dog-gone!

kaiser715

kaiser715

Doing hard time
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Location
7, Pocket, NC
well, not yet...but I need help.

Last year, we got a dog...he was abandoned at local vet clinic, and is a lab(?) mix. 75 pounds, and strong. I fenced in a dog lot back at the shop at my house. He dug out within the first five minutes we put him in it. That afternoon, the base of the fence was in concrete, with wire loops holding down the bottom edge of the chainlink.

Then Blaze started chewing at the fence, pretty well destroying a couple of sections.

A couple of weeks ago, we expanded the dog lot to make room for a 10x20 canopy for shade. I copied a friends dog lot, and used plastic lattice, cut into 2' x 8' sections, along the bottom of the fence, extending about 6" into the ground (18" out of ground). I attached it with tie-wraps. This serves two purposes...keeps him from chewing/pullin on the wire fencing along the bottom, and ties the chainlink to the ground.

This has half worked -- he hasn't torn up the new chainlink sections yet. But....for the second time, he's ripped up the lattice panel...pulled and chewed on it until it was little pieces. So, it *almost* works, but not quite.

Any ideas? Maybe something that would work the same to keep him from tearing up the fencing, but that he couldn't chew up. And that won't cost and arm and a leg.
 
He's bored. And maybe lonely.

He needs exercise and a job.

Not exactly the answer you were probably looking for... but finding him a productive way to spend his time would be easier on you and him.
 
He's getting 4 or 5 quarter to half-mile walks a day. Spends most of the day with me, except when I have to go on a service call, or dinner or something.

Plenty of toys, sticks, bones, etc to chew on.

He was out there about 4 hours last night no problem while we went to Southern Pines. Tonight, it was only about an hour, and he worked on the fence a good bit.
 
There is a spray that you can get at pet supply stores to put on the fence , after a rain shower you would need to reapply . Then you have to hope the dog does not like the taste .
 
I was thinking the same thing. Might be as simple as banana flavor or a rough as habinero extract.

sounds like it's more of a game to him. In other words, you bought him a new chew toy, in the form of a Kennel

If the flavor thing strikes out, as a last resort, you could put a charge on the fencing. A cattle electric fence zapper. Put several lines across where he can reach to chew, just barely off the surface of the fencing.
 
I had a German Sheperd years ago that did the same thing. Chewed through fence, climbed the fence, chewed off doors, tried electric, did not stop him, tried chain and choker collar ( as a last resort) and he would back up while shaking his head to drop off the choker. I fixed it so it would not come loosed and he almost hurt himself trying to get that off so I had to remove it. I ended up giving him to a home in the country where he did not have to be fenced. The new owners said he was the best dog they ever had and he was there for 14 great years. Never left the property, guarded the place, was always ready to go for a ride in the truck. I think that some dogs don't like to be contained and you just can't change their will.
 
The bitter spray works until it rains, but it sounds like he needs a companion. He might be chewing or trying to get out because he sufferes from serperation anxity and because you are gone he is trying to get out to find you.
 
The exercise is great either way, but it sounds like the short walks are just taking the edge off... maybe try combining your shorter walks into longer ones? If you can go a little further and let him check out 'new' territory, that might help even more... they get mental stimulation, as well, from checking out new smells.

Is he motivated for balls or other toys? Maybe not just having them but playing fetch or other games like "Go find..." with you would work as another 'exercise' session that takes care of that mental angle also.

Usually, but not in 100 degree heat, ours get 2 1-mile walks a day and some days they go to 'granny camp' and get to play in my parents' big fenced yard for a couple of hours... that still just takes the edge off for our male. I will say, getting him was a big help with our female because she would chew things up and desperately needed a 'buddy.' It doesn't always work that way, though.
 
I helped my friend who had the same problem with his huskies getting out of a 6 ft wooden privacy fence digging out. I went to the local feed store, got some wire and insulators, and a hot box, like the same as farms use to keep horses, cattle contained. Put 2 strands of wire 2 foot from the fence, one strand 2 feet above ground, and the other 4 foot above ground. They only got shocked about 4 times before they understood they couldnt get to the fence to dig out. He used it for about 6 months, and now its turned off. Been turned off for about 1 year, and dogs havent dug out or went towards the fence. Total cost was about 125.00, and some elbow grease installing the fence himself. His fence is about 110 feet x 110 feet x 110 feet. Something like this

http://www.lowes.com/pd_92220-305-S...ntURL=/pl__0__s?Ntt=electric+fence&facetInfo=
 
my dog would go crazy like this when i left her alone for more than a couple of hours, she would chew doors, chairs, carpet, counters pretty much anything she could destroy she tried to, then my buddy got a puppy and now they run around the house all day playing with each other and i guess it wears her out because she dosn't chew on anything anymore, so maybe a little company would help yours out, or it could double the damage haha
 
stockcar said:
There is a spray that you can get at pet supply stores to put on the fence , after a rain shower you would need to reapply . Then you have to hope the dog does not like the taste .
Click to expand...


If you look for the one is the horse section it works WAY better. if you get some on your hand you can taste it in your mouth strong
 
Update: bought the bitter spray stuff. Spray the fence, put dog in, go back inside. Ten minutes later, look out back, Blaze is standing there, licking the fence. Apparently, he likes the stuff.
 
Just a thought, do you have a friend that has an invisible fence? Maybe you could test his tolerance to the invisible fence, if it affects him, you could try running the wire along the bottom of the existing fence, then turn the transmitter down to the lowest level where it would keep him back approximately a foot from the fence. If he can't get to the fence to chew/dig he won't tear it up. Do this for a while and he will probably figure it out and not need it after a while.

We got the "stubborn dog" kit for my 55lb border collie mix, I never tried him out on someone elses fence, but figured this would work. It has settings 1-5 on the collar, 1 is just vibration/beeping then 2-5 progressively adds shock. Even with his thick fur, setting two nearly had him doing backflips. He quickly learned his boundaries in the yard and I was able to reduce him down to just the vibration beeping. He even gets a little nervous if someone with a digital watch beeps. He was comfortable enough with it that I no longer even put the collar on him, and since then the lowest shock setting has been enough to train my brother's boxer mix, catahoula, blue heeler, and my aussie puppy.

I had tried that dog repellent spray as well on a previous dog that had a chewing issue, it did nothing, so a little sprinkle of cayenne pepper fixed that up. This new puppy I have on the other hand, I tried the cayenne pepper trick, and he licks it up like candy, and let me tell you, poopy time with that puppy afterwards, is not a fun experience for either of us.
 
The electric fence gets my vote. Also might think about getting him a friend. When we got the Great Pyr she was a bundle of energy that we could not control. I went down the pound and found a Jack Russel/Italian Greyhound mix. They wore each other out and she behaved perfectly after that.
 
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