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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.
As JONOV mentioned, my comment had nothing to do with the cost of the fence - I only mentioned that because it was frustrating for ME to spend that kind of money, only to then discover it wasn’t “husky-proof” (and have to spend even more to reinforce it). Also, I’d only just adopted him like 2 days before the fence was built. And since there was only half a fence before that, he hadn’t been allowed in the yard yet. So he didn’t know what the deal was back there, in fact he barely even knew me at that point.
Like the other comment above, you aren’t wrong; it’s just irrelevant to my situation. Or was, at least. He’s much more familiar with me and the house now! And I’m pretty sure the fence is now fully Husky-proofed, but I still block access unless I’m home and awake to supervise.
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.
Ha! Actually yes, my husband and I DID in fact own a Husky many years ago. I think he was our first pet together, we were newlyweds. He was the most adorable puppy, two different colored eyes. Sweetest dog!
The first day we both went to work, left him loose in the house. We had no idea how to handle a puppy, and had never heard of crating a dog.
Oh. My. God. When we got home from work, it was absolutely unbelievable the destruction this dog had wreaked on that house!! We had quite an extensive vinyl record album collection (best way to listen to music back then - it was the 70s). Those records were spread over every inch of the living room, all of the album covers and some of the vinyl shredded.
The couch was moved across the room. Plants overturned. It was incredible.
Next day, we locked him in the hallway. It was a two family house. We owned it and had no tenant on the second floor yet.
There was a dormer over the front door, with a window on the second floor over the dormer.
Well. When we got home the second day, there was Lucas sitting ON the dormer, howling! He had somehow gotten the window open and broke through the screen.
Couple of years later, we moved to a single family on a dead end street with a bit of property. If that dog got out, and he did occasionally, it would take an act of God to find him and get him back. That boy could run.
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.
Loose dogs whose owners habitually do nothing about it get killed for lots of reasons. I would guess that being hit by cars or eaten by mountain lions doesn’t make good fodder for making snooty statements, though.
Loose dogs whose owners habitually do nothing about it get killed for lots of reasons. I would guess that being hit by cars or eaten by mountain lions doesn’t make good fodder for making snooty statements, though.
What snooty statements? Oh, you mean the part about folks here not being like that? Nothing snooty, just stating facts… are you unfamiliar with the culture in the Santa Cruz mountains (California)? Shooting stray animals simply isn’t something I’ve ever heard of happening, and guns in general aren’t very popular. It’s mostly old hippies and bikers here, lol.
And for the record, my dog doesn’t get loose “habitually.” As I said, it happened a couple of times RIGHT after I adopted him - and before I had the fence reinforced (he’s the reason I learned it wasn’t 100% escape-proof). He hasn’t gotten out since then, and is now restricted from even going in the yard unless I’m home. As for my other dog, he has never escaped or run off in 16 years. Soooo I repeat; that comment wasn’t relevant to me.
Ha! Actually yes, my husband and I DID in fact own a Husky many years ago. I think he was our first pet together, we were newlyweds. He was the most adorable puppy, two different colored eyes. Sweetest dog!
The first day we both went to work, left him loose in the house. We had no idea how to handle a puppy, and had never heard of crating a dog.
Oh. My. God. When we got home from work, it was absolutely unbelievable the destruction this dog had wreaked on that house!! We had quite an extensive vinyl record album collection (best way to listen to music back then - it was the 70s). Those records were spread over every inch of the living room, all of the album covers and some of the vinyl shredded.
The couch was moved across the room. Plants overturned. It was incredible.
Next day, we locked him in the hallway. It was a two family house. We owned it and had no tenant on the second floor yet.
There was a dormer over the front door, with a window on the second floor over the dormer.
Well. When we got home the second day, there was Lucas sitting ON the dormer, howling! He had somehow gotten the window open and broke through the screen.
Couple of years later, we moved to a single family on a dead end street with a bit of property. If that dog got out, and he did occasionally, it would take an act of God to find him and get him back. That boy could run.
He was the only husky we ever had, lol.
Oh my.
But you said it yourself - he DID get out occasionally. So why were you being judgmental - and questioning people who say their dog escaped? My husky got out because I thought the BRAND NEW fence was fully secured, but it rained and he dug a hole in the wet mud. I immediately contacted my fence guy after that, and paid him to reinforce it with 2x4s under every inch of the perimeter.
So yes, even responsible owners like me will occasionally have an escape. Hasn’t happened since, and never once happened with my 16 year-old dog; he’s a loyal Shepherd, with no desire to even try. That’s why I said it was a “learning curve” adjusting to a dog who does have the instinct to run off, when given the chance.
I’m also lucky that my husky is a very well-behaved dog. I adopted him after puppyhood, as he’s around 1.5-2 years old. And he stays home un-crated (I’ve never crated a dog ever) for 9-10 hours while I’m at work, with no issues so far. The only thing he’s destroyed since I adopted him was a book, which is ironic considering I’m a librarian. lol
But I adopted him because the foster family said he was mellow and well-behaved. Normally I wouldn’t have considered a husky, especially not as a puppy. They can be a handful!
It's common in places where people raise livestock. In fact, it's the law in some places that dogs that are caught chasing livestock must be euthanized. Used to be that way in Oregon. I am not condoning this -- just the facts, that's all.
Last edited by Metlakatla; 06-18-2022 at 12:36 AM..
But you said it yourself - he DID get out occasionally. So why were you being judgmental - and questioning people who say their dog escaped? My husky got out because I thought the BRAND NEW fence was fully secured, but it rained and he dug a hole in the wet mud. I immediately contacted my fence guy after that, and paid him to reinforce it with 2x4s under every inch of the perimeter.
So yes, even responsible owners like me will occasionally have an escape. Hasn’t happened since, and never once happened with my 16 year-old dog; he’s a loyal Shepherd, with no desire to even try. That’s why I said it was a “learning curve” adjusting to a dog who does have the instinct to run off, when given the chance.
I’m also lucky that my husky is a very well-behaved dog. I adopted him after puppyhood, as he’s around 1.5-2 years old. And he stays home un-crated (I’ve never crated a dog ever) for 9-10 hours while I’m at work, with no issues so far. The only thing he’s destroyed since I adopted him was a book, which is ironic considering I’m a librarian. lol
But I adopted him because the foster family said he was mellow and well-behaved. Normally I wouldn’t have considered a husky, especially not as a puppy. They can be a handful!
No I was not being judgemental of people whose dogs get out. Obviously it happens, sometimes more often with some dogs.
On my neighborhood fb pages, there are 2 that stand out. One is a shepherd mix who would get out every few days. His owner was very concientious and concerned, got him quickly and tried to keep him contained. Sweet dog, but hard to catch and contain. Talk about judgemental…..posters were talking about stealing him and giving him to someone who “cared”.
I totally understand what that poor guy was up against with that dog. Plus two little kids who would occasionally leave the door unlatched.
Then there are Hank and Loretta, a pair of bonded dogs who get out almost every day. It takes hours and sometimes days to get in touch with their owner. Turns out she has a broken fence that she refuses to fix, hence two roaming dogs that everyone knows by name. A neighbor actually offered to buy wood and fix the fence, owner said, No, it’s fine, they’re fine.
That’s the kind of dog owner my intitial post was about, the ones (and around here there are a few) who just say, oh, Dogs will be Dogs! Until their dogs get killed by a car….then they’re all up in arms about speeders, and looking for sympathy. And refusing to take blame because their dogs are “escape artists.”
Some people shouldn’t have pets.
And, yes, my dog stays home all day with no issues. I always know where he is, and he’s never been crated either. We had one or two incidents with him (he shred a couple pillows and got into some high potency vitamins when he was younger, but that’s a whole nother story! Both were my own fault.)
We had two black labs across the street. These two spent more time out wandering the neighborhood than inside their own yard and I couldn't figure it out. One day I enticed both with bacon to play in our yard with my Airedale. Fed them Orijen kibble and set out fresh water. We have a 5-feet-high chain link fence. For a while the three was playing happily and I stepped in the house to make a phone call. Later I go out, one of the Labs is already missing. I keep looking for her, and I catch a glimpse of the other climbing over the chain link fence and going out to the street. She wasn't as quick as a squirrel, but came pretty close.
It's common in places where people raise livestock. In fact, it's the law in some places that dogs that are caught chasing livestock must be euthanized. Used to be that way in Oregon. I am not condoning this -- just the facts, that's all.
Yes, I know this. But we don't typically have livestock where I live, due to the rough terrain (and small lot sizes/zoning). At the most, folks might have a few chickens and/or goats; that's about it. And they're almost always in predator-proof housing, since we've got mountain lions and coyotes here.
So I repeat: Shooting dogs/animals simply for being loose isn't a common thing, as I've never heard of it happening in my 40+ years in this area. Not saying it's okay to let your dog roam free, but if they escape you're more likely to get a call from the neighbor or see it on NextDoor. The last time I saw a roaming dog, I posted the video from my dashcam on NextDoor with the location where I saw them. Never would have occurred to me to shoot this dog, even if I had a gun on me at the time. It was threatening nobody, just trotting across the road!
No I was not being judgemental of people whose dogs get out. Obviously it happens, sometimes more often with some dogs.
Okay; it just seemed from your initial post that you were doubting legitimate escapes happen. So I was saying they do, even when you're being diligent!
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