How to fence dogs from only one property line?

[cowboymom]

We live in the middle of nowhere. Literally for miles around there are no houses and my dogs can go anywhere they want to go out there, for miles. Sadly, we don’t live at the end of the road and get occasional traffic on the road past our house. Some days it’s three cars, some day’s it’s maybe 15, never more.

I have a pack of dogs and I really want them to be able to go outside and enjoy all the bajillions of square miles on three sides of our property but stay AWAY from the side that is bordered by the road.

I have a fenced yard that they go out into now if they aren’t supervised but I’d really like to figure out a way to keep them off the dang road so if they get out, they stay off the road or the Great Pyrenees can work without having to be fenced in.

I’ve thought about a hot wire for the length of the property and could go a ways beyond that. we have two driveways that I couldn’t really do that on though… but am willing to make little gates enough to teach them to stay off it and open/shut them. The property line is fenced in barbed wire now so dogs leak right out… and we’re talking a mile or so of fence that I’d like to deter dogs. I thought about the underground or wireless fences but they don’t seem right for the “far as you want those three ways, just don’t go THIS way” scenario that I have going on.

I realize this is more country and loose than most people anywhere can deal with with their dogs. Somehow around here nobody seems to pay any mind if their dog is on the road or not and somehow the dogs don’t go on the road? Every day I drive past houses on the highway that are literally 100 feet from 75 mph traffic and loose dogs are sleeping on the porch. Houses in town and loose dogs are sleeping on the yard. I’m sure it’s Darwinism but I’d like for mine to just stay off the road but am not willing to risk Darwinism in my bunch b/c I know some would fail.

Plot twist-dogs range from Chihuahua to Great Pyrenees size.

Bonus point-if it can work on the cats too!

[jetsmom]

There isn’t a way to keep loose dogs out of the road. Those dogs you see on the porch, or in yards are probably dog #3, 4, 5 as the others got lost, got shot, got run over by cars, got stolen, or got killed by other loose dogs/coyotes.

[cowboymom]

Well you get no points for creativity! :lol:

There ARE ways. And if they are fenced away from one side then they aren’t really entirely loose.

[S1969]

My first two dogs could be loose here at my house, and in a similar setup - a good 40+ acres behind the house that they could be on, but the road in front is only about 200 feet from the house.

My best ever dog just seemed to need to be told - once. But his trusty side-kick liked to go across the road and poop in the neighbor’s yard. :no: We had electronic training collars and decided to try to use them to train the roadside (we have a decorative post & rail fence). So, we watched the dog, we use the electric when he tried to go underneath the fence. To him it seemed related to the fence, and he avoided it like the plague.

I think we refreshed this 1-2 times in 6 years or so. Overall it was successful.

Now we have other dogs and a fenced yard, and don’t trust them all to be as good - my 6 year old dog is absolutely driven to hunt, so I know he is not trustworthy…and we don’t allow access that direction anymore…

But it might be worth trying. Obviously it’s risky if it doesn’t work…but it might be enough.

[Nezzy]

If you leave them loose, then you deal with the consequences. Run aways, Hit by car, Coyotes, etc…

[cowboymom]

Thank you, yes that could work with them… maybe I can expand on the the cues too so that they can remind and mark the line… I’ve considered just doing the electric woven wire along the whole stretch but it’s SO expensive…it would keep the coyotes out. I have a young Great Pyrenees that has to learn her boundaries and obviously she can do her job best if she has full access to our property but I want to train her as well as the rest to not cross the fence along the road side. Ever. If they get out while one of our two cars of the day is driving by or if one gets out of the fenced yard or if the GP has to be out working all night. That gives me some ideas to develop-thanks S1969

[cowboymom]

Yo, part of the reason I want the GP’s out is the keep the coyotes away! :lol:

As I said, I understand that some of you can not understand my situation. I get it, but if that’s all you can say it’s really no help.

Honest-there are no other loose dogs. My neighbor five miles to the south isn’t going to shoot my dogs, they know them. I know everyone that drives by here on the dirt road. There are no trees, you can see my house from miles around and the sound carries, the dogs aren’t going to get lost. The hills around comprise our horse pasture and the dogs have run with us on every bit of it.

[Horsegal984]

Underground fence has to be in a loop to work, but you can cross the wires on the section you want them to be able to cross. So on the road frontage you leave it “on” and then to loop it back around you just double it up and they can go where they please. It’s the only way I can think of, unless they’re really smart and you want to try to work multiple remote collars at the same time. Of course, they could always go around it, in which case they may get stuck and be unable to get back into their yard too.

[french_fry]

I understand that your situation (which you have previously described as very rural) is likely different than the average suburban dog owner’s, both environmentally and culturally. I grew up with ties to both types of dog ownership (mine were suburban dogs that never went outside without a leash or secure fence, many people I knew had dogs that basically free-ranged on the back 40. We don’t have a lot of natural predators or farmers with guns, so I don’t remember any terrible tragedies.)

What is a little odd is that you sound like you are trusting them pretty implicitly EXCEPT for the road.

I would recommend invisible fencing the largest area you can, fully fencing in an area where you can let them out when unsupervised, or training them not to go in the road. If they can learn to stay on your property otherwise they can probably learn not to cross the street, right? I’m not usually into using strong aversives, but I’d probably make an exception for road training and consider an e-collar.

Either way, I would personally constantly supervise the chi-sized munchkins. I’m not convinced it’s possible to fully coyote-proof, but even if it is possible the chihuahua types are small enough to get carried off by an opportunistic bird of prey…or a cat…or a particularly angry chicken. :lol:

[cowboymom]

Totally agree, I don’t trust the littles (Chi and a Yorkie) to just hang out at liberty, the owls or eagles would pick them right off. The only time they go out front where there isn’t a fence is when they are totally supervised-the Chi thinks she can chase coyotes so she needs to be watched constantly! The Yorkie chases chickens but they are both tiny enough that a chicken could probably get the upper hand! :lol: The rest are Aussies, a GSD, and a GP and pretty much I am not worried about anything that could happen to them out other than the road. There just isn’t anything out there and they can’t get out of sight really even. It’s rolling grassy hills. Right now I do have a fenced back yard that is getting used pretty hard and with all this land around me it would be nice to be able to let the dogs out to patrol, keep the coyotes out of the chicken coop, put some pressure on the gophers on the hillside, and go poop further away from the house than the back yard. Especially now I have a GP that needs to be able to guard and I’d like her to have the ability to do that… The last GP I had started to chase cars as they went by and while he never got hurt it was a game changer and he spent most of his time in the fenced yard while the chickens got hauled off by the coyotes at night down by the barn, where he wasn’t. And the cats roam around and I’d like the GP and other dogs to be able to keep some local territory away from the coyotes other than my over-worked back yard. In the summer when we’re going in and out and playing around with the horses I’d like the dogs to be out with us without them going to play on the road when we aren’t looking and have that one vehicle of the day come by. Ect…

Front of the house and behind the house-the road leads past our house to a missile silo so the military maintains the road in very good shape for as little traffic as it gets. I really do live in the rear end of nowhere.

https://www.facebook.com/amanda.a.steele/media_set?set=a.10207110944865556.1073741894.1039577974&type=3&uploaded=2

[S1969]

[QUOTE=cowboymom;8537092]
really do live in the rear end of nowhere.

https://www.facebook.com/amanda.a.steele/media_set?set=a.10207110944865556.1073741894.1039577974&type=3&uploaded=2[/QUOTE]

Wow, yes you do! I would give the e-collars a try. They are really versatile training tools and can be used in many different situations. The downside is that you have to watch them. But, Horsegal has a good idea with a double loop of underground fence…might be worth thinking about. Or even a good 30 mile solar charger and electric fence?

[cowboymom]

All good ideas-I’m able to run the wire as far as I want to so I think I could really deter them from it. I’d never feel safe enough to leave them out when we weren’t home but I would like to be able to let them out front or let them go back and forth with us while we unload groceries, ect.

I do have an e-collar that I used successfully on that deer chasing BMC years ago… we will have to start “fencing lessons”.

I love it here-totally peaceful, I just really wish this darn road ENDED at our house instead of wandering past!

[Chestnut_Run]

I don’t have any suggestions for you that haven’t already been suggested. An e-collar was my rowdy dog’s constant companion for about 6 months. He’s awesome now.

On another note, I fence my dogs in with electrobraid and t-posts. We live rural, but not your rural! LOL, and the people around here WILL shoot your dog if it bothers them. I have rottweilers, so I’m particular about keeping them contained for their good, and mine. The electrobraid fence wouldn’t work for little dogs, but keeps my boys in. Something like that might work to run along the road since you said you don’t mind having to open and shut gates.

Also wanted to say, your place is absolutely GORGEOUS!

[tbchick84]

Underground fence in a narrow loop a few feet from the road would most likely deter them from going in that direction if they had all that other land to run around on. You could try it with the wire just lying on top of the ground to see if it works before going through the work of burying it. Some dogs respect it without question. Others run through. Only one way to find out.

[JanM]

My question would be the GP. I don’t know much about them, but know they are independent, so I wonder if that dog would respect the invisible fence.

I love the comment about the littlest dogs getting intimidated by the chickens.

[Horse_with_No_Name]

[QUOTE=cowboymom;8537092]

Front of the house and behind the house-the road leads past our house to a missile silo so the military maintains the road in very good shape for as little traffic as it gets. I really do live in the rear end of nowhere.

https://www.facebook.com/amanda.a.steele/media_set?set=a.10207110944865556.1073741894.1039577974&type=3&uploaded=2[/QUOTE]

Love your back yard!

We live on a small rural residential block and have two lines of electric fence along two sides of our boundary fence (post and rail). Every six months or so he’ll give himself a jolt but I don’t think he’s has twigged that the other two sides (seven strand wire) of the property aren’t live.

We tried invisible fence with our dog but it didn’t work due mainly to Mr HwNN not reading the training manual. So, after that fiasco we decided just to plug the electric fence we’d set up for our previous dog back in and give that a go. First time he got a shock sent him howling to the porch and he now has a very healthy respect for all the fences on our property, despite only the front and one side being live. The look on his face as he watches the cat slip through the fence is priceless

[Horsegal984]

My female ACD tried to slip under the electric fence at a new farm one day, to greet a new person. She hit her tail on it right as she reached New Guy. She jumped 10ft away and was scared of him for a week, totally convinced that he somehow did it. :lol: She’s also the one who learned about the ECollar in one session and has never been shocked again in 6 years.

[cowboymom]

I will have to decide how to do it; we’ve used just a line of light wire before and it works really well until they learn to get around it.

The GP will be the problem-I know things like the underground fence and collars don’t work on them b/c if they’re on a mission they just go… but they can also be trained to work a specific property line and like visual boundaries. My plan with this one is to walk the property line with her over and over and over and over and hope that she learns like one we had years ago to run the property line inside the fence. It will be good exercise! :lol:

[Epona142]

Many people don’t realize that LGDs need to be trained to their boundaries manually. Fencing means nothing to an LGD - the only truly adequate fencing you can create for them is in their mind.

Walk her along them every single day along with the rest of your pack. I did this for at least a month or two when I brought home our young dogs last year.

A very large mistake people make with LGDs is expecting them to be as independant as they keep hearing. They were not bred to be thrown out in a flock to work on their own, as people expect. They were bred to work with us as shepherds and goatherds - not so much for us, but for our stock and property.

Anyhow, to answer your actual question, I have used electric line to great effect, but they do have to be trained to it as well. Which pretty much involves tempting them into touching the flagged fence a few times.

[NoDQhere]

Honestly, unless you OWN the Bajillions of acres of land, your dogs should not be running on it. Fence your land and keep your dogs on your land. I know that sounds harsh, but there is wildlife to consider as well. Letting several dogs run amok is, IMO, not a good thing. Just a few days ago, a gal in our area had her goats attacked by “pet” dogs allowed to run. She shot two of the dogs (dead) and I believe two of her goats bolted and haven’t been found.

Having said all that, electric fence works well for most dogs.