Fence jumping deterrent
Edit: the plastic bird spikes may have worked: https://imgur.com/a/d6l3fP6
She froze instead of continuing over and her paws weren’t damaged (probably because she didn’t struggle). If she gets too smart for them we will have to extend the fence height to 9’
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We rescued a husky/GSD mix. She’s smaller, only 55lbs and can clear our 6’ fence (concrete/cinder block) without a running start. Like my previous GSDs, she can also climb wooden gates.
She’s no longer escaping due to fear of being left alone (she bolted once in under 3 seconds because she thought we were leaving her in the backyard) but still jumps the fence to visit the neighbor’s dog or chase squirrels.
I don’t leave her unattended in the backyard but I need to get her to stay back there without constant supervision, for her own safety as we live on a busy street and she’s crossed it 4x already.
We need 75-100 feet of deterrence. Coyote rollers seem to be a great option but very pricey at that length. I’m hoping to try the silicone bird spikes as something that will definitely cause her discomfort (I’d rather the fence “bite” her than a car speeding down the street; we’ve seen pedestrians hit in a lighted crosswalk, she can only be lucky so many times). A taller fence is the obvious choice but the fence is shared with other properties and also $$$$$ (trying to avoid the nuclear option right now).
Our yard is probably too small for an electric fence, like she wouldn’t be able to use a good portion of the yard and would have no visual deterrence so I don’t want to try that in case it causes her anxiety.
She acknowledges verbal commands to not jump the fence, she knows she shouldn’t ever jump the fence but until she experiences some kind of negative interaction with this fence, she can and will jump it (but only interested in doing so when there’s an animal: bird/squirrel/possum, etc). She had a negative experience with a baby gate and no longer tries to jump that, even though it’s much shorter. She might be deterred by picket fences but I’m not 100% sure about that.
Edit: she won’t be able to resort to digging because there’s concrete on both sides of the fence, I’d like to see her get through that.
Posted Jan 3, 2022, 5:18 AM UTC · edited
Extend the top of the fence to curve inward. But expect her next step to try and go under, you may need to excavate and lay chain link on the ground and bury it. Then if she still wants out, she’ll search out weak points in the fence and break it to get out. I had a pair like this. I have stories…
More exercise might help.
I considered something like this, but for reference these are concrete fences shared with other properties. The best option is 9’ metal fencing (vertical bars only, nothing for her to climb) but that’s very very very pricey and probably something my neighbors don’t want. I know this would be our side of the fence and keeping her out of their yard but still, I don’t think it’s going to work out.
I actually don’t think she’ll turn into a digger (forgot to mention there is pavement to the outside edge of our concrete wall, that would be impressive). I think the bird spikes will prevent the squirrels from being a temptation. If we don’t do something, she’ll end up on the neighbors roof (he feeds the squirrels) via the 6’ fence attached to his garage.
I definitely thought she’d be high energy but it turns out she’s just high intensity. She gets grumpy if we try to wear her out with “too much” exercise. She happily sleeps 20+ hours a day but when she sees a squirrel/possum she’s got all the energy to chase them.
Ah. Prey drive. My first husky had a very strong prey drive and a massive list of kills. I never got her to not want to hunt. We didn’t have a fenced yard, so she was tied out if left unattended. Even then, tie out cables and chains needed replacement regularity. And I learned to throw away the cheap clips and use industrial strength carabiners to attach to her collar. She was only tied out while someone was home.