Update on "pre-owned" dog Elli

[Joani, Skadi & Elli]

The third day I had Elli, she jumped over our fenced in back yard and ran like the wind!  I was shocked!  I had been out in the yard with Skadi and Elli, supervising their play when the neighbor's dog appeared on the other side of the fence...Elli went into a wild frenzied fit of barking, running crazily up and down the fence, leaping up, higher and higher...until she jumped completely over and ran as fast as she could...away from my "come here" commands.  I was beside myself.  I had not had a chance to get any tags for her.  I had an appointment in a few days to get her dog license....and now it was getting dark...I ran and ran in my snow boots, calling, calling to a dog I had only had a few days.  She is a very very fast runner and I could see her far ahead of me darting in and out of the woods and backyards of our neighbors.  Yes, I started crying because I knew she didn't know the area very well,  we had gone for walks but not very far, and without any kind of identification, the end of day coming, well my heart was sinking like the sun.  Then I spotted her!  There sprang a bit of hope.  But then she was gone again.  Reluctantly I made my way home and thought I would take the car and try and find her before it got too dark.  I pulled the car to the end of the driveway...spotted her running gleefully all over...I jumped out of the car and she ran over to me!  Just like that!  OMD what a blessed relief!

Elli, the "pre-owned" 6 year old golden doodle has been with us now for over a month.  Since January 8th.  The previous owner's have not inquired about her well-being.  I had ask them if Elli had any issues I needed to address, because I was having a trainer help me out with her re homing.  They said they knew of none...maybe they had NO idea of Elli's special skills!

So now I need to make a decision about Elli.  Maybe you all could help....

Should I put up a higher fence?

Or should I just fatten Elli up like Skadi so she CAN'T  jump over the fence!!!! 

Just kidding.  We are working successfully with Elli's bad habit of jumping up on the fence.  She is one extremely loving loving girl.  

[Joani, Skadi & Elli]

[Lori, Daphne, Lucy & Pippa]

Oh my! I had a similar fright with Romeo. Thankfully he was not aware that our grass cutter had left the back gate open. My daughter saw it before he did but I was horrified just to think that if he got out, we would never see him again. I had a poodle once who would just put his little feet into the chain link fence and climb up and over. If you can afford a taller fence, I would definitely do it! She is a beauty!

[Ricki and Tara (doodle)]

What a terrifying experience! So glad it worked out so well and that she came home to her new mommy!  Has she jumped out since the first time?  I couldn't ever be comfortable knowing that she COULD jump anytime she chose to do so. It could be a year from now...I would replace the fence myself. It's just not worth the risk or worry.

[Deanna M.]

Such a beautiful girl! Molly has gotten away from me a couple of times and I know the feeling of dread that comes over you. Thankfully she also came back on her own but we have to really watch her. She is an escape artist!

[F, Calla & Luca]

It is the worst feeling when your dog goes missing. I am so glad she came back. The fence clearly can't hold her :-(

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

OMD I would have been terrified.  I'm so glad she came back to you.  I would definitely replace the fence and keep her on a long line until I could. 

[Donna K & Quincy]

So glad this had a happy ending. It always amazes me how high these dogs can jump, I guess the proper motivation gives them wings. It sounds like a higher fence may be in order. If she jumped it once she'll most likely do it again.

[Carol and Banjo]

OMD....nearly had tears just reading this!  I'm so glad she's back with you!   I know fences are a huge expense.    I wonder if you can incorporate an invisible fence with what you already have.

[Joani, Skadi & Elli]

Our trainer is helping us use an e-collar.  Right now I do not allow Elli outside for any length of time without me. Plus I can see her in the yard when I'm inside.   She wears the collar inside the house too due to her disturbing habit of this crazed whining and barking when something stimulates her from outside.  It's a strange behavior that no one must have addressed in her younger years.  She has responded incredibly well with the e-collar.  I know some folks disapprove, but like our trainer said, getting hit by a car would be much more painful than a poke from an e-collar.  Our fence encompasses almost a half acre....so I'm hoping not to replace it.  Skadi never even tried to jump over the fence, let alone putting her paws up on the fence...that's why I was in such shock to see Elli jump the fence!  Hopefully with time and training her behavior will change.  Other than that, she has proven to be one of the sweetest dogs I have ever known...(don't tell Skadi I said that  ;) )

[Lynda Kamrath]

Hmmm.  Good question.  My dogs can jump over the fence but do not.  However, the neighbor's lab jumps into our yard and pees on everything and plays with our dogs.  I finally got a fire extinguisher filled with water and left it by the back gate and would spray him.  He stopped coming over the fence.  We thought about getting a shock fence, but he would have to wear the collar.  Jesse knew we were unhappy about him being in our yard every day and I was especially upset when he peed on our box of organic vegetables.  My dogs are licensed, tagged, and have chips.   All the neighbors know them.  I think that is about all we could do.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

We bought some trellis thingees  to make it taller after our dil's whippet climbed up the corner and flew over.  We took panels and laid them sideways and fastened them down.

[Deborah Brown]

I have a secondary fence to keep my dogs from scratching and jumping at the fence.  It has worked surprisingly well and minimized the barking too.  I thought I would have to get something bigger but I started with just some wire landscape fencing and it worked.  The fence is about a foot from the wood fence - maybe hard to see in the picture.  There is not much scarier than a dog on the loose!