Fence Jumping

Annette's picture

My 18 month Border Collie X Lab has started to jump our 1.5 metre fence. I had him desexed as I thought he may be roaming because of other dogs being on heat. This has not stopped him. Any suggestions. My daughter has recently brought a 11 week old Chihuahua X Pom. Our two dogs play wonderfully together and our Border Collie X is very gentle with our Chihuahua. I have noticed though that our new puppy has begun to eat her own poo, what is the reason for this, should I be concerned. thanks Annette

Comments

Aidan's picture

re: Fence Jumping and Coprophagia

You don't need to worry too much about poo eating. There is an article in "The Positive Petzine Collection" which addresses this in more detail. My repeated experience is that dogs who are fed a BARF diet or something similar are less likely to engage in this behavior (known as coprophagia).

My suggestion is to research a raw diet, and pick up poo daily.

Fence jumping can be a challenge. 1.5m is a warm-up attempt for a Border Collie! However, he is unlikely to "clear" a fence at this height, so you can take measures to prevent it.

Some people have success running a length of PVC down pipe along the top of the fence, threaded and thus suspended on fencing wire. The pipe should spin freely. When your dog goes to scale the fence, the pipe spins and he can't get a footing to make it completely over the fence.

I did something similar along a section of fence by making an "out-rigger" out of timber. It looked better, but cost a lot more and took too long to make. If I had had to cover my entire fence line I would have chosen the PVC pipe on fencing wire option for sure.

Make sure he gets plenty of training and exercise (naturally!)

Regards,
Aidan
http://www.positivepetzine.com