Puppy and garden...

[Orcagirl]

Hi all.

We are looking to add a puppy to the family soon. One thing on my mind however, is that our garden, even though large and some of it fenced, has a little open area to the front where trees and shrubs border it off. Obviously I wouldn’t leave a puppy unattended in the garden anyway and we plan to train it to have good recall but I’m aware it isn’t entirely secure. But is it very important for the garden to be completely secure? We don’t really want to add an extra fence if necessary. Anyone else manage with open garden areas? Thankyou.

What about something getting in at your puppy not just it getting out?

We live in a very quiet cul de sac with fields to the back, we’ve never had anything come in the garden except cats other than our own and birds etc.

Ha ha! laughing at the idea of thinking this is OK.... I guarantee you'll be crawling through those tress and shrubs within a day. Puppies don't understand unfenced boundaries OP. Good luck with that

if the unfenced area is to the front can you keep puppy in the back?
Can you run some of that green wire fencing on a roll across the area? You wouldn't have to dig this in, just prop it up or wind it around the trees and shrubs.

Glad I made you laugh 😉 and I was asking because I didn’t know if it was ok, being a first timer and all 🤔

But thanks for the tip... we could potentially separate the garden off and fully secure the back- or use some of the fencing you have suggested- thankyou 😊

You really need it secure. Your pup will be gone like a shot otherwise

Thanks oops.

Would the green roll out stuff be high enough?

What kind of dog? Some are more determined than others. My terrier pup wiggled his teeny body between the horizontal slats of what looked like a solid garden fence. Took him about 30 seconds as I turned to answer my dd. My other one used a tree to wedge herself against so she could shimmy up the side of a five foot gate! You need to factor in all the months of puppyhood until your have mastered recall, not just the initial few weeks when it is tiny. Even if you can't make your whole garden secure, try and secure wherever the dog may possibly be. Our front garden isn't secure but our dogs are not out the front without leads.

You need to secure your garden. Believe me, when you're up at 3am to let your pup out for a poo, you will not want to be running down the street in your pyjamas trying to get him back!

Not sure what breed yet, still researching, but thinking medium to large size and fairly easily trainable. Would it be option to temporarily secure it with the roll out fencing in the first months/year and then see how recall is when the dog is older? Then if it’s got crap recall in the end, we could replace the mesh stuff with a proper fence. Hmm.

A medium to large dog is going to be quite strong so you'll need something robust.

Don't rely on a given breed being described as 'easily trainable' because much depends on the individual dog. Also:

• Intelligent dog - learns easily but needs lots of stimulation to keep it occupied and non-destructive.
• Average/dull-witted dog - doesn't need as much mental stimulation but takes longer to understand commands and requires more repetition to learn things.

... and I've just lost an hour of my night so I'm going to bed

If you just put up a roll of mesh I think your dog will laugh at you as he skips over/through it. I'm sure it's manageable without if you just always use a lead but that would be really hard to do consistently. All it takes is for someone to leave the door open, dog to rush the door, you to be distracted for a second and they could be off. I do think the extent you have to go to to secure your garden does vary from dog to dog, but if you're going for a pup, I'd be securing atleast an area with something a. It more robust. (I used the mesh stuff but to tied onto my metal railings to stop them getting through the bars. All they did was use the mesh as a ladder to climb up and over. I now have mesh that is smaller than their feet. )

Thanks screaming and oops.

Youve confirmed what I was thinking really... so we’ll just go ahead and fence it off before we bring a pup home rather than messing about with any mesh etc.

Yes make it secure.

A secure fence is a good idea, OP.

I actually think your problems would be less containing a puppy and more when s/he gets to adolescence.

A puppy is likely to be contained by a rollout mesh so long as it was staked well and high enough. However, a dog going through his or her teenage months can be a VERY determined little bugger indeed and pretty much full sized by then. The mesh will never contain them.

Training/recall will be out the window for a few months so you won't be able to rely on that.

Plus, they are not old enough to have any street smarts or keep themselves out of trouble at that age either.

To top it off, by then most people are starting to slip out of the habit of watching the pup every minute of the day because normal life has resumed and sometimes the dog will be oh-so-good, leaving you mistakenly thinking they can be trusted .

Definitely secure the garden. Mine drives me potty wanting to go in and out the garden several times a day. There is no way I could stay out with him all the time so knowing he can't escape (bury under the concrete kicker boards or scale over the 6-7 ft fence) is such peace of mind.

Ha! I tried the plastic mesh to protect a bed of daffs last year which my 10 week old pup was fascinated by. Even though she was tiny she soon discovered that if she climbed up it it bent over so she could fall happily into the flowers. Then she would have the zoomies amongst them. Quite funny to watch, but I gave up and grubbed them up eventually. A proper fence is the only way to go.

I have an adult dog with good recall - he's always off lead on his walks and comes when called.

Unfortunately the garden fence is full of holes and can't be fixed (landlord). This is a complete pain because he thinks a trip into next door's garden is a great adventure - and there's no swifter way to destroy neighbourly relations than repeated canine incursions into their garden. So, he has to be on lead in the garden.

Fence your garden OP - future you will thank you for it!

Thanks avocados!

My neighbour is VERY garden proud and I dread to think of his reaction should a dog start digging up his plants 😱

We are planning on putting some mesh along one of the hedges, which is pretty dense but the mesh will hopefully secure that. Then the area I was talking about to the front, we are going to put some fencing up (not solid panels but something sturdy) which should eliminate that problem. Then we’ll have to see how we go.

Does prey drive make a difference? I know all animals have a hunting instinct, but some stronger than others.

I too am laughing at the idea that you'll supervise the puppy and that will stop it getting out (but then I had a little toilet area set up in our garden for the puppy to use so he didn't mess all over - I can't believe I ever thought that would work, little sod treats the whole thing as his private fun park - he even pulled all the heads off my mini daffodils!)
My Bichon is 15 weeks and he is SUPER fast. He is learning pretty good recall but it takes time. If he has a bit of a crazy morning he laps the garden at high speed woofing like a loon. There is no way I could prevent him shooting out between bushes or trees. You need a totally secure garden and for the first few months you'll still be out there with the puppy every time to work on toilet training.

We let the pup off his lead in a large field to do recall training and he can cover the length of that field about 5 times faster than me. He has no prey drive (bred to be a lap dog) and is the size of a large cat but boy can he move when he wants to. He is also pretty confident, nosy, desperate to meet other dogs and downright unpredictable on occasions. He escaped out the front door as I opened it at age 10 weeks. He was over the road and in someone else's front garden quick as you like. He hadn't got the hang of recall at that point. I had to follow from a distance calling his name (not sure he even knew it was his name and he certainly wasn't listening). I finally managed to get close enough to grab him but it took us a good 5 minutes to get him back in the house. He is a lot faster and bolder now and I'd still not trust his recall 100%. Your garden needs to be properly secured or that pup will be off.

I know you live in a quiet rural place and it is a cul de sac BUT never leave your dog alone in the garden. Many dogs a day are being stolen from their gardens (look on DogLost) wherever they are (lots going from rural areas too - big business for some of the travelling community). Dog theft is worse than ever. Puppies (any sort) and certain breeds (french bulldogs, cocker spaniels, chihuahuas, etc etc) are particularly targeted. Incidentally, tying them up outside a shop is also a good way of losing them forever.

Thanks for the input. Like I said- I’m a first timer and new to all this which is why I’m asking what the to options are :)

We’ve been out this morning in the garden to plan out how we can make it totally secure. I’d never leave a dog tied up outside a shop- that’s something I hate to see anyway.

An unneutered large male dog will get over a 2m fence to get to a bitch in heat. Teenage dogs are escape artists. If they can't get over the top, they dig underneath

What does your garden look like then haddock? I’m picturing prison style fences 😂

This made me laugh, though even as an experienced dog owner the arrival of our new puppy arriving after 13 years with our old dog has bought all sorts of shocks......

Our last dog could unweave a lattice fence. He once first dragged out a large mature clematis, then gnawed through a two inch thick stem of a large climbing rose to get at the trellis to pull it out and then unweave a fence. He could dig a two foot tunnel in no time. We often hummed the theme of the Great Escape when we let him out, and if he could have ridden a motor bike........ He wasn't even that bothered about actually getting into next doors garden, he always came back if he succeeded, it was all about the mental challenge. Our fencing is now all 6 ft wooden boards with a further two feet of trellis with two gavel boards screwed across the bottom buried six inches into the ground.

The most loving and fantastic dog who we miss every day, even the bloody holes......

We have a new puppy who seems more interested in scaling than tunnelling and dismantling........ any advice on what you could legally add to a six foot fence and eight foot trellis?