Don't have a fenced yard......

[Kimberly Risley]

And can't have one due to our deed restrictions, but now looking to adopted a dog hopefully a poodle mix of some type.. I think I still want a Goldendoodle. I'm looking at different rescues. The reason for this post is to see how many people on here don't have fences and how do you handle the dog.

I contacted a foster home of a Goldendoodle I was interested in and told her I didn't have a fence and would this be a problem for this dog. Well she didn't answer the question only said "she" doesn't trussed any dog off leash or without a fence.

A lot of people have dogs in my neighborhood and have the e-fences. But do take their dogs off leash around the neighborhood. We have plenty of space and live out in the country and have about 30 acres of undeveloped space. Not to mention the property right behind my house is vacant (no house on it yet) and probably will not be developed anytime soon. No one leaves their dogs alone while in the neighborhood, but no one has their dogs on their leashes either.

To me this is a dog to dog and area to area decision. For us I think having our dog of leash in our neighborhood is fine. Being everyone knows who's animal belongs to who. Plus we have a BIG patio/garden area that can add an gate added to have to have a "doggy playground". But will also have the dog on leash when out side our neighborhood or traveling.

So what does everyone do that doesn't have a fence or cant have a fence? I know I have talked to a few rescue groups and this is a dog to dog decision. So I don't think I will have a problem finding a dog that fits us and our neighborhood.

[Heather & Brinkley]

Until January we had a single family home that was on a pretty busy street without a fence. We walked two to three times a day and he was never outside without us. We worked with Brinkley on recall and we got to the point that we could go in our backyard without a fence and play fetch and we could trust him to focus on us and the ball. Since we were on a busy street we did leave the leash on (without holding it) as we played just in case we had to step on it to keep him from running off...but it was never needed.

So it can certainly be managed, you just have to be willing to put in the time...and actually fence or no fence he should be getting walks.

I'm not sure I'd want to walk him with other dogs without a leash, because while you may know and trust your neighbors, you can never be assured how two or more dogs may react to one another from day to day. Having the leash allows you to have a bit more control if a dog comes out of nowhere. You may trust your dog, but different surroundings, environments, etc could spook two dogs that were fine a week before. That's why many of avoid dog parks.

Hope that helps.

[Kimberly Risley]

Thanks that does help. The dog will be getting walks and play time. We work from home so that helps. Yes I see the dog parks thing. We live in my opinion to far from a dog park to make it worth while to go anyways. But if I did my dog would be on a leash.

I do know most of the "personality" of the dogs in the neighborhood and maybe one or two are a little more aggressive. But that could have been because this one dog just was adopted and still hadn't had time to settle down in his new home. Either way its probably a good ideal to keep the leash on or have one of those long leashes when around other dogs.

[Christine & Camus]

I've had several dogs and only one was allowed off leash - JoJo the wonderdog!  She was half German Shepherd and half unknown.  I was married at the time, and did not know a lot about raising a dog, but JoJo was truly remarkable.  She stayed at my side, never strayed and always obeyed. If she felt there was a threat ahead she would walk in front of me.  But as I said she was a Wonderdog, Camus is my knucklehead (a loveable knucklehead who knows his commands, but nonetheless) and even when I walk him out front early in the morning he is on leash. 

[Doris]

We do not have a fenced yard.  We do have a long "zip line" that runs from our patio roof to a tree.  Bodi can get to a large portion of our yard and has fun exploring without us.  We know that he is safe and can't leave the yard to chase after a squirrel or the mailman!  I would love a fence, but this works for us right now.  Bodi also gets three walks a day on leash. 

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

If you are planning on adopting a dog, you will need to be very careful at first.  This dog will have come from a shelter or foster home and you will be new to him.  He (or she) may be afraid of you and unsure of his new surroundings.  If it were me, I would keep him on a leash (at least a long training lead) at all times until he became familiar with me and my home and neighborhood.  If he were to get away from you, he wouldn't know how to get home and could become even more scared.  I also would keep him on leash until I had time to train him to respond to me.  Keeping him on leash is not a punishment and it will give you time to bond with him and time to get to know each other.  Eventually off leash time can be an option, but I put emphasis on the eventually. 

Ollie, my adopted doodle, has a better recall than Cubbie who we have had for 3 years (and worked on training a LOT).  Ollie seems to be afraid that he will get left behind if he wanders to far (even in our own yard).  But we never let either of them off leash unless we are in a fenced in area. 

[Kimberly Risley]

I know there will be an adjustment period for the dog and us. I just wanted to make sure I can adopt with out having a fence. I haven't decided on the e-fence or not. Everyone that has dogs in our neighborhood does have them. I know many people have very strong opinion on weather to use e-fences or not. But haven't made my decision on weather to install one yet.

[Gail and Bailey]

We do not have a fence.  I walk Bailey 3 or 4 times a day (always on leash) .  I tried having her outside off leash to play with a friends dog in our yard but she would always wind up running in areas of the woods that I did not want her to be in (poison ivy) ....so, always on a leash now.  We have a neighbor who has rescue greyhounds and they invite us to play in their big fenced yard so we do get to be off leash sometimes.  We just joined the local dog park but haven't tried it yet.  I keep hoping one day we will have an area that is fenced because I would love to rescue a doodle!!  Your neighborhood looks fantastic! I can certainly understand how the dogs can be off leash!  I love that area of Florida.  My brother lives in Lady Lake.  Good luck with your search for a dog!!  Post photos when you find one!

[Kimberly Risley]

Live right down the road from Lady Lake.  That's where we do our shopping... 

[Kimberly Risley]

Thanks for the reply. I don't have 185 acres in my back yard.... Must be nice. If we do get an e-fence up it would be done by the company. I would want to see how our doodle does after getting use to the family before putting the fence in. I do know "most" of the people in our neighborhood have rescue animals and seem to do well with the e-fences. But everyone is different. 

I have two doodles I'm interested in, but don't know if timing will work out. We will see. 

[Karen Thompson]

 We have a 3 year old Goldendoodle and do not have a fence, although I wanted one. Dogs are creatures of habit. My dog just got used to going out (with the leash) and coming back in until eventually, she realized her boundries and that she is not permitted out of the back yard. She is bell trained  and when she started ringing the bell constantly, because she just wanted to be outside,  we began leaving the door open for her. We live in a neighborhood where the houses are close together and we have woods in our backyard and she loves being outside, people and animal watching. Most of the time, she's just laying out on the deck. Our only problem is, she loves our neighbors (to either side) and she will go in their houses if they leave their doors open. Thankfully, they love her and find it amusing.

Good luck with your situation. The only thing, in my eyes, to be concerned about is the cars. Friendly dogs want to say hello to everyone they see, even if they're across the street. It took some time for us to get our dog to resist the urge to greet everyone that walks by the house.