My dad may put down one of his dogs

[FPAlpha]

My dad has two dogs in his backyard.. a german shepherd he bought from a breeder and a while later he found the other one in a parking lot where he was abandoned and in a bad shape (he all but saved his life when he picked him up and brought him to the vet and even with the treatment it was close).

Now the problem that he likes to escape the backyard and go out on the streets for hours.. sometimes he even returns only the next day.

It wouldn't be such a problem but he is sometimes a little bit aggressive and my father fears he may attack or harm a person on the street and then get sued for possible damages.

He's tried everything but that little dog is an escape artist.. he finds even the smallest holes and when my father closes them he finds another one.. now he has learned the skill how to climb over the 2.5m tall hedge surrounding our backyard to escape which is why he's wearing this ridiculous piece of tube to prevent him from climbing the hedge (to no success i might add).

My dad is out of his mind and is considering putting him down for good and i just donÄt know what to say. He loves the little escapist but his fear of getting sued is apparently bigger.. do any of you know any tricks of keeping such a dog in without harming him (he tried immediate punishment when he caught him escaping)?

I love the little fucker too and would hate for him to be gone

 

[Trekker4747]

Sorry to hear that, it's really painful when a beloved pet leaves you. I remember when I was a kid when my dad decided to take my dog to live on a nice farm where he could more easily run and play and enjoy being a dog. Saddest day of my life.



On keeping the dog from escaping, "best" I can think of is an "invisible fence" (the dog will get a slight shock from a collar when it tries to go past the "boundary" of the fence) or a heartier fence the dog can't out smart/get past.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Couldn't he just use a chain long enough to allow the dog free reign of the backyard, but not enough to let him get out?

 

[horatio83]

How about taking him into the house? I grew up with a dog and after a neighbour threatened to harm her because she sometimes barked my parents took her inside. Sure, it is not as good for a dog as living outside but still better than euthanizing.

 

[Trekker4747]

Someone I know once had a dog that escaped and went missing for a couple of days, they assumed the dog gone (it was a puppy and the suspected not likely to return/survive) it eventually came home like with a Disney-esque story to tell because it lived in absolute fear of the outside from then on. Barely even going outside to go to the bathroom, and fought against the owners on being taken outside to the car to go get groomed/to the vet/etc.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I would have him inside a fair bit and if when he was outside on one of these

unless he is the type of dog to bark when tied up.

And I would take him for long walks.

 

[Finn]

I'm sorry but

1. bring the dog inside
2. Find a way to make the yard more secure
3. Have a setup like Miss Chicken suggested
4. Give it up for adoption (either through classifieds or an animal rescue group)

I'm sorry but I can't believe putting it down is even considered with lack of medical issues or significant aggressive behavior history

 

[rhubarbodendron]

I second Miss Chicken's idea. At least until you found all gaps and holes and closed them up.
Also, since the dog is aggressive, I'd recommend neutering him. Often, aggression is a consequnce of too high hormonal levels (both in dogs and humans...)

And if possible you should take the dog to a dog school and do some training with him, regularly. That will teach him discipline, tire him out (which decreases the likeliness of him going on a little expedition), and most of all it'll keep him occupied. He looks like a Shepherd-Dachshund crossbreed and both races are rather intelligent. He may simply be bored to death and therefore go exploring.

 

[wissaboo]

why not put in one of those electronic fences?

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2751330

 

[B.J.]

My neighbors are in a similar situation with their dog that my kids call "Houndini". They would never consider putting the dog down, but they did finally come up with a workable solution like Ar-Pharazon describes. He's still in the fence, but they had to tie him up with a long lead to the tree in the yard. Now that I think about it, we had a similar problem with our own dog when she was a puppy, but she got too big & fat to climb out after a while.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

You just have to make sure to use enough swiveling type hook or connectors so the chain doesn't get snarled up or wrapped around something.

Also, if it's a heavy or strong animal, and if you use something stuck in the ground, it has to be long enough so as not to get pulled out of the ground.

Those corkscrew things are fairly useless for larger dogs. Maybe a 10' piece of heavy-wall pipe hammered into the ground.

 

[RobertVA]

Careful, some places have time limits on how long you can leave a dog tied up outside. A response to owners that never bring their dogs inside, I've heard of restrictions so brief people wouldn't be able to work a full eight hour shift without locking their dog up indoors.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

^ Associations

But that restriction would apply whether the dog was tied up or not, I would imagine.