Fence Fighting

[Guest LHibner]

After loosing our dear sweet 13 yr old Troy on Groundhogs day we adopt 9 yr old Victor (his mane was Viper,UGH!) this past Sunday. He is getting along with our other 5 greys but......he has a real problem with fence fighting with the neighbor dog who only wants to be friendly. Our other hounds either ignore the neighbor dog or just run up and down the fence playing with her. We have never had this problem before. I would apricate any info, advice or links for help with training on this isue. We have yet to take him out in public to see how he is on leash with other breeds. That will be fun.

 

thanks

Liz and family

Edited February 18, 2010 by LHibner

[cleptogrey]

i have had dogs who loved to fence fight. it's sometimes in them and that's it. my neighbor's dog used to come over and yodel and whine until willie would start running back and forth and doing the fence fight...really wierd dynamics. the neighbor was freaked out so he insisited that i put up stockade fencing. since willie was small(a welsh terrier w/ a mouth and then some) and the other dog looked for him i busted my neighbor's chops-a real jerk. i bought stockade fencing, cut it in 1/2 height wise and installed it behind the bushes so i would not have to see it. it worked, stopped the fun and games....my neighbor was pissed and bought his own 6ft stockade fencing and had a handyman install it. basically if they can't see it they won't go after it.

[Guest LHibner]

i bought stockade fencing, cut it in 1/2 height wise and installed it behind the bushes so i would not have to see it. it worked, stopped the fun and games....my neighbor was pissed and bought his own 6ft stockade fencing and had a handyman install it. basically if they can't see it they won't go after it.

 

Unfortunately we don’t have the money for a new fence at this time but that was the first thing that came to mind.

[Guest KennelMom]

What do you do when he goes crazy?

 

Our neighbors have a small foofoo type dog that looooooooves to yip it up at the fenceline we share with them. This dog looks, sounds and acts like a stuffie come to life! Most of our dogs are not small animal safe and several have some small animal (wild) kills under their belts. With 19 hounds, this can quickly escalate if we were to let it. What works for us is LEAVE IT. This is just a term we gradually teach to all new dogs and it essentially means - ignore/back off whatever you are currently focused on (something we dropped on the floor, the rabbit that just darted in front of us on the path or the foofoo dog next door). So, our dogs can run the fenceline with the dog next door, but the second they start getting riled up, barking or snarling they are told LEAVE IT and we break things up.

 

It really requires you to be present with the dogs in the yard and, specifically, at the fence so you can actually MAKE the dog stop. In the beginning, you may need to keep a leash in your pocket or around your neck and simply say LEAVE IT (or whatever word you want to use), then leash the dog and lead him away when he's just starting to act inappropriately.

 

eta: It's important that you stop the behavior BEFORE it escalates to all out fence fighting. This will vary because dogs escalate at different levels. For some of our dogs, it may be the second they see the dog that we need to call them off and redirect them. For others, it's when they make the first bark. They all esclate at different levels and have different thresholds for controlling themselves in front of exciting stimuli.

Edited February 18, 2010 by KennelMom

[Guest LHibner]

Firs of all Victor goes out muzzled just incase he decides to redirect the aggression....I have a very short leash handle that he wears on his collar to go outside so I have something to grab when needed to lead him away. Once he sees the dog and starts to focus on her I get him and say leave it and body block to break the focus. Then I lead him away. But as soon as I leave him out (weather the other dog is out or not) he runs right out and looks for her......now it's only been a few days since we got him so hopefully it just the newness of the situation and this will wear off but I'm not holding my breath. Right now with all of the snow it's hard to keep control of any situation. I have to dive in to the snow to get a hold of him.

[Guest KennelMom]

We have a couple really driven dogs like Victor. Consistency in removing them from the situation before they can work themselves up, continually working on "leave it" and just time (things become less interesting with repeated exposure) seems to help a lot. He hasn't been there very long, so just keep working with him.

 

I've also found our high energy/high prey dogs also require a lot of extra walks (a great place to practice leave it, as well reinforcing your role as "pack leader" and pack bonding..this makes them more likely to listen to voice and not require physical handling).

[Guest Sunset123]

We have a couple really driven dogs like Victor. Consistency in removing them from the situation before they can work themselves up, continually working on "leave it" and just time (things become less interesting with repeated exposure) seems to help a lot. He hasn't been there very long, so just keep working with him.

 

I've also found our high energy/high prey dogs also require a lot of extra walks (a great place to practice leave it, as well reinforcing your role as "pack leader" and pack bonding..this makes them more likely to listen to voice and not require physical handling).

 

Most of our fence is tall wood planks, but we have one section in the back of wire fencing with trees and plants behind it. We moved here pretty recently, and I was horrified to discover that there's a little tiny furball sassy yipping terrier who comes charging through the trees, sticks its head in our fence, and barks forcefully at my dog. The owner of the dog doesn't come and get his dog, he just calls out, "I guess they'll get used to each other!" I had to tell him, sorry, but your dog looks like a barking rabbit to my dog. She probably won't get used to that.

 

I got some large wood panels to block out the fence. It's not very pretty, but I want my yard to be for playtime, not fence-fighting. It feels safer this way.