Doodles and Fences

[Denise U]

I have a question and I guess it actually stems from me being a little peeved at a situation.

 

I have two Doodles that my husband and I take very good care of.  We have no children, so you can probably guess how spoiled they are. They are ALWAYS taken outside on leash.   And I do mean ALWAYS... which includes blizzards, subzero temps, mosquito infestations, etc... everything that we experience in WI.  I not only don't trust them with birds and such, but I don't trust other dogs in my subdivision.  It's for all of our protection.

 

So, I was looking into possibly fostering or adding another doodle to our life.  Not now, but sometime down the road.   But, I notice that a lot of groups say you MUST have a fence.  Why?  There have been cases where dogs get out of fences, or the fence wasn't secured due to someone else.  And not that I am saying anyone here does it, but in my area of town (more rural), people leave their dogs outside and spend no time interacting with them out there.  At least when I take my dog out on lead, I am interacting with them. 

 

So, why is it so much better or safer to have a fence than to have your owner with you, outside?  It's a shame if this is the one thing that would keep me from getting a rescue.  Please help me understand this, because I don't.

 

Denise

[Adina P]

Denise,

 

I agree that there are a lot of VERY responsible people without fenced yards (or yards at all) who have managed to keep their dogs a full life span without any issues.  So I understand your frustration when YOU are one of those that are super responsible.

 

I think it's just that rescue organizations are EXTRA cautious.  They have dogs that for one reason or another have already lost their homes--they don't want to take chances.  Some rescued dogs start off skittish when they are in new surroundings or may have a tendency to bolt.  I know, for instance, that IDOG rescue actually recommends using a martingale collar on rescued doodles 'just in case' they attempt to slip out of their collar and run off--which has happened with rescues.  While that's not the norm, because rescue places are extra cautious in this regard, they will require foster homes to typically be as low risk as possible. Same reason a lot of rescue organizations won't adopt to people with kids under a certain age.  They just don't want to take a chance of losing a dog (in the case of foster homes) or having a dog returned. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Yep, everything you said is 100% accurate.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

The two things aren't mutually exclusive; having a fence doesn't mean that you can't also walk your dog on leash and be outside with him. I have a fenced yard and still walk my dog twice a day, every day, and I'm in Chicago, so I know about winters. I also almost never just open the door and let him out...I go out there with him. But you and I are unusual.

There are two basic reasons why rescues want fences. One of them has to do with children. In most states, it is against the law to leave children under the age of 12 alone at home. Now, if only one adult is home with young children, and the weather is bad, and let's further suppose that one of the children is ill, or asleep at night, how would the dog get walked or exercised?

Even in good weather and good health, small children can't walk anywhere near fast enough to go along for a good walk or run with  the dog. In all honesty, I can't move fast enough for JD to get as much exercise as he needs.

Which brings us to the other reason rescues want fences. It's about providing enough exercise for a large sporting breed dog like a doodle. Leash-walking exclusively just won't cut it. They really need some off-leash running time on a regular basis- once a week at the dog park isn't optimal. Weather permitting, I sit in the yard and throw a ball for JD, so he can run freely.

Rescue dogs are flight risks, especially in the beginning. Even if you have a large rural property, there are other things that can hurt or kill a dog besides getting hit by a car. And you would be surprised by how fast a big dog who's frightened or disoriented can cover several acres...or miles.

Many rescues do not require fenced yards for smaller dogs, older dogs, or for adult-only households.

 Each group has it's own rules. When I adopted JD, the rescue required a fenced yard for him; I had not yet fenced my yard, as it was January, and i had to give them a sizeable deposit to help ensure it would be done when the weather permitted. He was a large 14 month old retriever mix. They did NOT have the same requirements for every dog at the shelter.

[Jennifer and Jack]

I do the same as Karen, Jack has a fenced in yard but he is walked at least twice a day with three times being the goal. I think just because you have a fence does not mean it is a better home, but I understand because of all the reasons listed above.

I never, ever, just let Jack go outside to play in the back yard on his own. I always keep the screened in door open, I watch him and am always near by. I hope they do make some exceptions to the rule because you sound like you would make an amazing foster parent.

 

 

[F, Calla & Luca]

That's a good point about the exercise. I often take the dogs places, like the duck pond, for walks. The love the walks and checking pmail. But in the yard they can gallop and chase each other and get far more exercise than they do on a walk with me. My doodles often go out without me but never when I'm not home, showering or doing anything where I can't be there in a jiffy to intervene if I should need to. That said , the only time I usually do intervene is to stop them barking if it's more than I want or to call them in.

[Melissa & Porter]

Wait, but if the dog is over two years old, can he watch my kids who are under twelve for 10-15 minutes?  Ya know...if said kids are NOT my five year old and the neighbor is home? huh? huh? 

I must now google the laws in my state.

[Donna K & Quincy]

We have a fenced yard and I still take Quincy out on a leash to potty, no matter what the weather. The only time Quincy is outside is if one of us are out there with him. We have a lot of plants and a backyard pond and I just wouldn't want to take the chance that he might get hurt or eat something that could hurt him. In the winter we even put a snow fence around the pond so that he doesn't accidentally walk on it and fall through. The one and only time Quincy was outside unsupervised, was when one of my son's friends let him out without me knowing. He went no farther than the lawn next door where he was busy playing with an old soccer ball. I guess this proves the point that no matter how careful you are incidents can happen. The door that Quincy went out of was not inside the fenced area. I guess my point is that a fence may make it somewhat safer but it is not fail proof.

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

I was so discouraged though I understood in most cases however I have spoken/written directly with DRC and asked that question. I was told that there is a case by case evaluation, sometimes the requirement is set in stone and sometimes not. I would not give up, just speak with them directly.

 

[Denise U]

Thanks everyone for your input.  I totally understand that the more you can mitigate any risk, the better off you are.  (Can you tell I do Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery for an insurance company ;P )  I agree that in some cases, fences should most definitely be required.   

 

Even though we don't have a fence, our girls still end up getting exercise through either going for a walk, run them outside on a long (50 ft) lead, take the to the dog park or take them to doggie day care.  Today they got all nice and muddy at the WI Owners Doodle Romp at a local dog park.  It was fun! 

 

Thanks for the input, sharing of your personal experiences and for all of the nice things you have said. I have a lot of love in my heart for these dogs.  Our neighbor once told us that when she died, she used to want to come back as one of her cats.  After seeing us with our girls, she said she wanted to come back as one of our dogs instead.  LOL

 

When the time is right, I will have to either get a fence or find a rescue that will let me foster/rescue.   I wish there were more responsible pet owners in the world like all of you... then fostering/adopting might not be such an issue.

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

I fostered dogs in the 90s and recently a few doodles last year.  I did not have a fence.  It is very time consuming but can be done.  A lot of planning, preparation, response, and recovery go into fostering a dog.

Mitigate~ well I recognized the word right away and thought who uses that around DK accept me?  I too, am an EM person.

[Denise U]

If anyone knows how to look at things three different ways until Sunday, it's us BC/DR/EM people.   LOL  When I started reading your response and saw the words "planning, preparation, response and recovery", I thought Hey, she's speaking my language! 

 

Thanks for sharing your response!

[Jennifer,Chloe & Myla]

I agree with you in the sense that they may have more people able to foster if they didn't require a fence, but they just want to make it the best chance possible for the rescues. We didn't have a fence until last year our dogs are 3 & 4 and they still go potty on leash, our gates are locked from the inside. We also walk them always on leashes and hate when other's are running the neighborhood off leash. I feel your pain.