Train Your Dog to Stop Fence Escapes

Whether your dog can jump over a fence or claw it’s way under Dog Day Getaway is here to help find the solution right for you. Usually, its because your dog is bored or excited to meet the squirrels in the neighborhood. Either way we have a number of options to help curb this dog jumping and digging problem. Let’s get into it.

Preventing dogs from escaping your yard is simple to do once you figure out how they’re doing it. It’s always best to watch for this action and then devise a way to stop them from jumping over fences or digging under them. You’ll need a bit of patience, some DIY skills and possibly a fence contractor.

Jumping over fences

If your dog is agile enough to jump over a tall fence, you should consider entering them into dog shows. Honestly, some dogs won’t make it and get hurt, others will fly over even an 8 ft. fence, or scramble their way to the top. The remedy here is to consider improvements to your fence line.

  • Adding Lattice: This is determined on the city codes for how high your fence can be. If your dog is clearing a 6′ fence with ease, it might be time to add some lattice to the top. Sold at most big-box home improvement stores, it’s affordable and makes a great weekend project. Then again, it might be time to call in the pros and let a fence contractor handle the tough work.
  • No Climb Safety Rails: These are basically 2×4’s which have the top angle cut off making it a trapezoid. You can simply cut a 2×4 with a standard circular saw or they sell them pre-cut at any big-box hardware store like Lowes and Home Depot.
  • Privacy Fencing: This is the last resort to keeping your dog from getting excited about what’s on the other side. If he can’t see whats happening out there, they tend not to escape your yard via vaulting your fence. Privacy fencing can be anything from fabric mesh (used for gardening) to adding additional pickets so your dog won’t be able to see out.

Digging under the fence: The Escape Pro

Doggedly determined and bored dogs tend to dig the most. You might want to walk your dog more frequently to wear them down. Better yet is to bring them to doggy daycare and let them run with the pack for a few hours each day. But, you’ll need to secure your fence should they get the urge to dig. Here a re a few simple ways to keep them from digging their way to freedom:

  1. Install kicker board: Some wood fences don’t let the pickets touch the ground due to rot. So a kicker board (typically a 2×8 is used to deter digging by blocking access and closing the gap between the fence and the ground. This is a good weekend project and you’ll only need simple hand tools to complete this project.
  2. Chicken Wire: This may appear to be a big project, but it goes a lot faster than installing kicked boards. You’ll simply dig a trench under your fence about 10″ deep; staple the chicken wire to the bottom of the fence and lay the fencing into the trench. Cover with dirt and they’ll be done with digging.
  3. Bricks: This is another easy method to stop your dog from digging out yoru fence posts. As well, there are a number of ads for free bricks on Craigslist and Facebook marketplace, so you may be able to get this project complete on the cheap. You’ll dig a trench like you would for the chicken wire, only you’ll stack the bricks in a row letting the top 1″ of the brick come between your picket and the ground.

Depending on your fence line, you may need a lot of the material you’ll be using to secure the perimeter. So measure several times and quite possibly, use all 3 of these methods to contain your pooch in the yard.