Dogs.

[EscapedSuburbia]

We're moving from the suburbs to a 6 acre rural lot. We've had invisible fencing for our current dog and the previous three and it's worked great with proper training. I'm wondering how I should approach keeping our dog on our 6 acre property. I think invisible fencing (ours is actually Dogwatch brand) can cover an area that size but that's a lot of wire to bury. I don't really want a physical fence. Are folks just boundary training their dogs or using a physical or invisible fence?

 

[ponytug]

@EscapedSuburbia welcome! Can you update your profile to where you are? What kind of dogs do you have? Do you have them trained, and trained for anything in particular? (Hunting? Herding? Agility? Search and rescue?)

I think a great deal depends on the dog and the owner, so I find it hard to generalize.

I can't speak for others, but we have a fenced in area for the dogs close to the house. When not in that area, we train and expect them to move with us, track us, and be nearby us at all times when we go out of the fenced in area unleashed. Above all, a recall command is absolute. We have too many apex predators here. Our dogs have been and are protective, and none of them have tolerated pigs, so we need to be aware ourselves to keep the dogs from dispatching the pigs into the next county. Not that I would mind that, just that I want our dogs to stay on our property at all times. Even with pigs, I think we have only had one dog step off the property, her only twice as a puppy, before we understood just how strong her protection drive was.

All the best,

Peter

 

[Torvy]

Fencing laws vary by location. Where I live is open range, so if you don't want your neighbors cattle in your place, it's your responsibility to fence them out. We put up woven wire fencing all around the property with barbed wire on the top and bottom. We don't want our dogs to get hit by a car or to bother the neighbors.

We've used invisible fencing before. A determined dog will run through it.

We also get a lot of strays dumped off that wander. The fencing keeps them out, too. Deer jump right over. Small animals run right through the 4x4 squares. It won't stop feral hogs, but they will take an easier path if they can (usually go around our place).

 

[Torvy]

^^^^^
Do you have problems with their toenails punching through the pool?

Not inflatable. It's hard plastic. They could damage it if they were trying to dig. Fortunately, they just want to flop down and cool off.

 

[BackRoad]

Fencing laws vary by location. Where I live is open range, so if you don't want your neighbors cattle in your place, it's your responsibility to fence them out. We put up woven wire fencing all around the property with barbed wire on the top and bottom. We don't want our dogs to get hit by a car or to bother the neighbors.

We've used invisible fencing before. A determined dog will run through it.

We also get a lot of strays dumped off that wander. The fencing keeps them out, too. Deer jump right over. Small animals run right through the 4x4 squares. It won't stop feral hogs, but they will take an easier path if they can (usually go around our place).

Mr. Torvy, did you run the barbed wire on the inside or outside of the fence, since you're trying to keep livestock out.

Just wondering what's commonly done in that situation...

 

[gsganzer]

My 11 month old Black Mouth Cur got skunked for the first time last night. If he's anything like our previous BMC, it'll be the first of many times he gets sprayed. Cur dogs just don't know how to back down from a challenge.

When I'm in town today, I'll stock up on more baking soda, Dawn and peroxide. I'll also pull out my live trap. Next time I head to my deer camp, I'll get my old thermal scope sighted on a new .22 rifle I bought a few months ago.

 

[RjCorazza]

My 11 month old Black Mouth Cur got skunked for the first time last night. If he's anything like our previous BMC, it'll be the first of many times he gets sprayed. Cur dogs just don't know how to back down from a challenge.

When I'm in town today, I'll stock up on more baking soda, Dawn and peroxide. I'll also pull out my live trap. Next time I head to my deer camp, I'll get my old thermal scope sighted on a new .22 rifle I bought a few months ago.

We dog sit a Black Mouth Cur for weeks at a time. He's a great dog, but an escape artist.

 

[gsganzer]

We dog sit a Black Mouth Cur for weeks at a time. He's a great dog, but an escape artist.

Ours is like that too. He'll lay flat on his side and scootches under the fences.

 

[Torvy]

Mr. Torvy, did you run the barbed wire on the inside or outside of the fence, since you're trying to keep livestock out.

Just wondering what's commonly done in that situation...

It's just Torvy.

The barbed is directly above and below the field fencing. 2 rows closely spaced on each. It seems to be a common setup here. The cows haven't visited since we put it up.

It discourages the 2-legged kind a bit, too. Nothing will stop a determined animal of either sort, short of some well-placed rounds.

The law here is to fence out. Our personal primary focus was to keep our dogs in. They aren't considered livestock, so it doesn't really apply. A nuisance animal isn't neighborly. We want to be good neighbors and dogs don't always read maps too well. The lower wires help discourage diggers.

One of ours will exploit natural gaps if given a notion. Armadillos, skunks and opossums will dig under. That 100+ lb bruiser will squeeze under using those gaps. I think Anatolians have a high pain tolerance. Fortunately, the other 2 don't join her. In fact, when she comes back, they give her a 'correction'.

 

[goeduck]

We've used invisible fencing before. A determined dog will run through it.

Or a dog with thick fur. My neighbor tried that with his malamutes, after a year for looking for his dogs every other day, he put up a fence.

 

[Torvy]

Or a dog with thick fur. My neighbor tried that with his malamutes, after a year for looking for his dogs every other day, he put up a fence.

We had to shave our GSDs' necks to get contact.

 

[EscapedSuburbia]

We've been lucky. We've had four dogs over the past 30 years and none have ever run through the invisible fence. Two of them were hounds with strong prey drives and even they would stop the chase when approaching the boundary. I'm a bit torn on what to do on the new property since our current dog is very trainable and I think she could be trained to respect the borders but I don't want to chance being the new neighbor bringing dog drama.

 

[Dftodd]

Fencing laws vary by location. Where I live is open range, so if you don't want your neighbors cattle in your place, it's your responsibility to fence them out. We put up woven wire fencing all around the property with barbed wire on the top and bottom. We don't want our dogs to get hit by a car or to bother the neighbors.

We've used invisible fencing before. A determined dog will run through it.

We also get a lot of strays dumped off that wander. The fencing keeps them out, too. Deer jump right over. Small animals run right through the 4x4 squares. It won't stop feral hogs, but they will take an easier path if they can (usually go around our place).

We've used an invisible fence to supplement the fence for the back yard.

I spent a weekend getting all the questionable spots in the fence locked down to keep our Jack Russell Terrorist in the yard.

All week I was proud of myself since he was in the yard each night when I got home from work.

Saturday morning I was out working in the yard when my neighbors wife approached me.

The first words our of her mouth were "Do you know what that little azzhole is doing????"

She then proceeded to tell me that jack would wait a half hour after my wife left for work. He would then escape the yard, and hang out with her and her husband for the day.

At 3:30pm on the dot, he would get her and escort her to the closest gate, so he could be let back into the yard so he wouldn't get in trouble when I got home

Thats when I added the invisible fence and put a shock collar on him

 

[Jstpssng]

Not inflatable. It's hard plastic. They could damage it if they were trying to dig. Fortunately, they just want to flop down and cool off.

I had one of those plastic pools for my first dog but it didn't last long. I thought it was from her toenails but it's been 20+ years.

 

[Dftodd]

I had one of those plastic pools for my first dog but it didn't last long. I thought it was from her toenails but it's been 20+ years.

We always have kept a plastic kiddy pool filled up with fresh water for the pooch in summer. They've lasted 3 to 4 years before we've needed to replace it.

At $12 each, I figured we got our money's worth out of them.

 

[tallyho8]

We had the nicest mixed breed dog years ago that obeyed so well that we kept him inside at night. On a hot summer day we bought him a little plastic pool but he wouldn't go in it, He thought it was a water dish and drank out of it for about 20 minutes straight.

The next morning when we got up and found the living room flooded, we threw out the pool and the dog slept outdoors from then on.

 

[Torvy]

The big ones decided to protect us from a young copperhead. All's well that ends well. Both got bit. One spent a few hours at the vet on antibiotics and fluids. Copperhead did not survive the encounter.

 

[ponytug]

I'm glad your dogs are ok. (You, too!)

All the best,

Peter

 

[Dftodd]

The big ones decided to protect us from a young copperhead. All's well that ends well. Both got bit. One spent a few hours at the vet on antibiotics and fluids. Copperhead did not survive the encounter.

My jacket Russell terrier was a lunatic when it came to killing snakes. That is until a big old copper head got him on the snout.

His poor face swelled up really bad, to where he had a turkey goiter under his chin.

Then had to figure out how to give him this big old horse pill of an antibiotic.

He was one of those dogs that could sense a pill 2 miles away. Tried everything from hiding it in a treat to dipping it in peanut butter.

He sensed the pill was there, would eat the treat and spit out the pill.

Well with his face swollen, I really couldn't cram the pill down his throat.

Un old lady suggested coating the pill in cream cheese.

Well that actually worked. He went from the toughest dog I ever had to the easiest when it came to giving a pooch a pill.

My German shepherd is a little druggy.

I can hold the pill on the edge of my finger and she will inhale it

Found that out when we had her fixed. I coated her pain pill in cream cheese. Well the pill hit the floor.

I figured there went my easy time giving her pills.

I'll be dipped, she looked down saw the pill on the floor, scooped it up, looked at me, and I heard a crunch where she bit into it

You know, that had to have tasted nasty, but she swallowed it.

She still gets her pills dipped in cream cheese.

I get the cream cheese out, she comes over and sits next to me.

 

[Jstpssng]

I found that the "pill pockets" work well. I usually only used half of one per pill.
I prefer to just give it and be done with it, but Ruger sometimes was on 5 pills per day and it got tiresome.