HELP! poodle fence CLIMBER!

[RevWind]

So Savoy hasn't hopped the fence since he was a baby. He did it twice and never again. He's almost 2 now. I got pretty comfortable with that idea. Well a couple of weeks ago, during the series of crazy snowmadeggons, he decided that 4 feet of snow made a really nice ramp over the fencing. So we dug trenches around the fencing and it worked for a few days. Then he started getting out again. So I assumed he had decided that jumping out was just as much fun because, as you know, the squirrels are much more fun on the other side of the fence. So I tried tying him outside but he got confused and won't leave the porch, even to pee (he forgets to do that pretty often anyway). I let him loose today and watched from inside the door and I'll be d***ed! He was CLIMBING the wiring in the fence! HELP!!! He's intact so I certainly don't want any random doodles coming to life in the neighborhood and occasionally, a neighbor's dog will get loose too and I don't want a fight. I live in the boonies.

Has anyone had this problem with their poodles? What can I do other than just keep him leashed? Should I get an invisible fence put in? He'll get neutered at some point, but that's not going to stop his squirrel obsession. He needs serious running time outside (which he does on his own for self entertainment) to tone down the crazies and he likes to just chill on the back porch watching the world go by. None of our other dogs have ever tried climbing or jumping the fence!

[scrubapup]

I have no advice for you, but I do have a client whose Bishon climbs their 4 foot chain link. They have a heck of a time keeping her "inside" the backyard and have to either stand outside with her, or tie her up.

[Briarpatch]

I know a lot of people don't like underground fences...but I LOVE MINE! Our beagles could climb the 5' dog pen too. They'd go and sit in the road cause it was warm. I live on a fairly busy street and someone was gonna die. I was desperate. I never believed that the underground fence would work for these really stubborn dogs (2 beagles, 2 dandie dinmonts). I've had it about 4 years now and wish I'd done it sooner. Of course, you can't just let them out and forget about them cause other dogs could come into your yard (no one comes in mine). The dogs do not test the boundaries and can go out any door in the house except my grooming room door that leads into the driveway. Driveway is completely off limits as is around the pool. It cost me about $1200 to have it installed, have the guy work with me and the dogs, and for 4 receivers. How much would I have paid to save a dog that got hit? If I moved I'd do it again.

[sheilabgroomer]

Cheaper solution might be to run a "hot" wire around the top of the fence. I'm not sure, but I think you can adjust the voltage so that it just "bites" him but doesn't actually hurt him. You might need to address the squirrel obsession as well as that could lead to OCD behavior.

[4Sibes]

Dang...he's serious about this now...isn't he?
I am SO with Briarpatch on invisible fencing.

You saw my set-up. Split rail w/ wire. The fence guy just ran the wire thru my existing fence, we spent a few minutes training the Sibes to it...and bingo...no more escapes. That was 3.5 years ago, and like Briar...wish I had done it 10 years ago!

It took me 10 minutes to train the puppy to it on Sunday.

I swear I couldn't live w/out it...and my dogs wouldn't BE alive except for it.

After researching several different companies...I decided to go w/ DogWatch, and have NEVER regretted it. The guy is around the Bal'mer area...and is absolutely fantastic, responsive and knows dogs.

[LonestarPoodle]

I know a few folks who use invisible fencing inside an actual fence - to help with escapes over fences and digging out. I've only heard good things about it and how well it works. Like others said, it only keeps your dogs in (they each have to wear a collar) but not other dogs or critters out.

[D'tails]

I agree with the others regarding the under ground fence. We had several acres fenced off with the Pet Safe Pro edition and even with several sets of the high end collars and pro installation, it ended up being maybe 1/10 the price of real fencing.

I have read that others have had success cutting pvc or corrugated pipe lengthwise and popping that over the tops of the fence, this way their feet just slide back down off the pipe when they reach the top.

I have had a few horrible fence climbers that would go over a 6 ft fence and the only thing we found that worked was a hotwire. And they get very smart about going over fences, they would stay in there just fine, but the second I would walk away or turn my back, over they would go.

I once had a little 5 lb girl in a 6 foot high run while I was in my house, looked out the window, and she was standing on the windowsill of my kitchen looking in at me! Climbed right up the fence and launched herself onto the sill

[Helly]

You can get an anti-jumping harness that will stop him. As soon as they rear up on the front the harness sets their rear down. If you can't stand up on your rear two, you can't climb or jump over a fence. Problem solved.

[Poodleluv]

I agree with the others. This is a behaviour so hard to change that I would get the fencing Sibes has too. I had a toy poodle briefly who could climb out of my tallest ex-pen. I could not believe it,never seen anything like it,she could have broken a leg so easy. She was unstoppable and could not be kept in an ex-pen at all. She won.

[keyray]

Pippin, the toy poodle climbs the fences. My dad watched him go right up the gate.

[ladyscarletthawk]

There are so many good suggestions already. What about a dog with one of those top covers clamped on top? A friend had some min pins that would climb out of the xpens and she took a tarp and clamped the hell out of it to keep em in lol. Also growing up I saw some yards with these plastic strips interwoven thru the chain link to add privacy. That might help if they cant get their lil paws thru.
Please do something quick. My bitch's dam was an escape artist and ended up jumping the fence and getting killed. She was hit at the bottom of the drive way on a pretty quiet dirtroad. She didnt even make it to the actual busy street down the road. Her owner was so distraught after the loss of her beloved bitch for a long time. Very sad indeed since the bitches she produced were a very nice quality and was planned on a repeat breeding and she herself was to be specialed that spring.

[SwissNChow]

Preventing him from climbing or jumping does not teach him not to do it. You need to do something to teach him to respect the boundary. I would run a hot wire on fence as a hot wire does not require him to wear a collar. If met with a hot wire, he will make his own decision not to climb the fence.

[groomingfool]

I had a Pharaoh Hound bitch that was a Houdini when it came to fences. I kept her in by putting an additional 8" of fence around the top pointing inward. She could scale the wire so far but never mastered climbing upside down. When I put in my really big fence, I also made sure there was a little play in the wire so it would wobble when she tried to climb it. That and the top facing inward kept my big red squirrel from escaping. Good luck with your poodle, I hope it helps.

[sarahliz]

I am not sure a invisible fence or a hot wire fence would be effective in a "snowmageddon" environment. The snow might short out the hot wire and I don't know if the signal from the invisible would still work when buried under four feet of the white stuff.

[Helly]

Preventing him from climbing or jumping does not teach him not to do it. You need to do something to teach him to respect the boundary. I would run a hot wire on fence as a hot wire does not require him to wear a collar. If met with a hot wire, he will make his own decision not to climb the fence.

I guess it all depends on how you look at it. I'd think getting your butt parked on the ground every time you started to jump or climb the fence would get the point across just as well as being shocked. After all, if I were undertaking to teach this dog not to jump or climb I'd probably be putting him on a sit/stay whenever he tried it.