Yeah, seems silly, but the dog will pull the wood fence and still be stopped...He will quit eventually.
Part of what I'm seeing, tho, by reading your post is that your dog sounds bored! Dogs will do these things when they are bored and left unattended for long periods. Not all rip out fences, but they do distructive things like this.
Is he only tearing one side or all over..... just a thought you might, only need to fence back up on one side instead of all over.
Good luck!
I think they sell something at pet stores that tastes bad to discourage chewing. I don't know what it is called, though.
This is not as costly as building an iron fence, but it's also not cheap -depending on your yard size particularly. We have a large yard and it was a few thousand including labor. We have a shepherd mix, and she dug under our privacy fence CONSTANTLY. We had a trench dug around the inside perimeter of the fence and solid concrete blocks placed in the trench so that only the tops peek out. Now if she starts digging, she's met with concrete. It's a pain, but it was the only thing that worked. Don't fool with electrifying the fence. Shepherds are NOTORIOUS for ignoring the shock!
I also have to add -you may want to try the chicken wire option mentioned by another person. It does stop a lot of dogs, but it didn't stop ours -neither did lots of training and exercise. She's also 7 years old now and this has always been a problem. I'm not saying these things to scare you, but don't be surprised if nothing other than something drastic like we did helps.
Our Shephard/Lab mix kept jumping our fence and we finally discovered he was only jumping the fence to run up to the house of another female shephard up the street. My husband had to put bird spikes on the fence but he has not jumped since. I felt better knowing he was just trying to see a "girl" but you might want to see if there is a particular reason yours keeps digging out.
couple options i can think of.... i've got horses.. we keep them in w/an electric fence. you could use an electric (even have solar versions now) that you run about 5-6" above the ground inside your side of the fence. it will deter him, i promise you.
another option that may be a bit more palatable is those dog fencing.. and even tho you're not trying to keep him inside the invisible border, it will sound, then it'll zap him a bit. i do NOT know if it would work if it's AT the fence line.. you might have to bury it a couple feet within your yard to get him to trip it...
good luck! they are good dogs, but puppies are just unruly like that LOL
hi...two words for you...INVISIBLE FENCE...best $ we ever spent...front and backyards...so the dogs can go anywhere "except" within six feet of where the fence is...the privacy fence is great for you, but if it is a problem for the dog, i strongly suggest an electric fence...it only takes a very short time for them to get the hang of it, and now our dogs can be in the front yard when the kids and i are outside in the cul de sac, and can run laps around the house when they are bored...if you are planning on being in your house awhile, it's worth every penny. good luck!
Well, I am curious how the e-fence worked out...
When our pit bull puppy began doing the same thing, we first put that boxed wire (chicken wire?) around the inside of the fence, then we put a row of cinderblocks along the fence as well. He would chew right through the wood but finally realized he couldn't chew through the wire (unless it was loose). That seemed to finally deter him, until he figured out where the gate was...Good luck to you.
He needs LOTS OF EXERCISE - he's bored and must need something to do. You're gonna have to make time to take him for long walks, rollerblading, etc., cause big dogs need to burn off all that energy (even Jack Russels do)...so give him reason to rest when home. Also, walk him around the perimeter of the fence (inside it) so he knows his boundaries and it will take a bit of time, but hopefully, he'll come around. The only other option would be to crate him while away. Please work w/him. He doesn't need a new home - just loving PARENTS who will teach him what he can/cannot do...
I agree with Debra: attach chicken wire fence to the bottom of your wooden fence. We were finally able to stop my black lab from digging out from under our chain link fence when we attach some chicken wire fence to the bottom of the chain link fence. I don't know why she wanted to get out: there was another dog in the yard and the yard was 1/2 acre. But I was glad when the chicken wire worked.
P. S
I know you already have a lot of great responses but I wanted to give my 2 cents worth. Dogs by nature are pack animals so he is probably lonely plus he has all that puppy energy and he is bored. Do you have a friend with a dog that he gets along with? Maybe if you got another dog they would keep each other company and wear each other out and the draw to escape would not be as strong.
Get him neutered. The number one type of dog to get hit by a car is a non-neutered male dog - that is just instinct you can't train out of them. They can smell an in heat female for miles and can't ignore it.
I have a Contain-N-Train electric fencing system that we bought and never used (we moved to a house w/ a fence before we ever got it down at our old house). It has the normal wire and collar that will beep and then shock, but you can also set the collar to respond to a remote that you can control by pushing a button. We did use that feature and all it took was using the beep to correct my dog's bad behavior. If you are interested, I'll look up what I paid for it and sell it to you for 1/2 of that.
Good Luck!
K.
Talk to a dog trainer immediately! Your dog sounds like he is either bored or searching for some company. Talk to your friends and neighbors and see if they recommend anyone. Your Shepard isn't finished growing and you need to make sure he is both well behaved and happy. Good training will accomplish both. Good luck!
If financially possible,put a 4 foot chain link fence inside the privacy fence. Be sure it is in the ground. Even a shorter might work. There is also some cheaper wire which we have used successfully. Good luck. V.
GSDs are notorious escape artists. I would consider checking out the quality of his feed (www.dogfoodanalysis.com) making sure that he's on a higher quality feed as lower quality feeds can contribute to behavior issues. I would consider finding ways to mentally stimulate him in the yard, training, perhaps even doggie day care 2-3 times a week to help him burn off energy. I would also consider a treadmill and treadmill training him so he has an outlet for his energy and his mind. German Shepherds (GSDs) require a tremendous amount of exercise, training and interaction. Just bringing him in the house and teaching him how to be a family dog, instead of a yard dog, would make a huge difference.
Hey! Your best bet is probably to bury wire fencing into the ground around the base of the fence. Many people do this around vegetable gardens to keep out the burrowers and we actually did it around our HVAC unit to keep pests (squirrels, rats, possums, etc.) out from under our house. Animals do not like the feeling of it on their paws and they can't get through it. You could also run an electric fence around your privacy fence, when he gets within x feet of the fence he'll hear a noise and then get a zap if he disregards it. He does sound like he's bored, though. With bigger active breeds they need serious exercise or he'll just find other ways to make you miserable. Can you or someone take him for a run, bike ride, or serious walk once or twice a day?
Obedience classes first and make sure he has something to chew on for teething.
and I've seen people put chicken wire around the bottom of their fence up high enough to cover the bottoms of the boards and down far enough so that is lays in the yard a good 8-10 inches. then use garden stakes to hold the wire down.
Run an electric fence at about nose level around the perimeter. That is what we had to do to keep our beagles in.
A cheaper option to protecting your fence could be metal t-posts and cattle wire. They can be found at your local Home Depot or Tractor Supply. These are easy to install and if put a few inches in front of your wood fence, would keep your dog off. Though they are not beautiful, they don't stand out much, so you wouldn't notice that type of fencing. Also, if he is persistant, you could add a couple of strands of electric wire.
