Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I am horrified at the number of dogs that escape from their homes. I am forever seeing found dogs on my local pages.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Parnassia
Tip: they're not escaping, they're left loose...
Quote:
Originally Posted by puginabug
It’s pretty amazing how many dogs on FB neighborhood-specific pages are “escape artists”.
“Oh my dog is an escape artist! Even though my fence is in disrepair, I just don’t know he gets out!”
It’s ridiculous.
I'd have some grace there. I've had some fosters that were terrible escape artists and/or runaway queens*. One got to where I wouldn't open the door without crating her unless she was leashed for a walk. Heck, I was watching my in-laws Golden Retriever, a dog that wasn't prone to running or wandering, that listened and recalled, and in the process of getting groceries from the car she took herself for a walk. I was surprised at how far a Senior Citizen dog could get moving at a not-particularly-fast clip.
There is a difference between escape artist and runaway queen. The two escape artists would get out, and then it was like "Ok, now what." I'd go leash them 10 yards from the fence, or even call them and have them run around to the front yard.
My own dog got out once after a period of heavy rain washed out the ground in an area enoguh that she could squeeze under the fence. So it does happen.
Loose dogs can get pickup taken to local pound.... local to where they are picked up Not near you! Then you get the joy of going to rescue him & paying any damages board & Fine!!
Some dogs are escape artists...but yeah, more often, owners don't care, and let their dogs run all over.
When we were kids, we had a dog who would bolt for the door anytime anyone came or went. He was part hound, and he loved to run. My parents always sent us to run after him and bring him back...and he'd try hard to evade us.
Not necessarily. I recently adopted a husky, and there was a learning curve at the beginning with his escape artist tendencies... my other dog (now 16 years old) is a super loyal and territorial shepherd mix, who wouldn't run off if you left every door/gate open. So I wasn't 100% prepared for the husky runner! I paid thousands of dollars for a new fence, and within 2 weeks he escaped twice. Paid another thousand to have it reinforced, and now he doesn't get access to the yard when home alone. He has outdoor access upstairs on the deck, but I don't trust him alone in the yard anymore. He also wears a GPS collar, which the rescue actually gave me + a year's subscription. Now I understand why, lol.
So yeah, don't always assume a loose dog was "let out." I certainly would never do that, and I'm very glad my neighbor caught him and called me the time he dug his way out (while I was at work). Thankfully the folks here like dogs, and aren't known to shoot them. We're in the mountains, so it's not unusual for dogs to be allowed to free-roam; but most are kept secured.
It’s pretty amazing how many dogs on FB neighborhood-specific pages are “escape artists”.
“Oh my dog is an escape artist! Even though my fence is in disrepair, I just don’t know he gets out!”
It’s ridiculous.
Have you ever owned a husky? I've spent 16 years with my Shepherd mix in 8+ different homes with multiple roommates at one time - and not ONCE did he ever escape or run off. A few months with my new husky rescue, and he's escaped 3 times from a securely (or so I thought) fenced yard. BRAND NEW fence, btw, which was custom-built from Redwood and cost me over $6000. So you might wanna dial back the judgments there.
As I said in my last post, he now wears a GPS collar and doesn't get unsupervised access to the yard anymore. I also paid even more money to have the fence reinforced, so I don't think he could easily escape now; but I figure it's better to be safe than sorry.
Have you ever owned a husky? I've spent 16 years with my Shepherd mix in 8+ different homes with multiple roommates at one time - and not ONCE did he ever escape or run off. A few months with my new husky rescue, and he's escaped 3 times from a securely (or so I thought) fenced yard. BRAND NEW fence, btw, which was custom-built from Redwood and cost me over $6000. So you might wanna dial back the judgments there.
As I said in my last post, he now wears a GPS collar and doesn't get unsupervised access to the yard anymore. I also paid even more money to have the fence reinforced, so I don't think he could easily escape now; but I figure it's better to be safe than sorry.
Remember this…
Your dog doesn’t have any idea, how much your new fence costs. (Think Rainman here.)
Your dog only knows it’s new because it either wasn’t there before, or that it smells/tastes different, compared to the old fence.
You cannot associate the cost/value of ANYTHING that a dog goes after. (It’s what dogs do.)
Your fine leather shoes? The dog only knows they taste great! (And, if they’re anything like a baseball glove, they DO taste great!)
Dog chewing on a leather purse/jacket? Yup, same thing. They taste WONDERFUL. (Think steak.)
I know it’s hard to think like this, but you have to, to understand the dog’s motivation.
Your dog doesn’t have any idea, how much your new fence costs. (Think Rainman here.)
Your dog only knows it’s new because it either wasn’t there before, or that it smells/tastes different, compared to the old fence.
You cannot associate the cost/value of ANYTHING that a dog goes after. (It’s what dogs do.)
Your fine leather shoes? The dog only knows they taste great! (And, if they’re anything like a baseball glove, they DO taste great!)
Dog chewing on a leather purse/jacket? Yup, same thing. They taste WONDERFUL. (Think steak.)
I know it’s hard to think like this, but you have to, to understand the dog’s motivation.
What does that have to do with anything?
Her point is that in spending good money to do something the right way her fence didn't work the way she hoped/thought it would. It isn't as if she expected the dog to recognize that the fence was expensive. It isnt' as if she expected that a nicer pair of leather loafers would be less attractive to the dog.
She expected that by spending more money she would get superior performance. The dog's psychology never really played into that.
My life experience: Your neighbors know who is working hard to keep the dog home and who doesn't care. If you work hard to keep the dog home, you can expect a neighbor to call you and tell you that they have seen the dog outside your fence and that neighbor will be expecting you to rush out and retrieve the dog and then go home and try to figure out how the dog is escaping.
If you simply allow the dog to run loose, the neighbors won't bother to contact you and the dog can take it's chances. Anywhere I have ever lived, a loose dog is very soon a dead dog.
Her point is that in spending good money to do something the right way her fence didn't work the way she hoped/thought it would. It isn't as if she expected the dog to recognize that the fence was expensive. It isnt' as if she expected that a nicer pair of leather loafers would be less attractive to the dog.
She expected that by spending more money she would get superior performance. The dog's psychology never really played into that.
Bingo. It wasn’t about the cost, it was that for $6000+ I expected it was a SECURE fence. Also, I literally had it built within days of adopting him - so he didn’t know what was or wasn’t there before. lol
My life experience: Your neighbors know who is working hard to keep the dog home and who doesn't care. If you work hard to keep the dog home, you can expect a neighbor to call you and tell you that they have seen the dog outside your fence and that neighbor will be expecting you to rush out and retrieve the dog and then go home and try to figure out how the dog is escaping.
If you simply allow the dog to run loose, the neighbors won't bother to contact you and the dog can take it's chances. Anywhere I have ever lived, a loose dog is very soon a dead dog.
That is all true, but not actually relevant in my case. I’ve only been in this neighborhood for 6 months, and when this happened I’d had the dog for maybe 2 months… and the neighbor was a few blocks away (he moved fast!), so she’d never met either of us at that point.
We just don’t shoot dogs simply for being loose here. That’s not how folks around here act, plus there are laws on where/why you’re allowed to be shooting guns. I’m pretty sure the dog would have to be threatening you to justify that, and nobody could mistake my friendly doofus as threatening.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
