About a week ago, I posted about a dog that we just adopted, Skylar. He's a year-old collie-mix. Granted, he's still got some manners to learn, but he's still a young dog so I understand that. Slowly but surely, I'm training him. However, there is one huge problem that has my mom stressed and I don't know how to fix.

Skylar jumped the fence this morning.

A squirrel was on our fence when Skylar was let out to go to the bathroom. It got spooked and ran off into the woods, and Skylar pursuited it and jumped over the fence in the action. I was at work when this happened. Mom was able to go to the other side of the woods (they're pretty small, only behind my backyard and not our neighbors) and called his name to come back. Thankfully, he will return to us when he hears his name.

The two parallel sides of the fencing aren't the problem. They're six-feet tall and wooded. The third side, separating our backyard from the woods, is the problem: four-feet, wooded/mesh fencing. No idea why my dad wanted that type of fencing years ago, but can't do much about it now.

Originally, Skylar did escape once. Turned out that there was a hole in the mesh that he could squeeze through. Mom bought some decorative bamboo thin fencing to put up against our existing fence in order to cover up the holes in the mesh (that were caused by bushes growing through the mesh). A day after she finished this task was when Skylar jumped the fence which is why my mom is so stressed, probably.

Getting a new, taller fence is out of the question. Parents aren't up to doing that. I am not sure how to train a dog to not jump the fence, especially when he only did it because he was provoked by a squirrel. But now we and he knows that he can jump the fence, so I really want to make sure that he doesn't do it again. My mom claims that if he jumps the fence one more time, then we have to return him to the animal rescue :/

We were considering adding an extra two feet of bamboo fencing to the top of that fence, but it's not all that thick. Will that fool him into not attempting to jump? Will fully teaching him not to jump on people (training in progress) help him learn not to try to jump the fence?

Any advice/suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

[edit] I should probably add this. For the time being, I'll probably go out in the backyard with him when we let him out. We want to eventually teach him that it's okay to go outside by himself and that we'll let him back in when he's finished, but I don't want to leave him outside alone until we can fully trust him

An electric fence might be an option. Basically, its a shock type collar (often just vibration and not real electricity depending on the brand) that will go off when he crosses a line of wiring that you can lay out where the fence is. We did that to keep my old dog out of my mom's garden.

In response to the person above me- I cannot ever agree with an electric fence- if a dog wants to, they will gladly ignore the shock and go after what they want- it also shocks them when they try to return- would you want to go home if you got zapped?

I'd suggest training him with clicker training- walk him past the fence on leash with lots of treats. Every time he stays with you rather than going towards the fence, he gets a treat. Walk along the fence and treat him when he looks at you and not out into the woods. It's all about positive reinforcement, and if he's a young dog, he should definitely get lots of happy reinforcement for good manners. Also, continue to work on his recall- it sounds like he has it down really well, but make sure to give him lots of attention and treats whenever he comes back on command! Give him chicken, beef- the good stuff! Make it worth his while.

The bamboo fencing up top might help as well- just that extra look of height would discourage many dogs from jumping.

If you have any questions, please feel free to message me :)

Id say get a runner. We have one in my backyard and its amazing. Its basically a chain covered in plastic that you can attach between 2 things (trees, house, deck, etc) and then another chain is attached to the dog. So basically she will be on a leash where she can get to most parts of the yard, and you dont actually have to hold it. Id say combine that with clicker training like said. Train her to not pull against the farthest the leash will go. she will learn to stay within the confines of where the runner lets her. After awhile you won't need to have her attached to the runner. She will learn not to cross a certain point. We did this with my dog without the clicker training though. My dog acts all big and powerful (dachshund mix) but if she gets out when she knows shes not supposed to, she gets scared and runs right back into the house.

Ehh, I'm not sure how I feel about an electric fence. I just don't really like them. The neighbors across the street have one for their dog, and it just drives their dog nuts. And a couple of dogs in my neighborhood are intolerable to the shock and don't mind it. I'd rather find alternatives.

For the time being, my dad went out and bought this 7-foot mesh fencing, which is used as a Deer Blocker. We're just hoping that the extra bit of height will discourage him from jumping. Regardless, we're going to have our original fencing, the 7-foot in front of that, and then the bamboo fencing in front of that.

The past day or two, I have been considering clicker training. I've never tried it before, but it seemed to work on shows on Animal Planet and whatnot. The clickers aren't that expensive, so it may not hurt to try. Sometimes while I'm training him, he isn't all that interested in his dog treats. I may find something that catches his interest more, cause maybe he'll be more inclined to listen if the reward is better. And for some reason, I never thought about rewarding him when he looked at me as opposed to the woods. He likes to check out that back fence now, so it could be a great idea to reward him for looking the other way. I'll definitely try that out!

I never heard about the runner, actually. I'd probably look into that option some more. He definitely pulls on the leash though, so I'd probably continue to work on that before I would introduce that runner (if we do try that out)

I like it, because even though my dog is little, shes damn strong and can pull the leash from my hands if not paying attention. Its more unlikely that your dog will pull the runner from your house. Also you can more easily get its attention besides pulling, you can actually step in front of him.

You might have success with adding more height! If he's not jumping your existing 6' fences, then he might not try to jump your higher mesh fence either. But for the sake of info: I prefer fences that have a barrier at the top (or near the top) that leans inward. See: cat fencing. Many animals won't attempt to climb things that loom above their head, and those that will try can't get a good enough purchase to outmaneuver such a design.

Training: what you're looking for is called boundary training. Kikopup has a tutorial on that here!. (And here's a video demonstrating the method in action.)

For the time being, it sounds like taking him out on a long line (perhaps a Flexi if he's not very strong) would be your best bet. :] But a good fence + training + supervision should have you covered on all fronts.

Clicker training definitely works and can be used on every breed. Get a clicker they're usually under $1, and get very good treats- either some really good smelly ones or whatever he'd like. As for catching his interest, you can always try limiting his food during the day- all dogs are food motivated with the right treats, and it may just be he's not hungry so limit his food intake before and after training sessions. I wish you luck with him! He sounds like a brilliant puppy who just needs a few lessons, but it's also great that your dad got the new fencing- that should also help discourage him from hopping the fence.

Yea, I've tried the method of stepping in front of him to get his attention on me. That's working as well.

Oh yea, I've seen fences like those before. If this begins to show signs of failure, then I will try that out! Wow, I was just watching some of her videos a couple of days ago for some basic training, and I didn't even think about looking up a video about containing a dog in the backyard! Thanks for pointing that out to me!

I've got a big gap of free time inbetween two of my working shifts, so I think I'll run out and buy a clicker tomorrow afternoon. Short noises like that do catch his attention, so I think that it'll work pretty well. I still gotta find that right treat that really catches his attention that makes him feel like he just HAS to earn that treat! We feed him several smaller meals a day as opposed to one or two big meals, so he's definitely a hungry boy by a certain time. But you make a good point, because he has turned down some basic treats before, probably since he wasn't very hungry. He's definitely a smart dog!

I personally dont agree with clicker training or treat training. All of my dogs have been trained hands on which is basically a verbal and hand gesture kind of training because none of the others worked and it was just not something I was taught around. I do kinda agree with the raising the height of your fence lol I know it seems a little pricey to some degree -- our 4ft fence couldnt keep my lab or my pit contained and we resulted to a lead which i hated. They also never got the exercise they needed. I think its just a matter of what you're comfortable in approach and seeing what suits you and your fur baby c: