Better Designed Dog Fences Make for Better Dogs - Whole Dog Journal Article

by Pat Miller

As I sit here writing, I hear a ruckus from my backyard. Leaning forward, I look out my window to see Dubhy the Scottie running the fenceline and barking madly at two black Labs who have wandered over from a distant neighbor’s house, still sporting the highly ineffective shock collars that are supposed to keep them home.

As I cuss under my breath yet again at my irresponsible neighbors and get up to call Dubhy in, I have a sudden epiphany. Three years ago when Dubhy’s on-again, off-again dog aggression erupted for the first time, it was directed at a black Lab. I have always wondered why . . . and suddenly I see it. There’s a good chance that Dubhy
has a strong negative classical association with black
Labrador Retrievers as a result of his irregular but
frequent encounters-of-the-fence-kind with our
neighbor’s wayward dogs. Duh!

If a dog has had ample opportunities to fence-run, fence-fight, or just bark madly when people pass by his yard, it can be challenging to stop these behaviors. Strict management of his environment to eliminate his “practice time” is critical.

In his famous poem, “Mending Wall,” Robert Frost starts out by saying, “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.” We could revise that slightly to say “Something there is that doesn’t love a fence.”

That “something” is our dogs

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Better Designed Dog Fences Make for Better Dogs - Whole Dog Journal Article