fence climbing - help please!

I would really appreciate any help I can get with this! My dog has become an obsessive fence climber. There is a dog run in my apartment complex where she used to love playing with her friends, but beginning a few days ago I haven't been able to let her offleash there since she'll scale the fence and run around the apartment complex for an hour or more. She's never left outside unattended, but she is so quick I cannot stop her. I'm desperate b/c I can't give her enough exercise just walking and running with her on her leash. I'm thinking about getting a shock collar that I would use when she goes near the fence - it's not something I ever wanted to use, but I'm not sure what else to do.

Can you get her a tie out (a tether)? That way she can still be out in the yard to run around but cannot get close enough to the fence to climb it. Just make sure the tether is long but cannot get tangled up on anything.

I here you because i have two that need far more excercise then i could ever give them. ONe was a compulsive door dodger runner. I tried the shock collar route and tho it slowed her down it didn't in the long term fix the problem. I am guessing that your dog is young, my runner was. We had to work very hard on obedience especially on our recall. THat had to come before anything and it took a summer's worth of very hard work and a year before we were solid.. NOw we are able to enjoy off leash parks and the woods where they get the ability to run hard that they need. I wish you luck, i don't think there are any easy answers at least there wasn't for mine.

I agree with Smkie. You need to train a solid recall. An 'off' might help too. So you can tell your dog to get 'off' the fence. What does your dog do once she scales the fence? Is there something she is running too or from?

Thanks for the replies! Unfortunately, putting her on a tie out gets in the way of her playing with the other dogs, since I worry they will get tangled up in it, and the play is how she gets her exercise. I've worked on a recall when hiking with her and she actually made a lot of progress in that context (though there is still room for improvement), but when she escapes all bets are off. When hiking, I trained her by calling her to me, and then treating and releasing, since I think for her, the biggest reward is to keep on running. But when she escapes, she has absolutely no recall and will not respond to even the tastiest treats. Is there a way to train a dog like her?

As for what she does when she escapes, she mostly loves to zoom around the neighborhood at full speed and go exploring in the woods. She also goes swimming in the apartment complex lake. She will come and check in on me periodically, but stays well out of my reach. Usually, she will come back to my apartment after an hour or two, but I worry this time will increase. She will sometimes come to the door and then take off again once I open it, wanting me to chase her.

She is mostly lab and husky and around 2 years, I believe. I love her so much, and I know the city isn't the best environment for her (I thought she was much calmer when I got her), but I'm at a loss as to what to do. I feel she has the athleticism and energy of a working dog but without any useful skills - she can't herd, can't be trusted around livestock, doesn't have the coat to survive as a sled dog. I have her enrolled in agility and take her running and walking as much as I can, but I really depended on being able to (legally) let her off the leash.

I would also agree with recall, but I would work with stopping her before she gets to the fence. Like when you notice she is even starting to think about it. Is it possible to work with her in the fence in area, with no other dogs around? Letting her run around and interrupting her thoughts before she can think about it. Does she have a favorite toy that she can chase to help lure her away when she starts to get close. She already knows she can do it and that she's getting away with it, so in her mind she doesn't think she has to stop. So would think (and I'm just brainstorming with you) that you could find something to distract or stop her just before or anytime you notice she looking towards that fence. I too, have a mostly lab/husky mix, with a lab coat and I would disagree with you about being able to let her sled. My dog has had no problem with winter and learning to sled. Since she is a runner, it will wear her out, teach her to focus (mental stimulation) and may help calm her down. I also know how much of a spaz a lab can be, and she may be needing more mental stimulation and focus, which would give her more of a purpose, and in turn this may help calm her down. And since labs are retrievers, she may just need a good game of fetch to keep her mind inside the fence. Huskies are extremely smart, witting and caniving dogs, left to there own devices, they will find other ways to use those qualities. I should know I have 5 husky/lab mixes!

I use clicker training. There is a tape or book called "click to calm" that may be helpful in directing her engery, so that she is not in constant need of so much physical exercise. Taking the burden off of both of you.

I have one dog, who's almost a full-blooded Husky, that when he was a pup he was quite the terror, I could never calm him down, and it seemed that he would just wind up even more. But when I started the clicker training with him, it completely grabbed his attention, held it, and he would begin to calm down. It was truly amazing, as I was almost in fear of this little monster because he was so out of control.

Your dog is still young, and lab's and huskies have a drive for running, so I understand what you are going through. All hell breaks loose if we don't go for our runs. I don't know if you are doing it or not, but it may help to be engaged in her playtime, instead of just letting her run loose with the other dogs and go crazy. I have found that quality play can make a huge difference than just quanity of it.

Even though my dogs have never jumped the fence, I have plenty of other behavor problems I am working through. And as with life, I'm just learning as I go.

Hope that helps a little. Good luck!

I just wanted to add, in case for whatever reason you don't want to use the above suggestions and decide to go shock collar route, use a hot wire on the top of the fence instead. With a shock collar you have to control when the dog gets electrocuted and people make mistakes and do it at the wrong time causing all sort of problems. With a hot wire the dog is hurt at the top of the fence without human intervention. As much as I hate the idea of someone doing that I'd rather see that than a dead dog in the road. I do hope you use above suggestions first though.

oops double post

I would keep her on a leash or long line while you work on recalls and attention. Start in a quiet area and work your way up to more distractions.

Also, make sure she has enough outlets for her energy. Going to a dog run is great, but for a lot of high energy dogs, it might not be sufficient. Swimming, hiking, jogging, biking, playing frisbee are some things that can help. Mental stimulation also helps - it keeps their mind busy on other things.

I hope you can train your dog out of the habit. If not I have seen the hot wire situation Maxy described above work wonders. Dogs hate it and one or two tests of that wire will be all the education that is needed. It also works great on kids, at least it did me when I was a kid.

I have seen two dogs killed by hanging from tethers and one was warned about it and told to make sure the tether length wouldnt allow the dog to get to the fence. An electric wire would have saved both dogs where as other methods may not have. The wire can be set low enough to where the dog is not off the ground when it hits. I dont know how the grounding thing works with those but I have been shocked without having my feet on the ground, but you dont want the dog to fall either. They have different power hot wires available dogs dont need as much as cattle.

I have a lab (although she is 13 years old now)--we got her as a puppy. I remember those young adult years--two years old sticks in my mind as those days of bust out the door and run wild! We spent alot of time working on retrieving skills, frisbee, water retrieving...but working in obedience with it for the mental stimulation as well. Really made her learn to focus on me, on the commands, and still the reward of a swim, or retrieve, or both. At 13 years old, she STILL lives to retrieve--it amazes me!
I would set up some real focused training time and do that FIRST(let her swim, run, etc), and THEN take her to play with the other dogs in the run.

my neighbor has a GSD that scales an 8 ft. fence with such ease, it's beyond amazing. this dog is so intelligent, and is so well trained......except for that fence. she tried shock collar, and she tried tipping electric wire two ft. highter (tipping in, thinking it would be impossible to get over even if the shock didn't stop her) guess what...she STILL takes a quick run, with only one touch to the fence, she over the top. they then put fencing over the entire top.....she somehow squeezed out of a corner! she doesn't go anywhere, and it's almost like she just enjoys the challenge. so this doesn't help at all. it all ended up that she has to be on leash at all times, with triple the walk time.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions! So far the situation hasn't been as bad as I thought; I've found some other activities for her to enjoy instead of playing in the dog run, and right now, she is happy and tired.

I've actually worked a lot with her on her recall, and she does fairly well if it is not a situation where she has escaped. I took her to a creek a couple of days ago, and her recall was perfect; even when on the other side of the creek she would swim across to get to me when called. We went hiking this weekend and she got a compliment on her dog owner on her recall. But when she escapes, she acts like she's never heard the word 'come' before.

I wish I could hot wire the fence, but unfortunately the dog run is the property of the apartment complex, so I cannot modify it. Baxtersmybaby, I am really working with her on retrieving - she doesn't have a huge drive for it, but (knock on wood), she is getting better, so maybe she'll be a ball dog yet.