Fencing

I live in a rural town on a dirt road and have 6 acres of land. For the past two years, I have installed, by hand, a metal mesh fence for the dogs. And, for the past two years, the snow has drifted in such a way that the dogs are eventually able to push against the fence and scale the darn thing like a ladder.

Well, I am tired of worrying about where the dogs can go and what they might get into if I don't watch them like a hawk every second that they are outside. I don't want them to go to my bad neighbor's house. I don't want them to go to my nice neighbor's house. I don't want them to follow turkey tracks. Or wander into the road, even though I am set back two acres. I don't want to have to worry about all of this.

So, I am going to have to get a real fence. But, what kind should I get? How should I decide what type?

Features I want in a fence:

• Security Type A (Keep dogs in) - I want the fence tall enough and strong enough so that the dogs can not jump or climb it.
• Security Type B (Keep others out) - I want the fence to keep out as much wildlife as possible. I want it to keep out the bad neighbor's annoying dog. I want it to keep out the bad neighbor.
• Appearance - I want the fence to allow me to see my backyard and enjoy the wildlife that might be outside of the fence. In other words, I want to be able to see through it. I want people driving by to be able to see how much I care about my dogs - by installing a fence.

I have decided on a chain link fence. With gates that allow me to get my lawn mower in, but that can be padlocked to prevent any unwanted persons from getting in. While not the most expensive option, it isn't the cheapest, either. And, I will not be able to afford to fence in my entire property. But, when weighing these minor disadvantages with the advantages of having a real fence, I am more than willing to pay the price of the fence!

I could get an electronic fence. You know, the one with the collar that shocks the dog for getting too close to the invisible fencing. But, this won't keep wildlife away from my dogs. It won't keep that little dog next door away from my dogs. It won't keep people away from my dogs. And, if my dogs really start chasing something, it won't keep them on my property, either.

And, an invisble fence collar delivers physical punishment in the form of a shock. That means it causes pain to prevent a dog from doing something. I don't like physical punishment. Especially when I can solve the problem without resorting to causing pain to my dogs. Because a real fence in a much more visual and kind alternative. I can see if there is a problem with a real fence. I don't have to remember to change batteries or have collars on or worry about lightning or other storms damaging or disrupting the fence.

Pat Miller has written an excellent article about the disadvantages of an invisible fence. Ms. Miller is a well respected positive reinforcement dog trainer with years of experience. There is another great one here. I, myself, have seen some of the problems caused by these fences.

I spend a lot of money on food, vet care, grooming, training, collars, and toys for my dogs. Why would I choose a product that could easily fail? I love my dogs enough to get them the real thing.

Lucky's Been Adopted

Lucky was turned over the sheltie rescue in late November 2007. At the time, he looked like this:

He was severely underweight and dehydrated. He had been run over by a car at some previous undetermined time, never taken in for vet care and his hips healed poorly. We didn't know if he could walk at all. But, even though you can't see it in the picture, his eyes were shiny and he hadn't given up.

He spent a week at Holly's vet and a day at a vet specialist's office before he came into foster care at my home. The poor little guy was also Lyme positive, very weak and had liquid poo (a technical term, that).

At first, the only food he would eat was chicken and rice. After a few weeks of this, I started mixing in dry Wellness puppy food. Eventually, he was able to eat, quite happily, Wellness Adult dog food.

Then, he started straining when he tried to poo. And, he didn't seem interested in his food. So, he went to my vet, where he stayed for a few days. He had a blockage. Of poo. See, when his hips had healed, one had healed pressed against where his intestine and colon came together. This caused the opening to be smaller than normal. He became constipated and was only able to pass a small bit of stool at a time. My vet had to perform surgery to remove the stool.

Sadly, there is no affordable surgery that a vet can do that would fix where his hip is. So, in order to prevent this problem from happening again, we humans have to make sure that his stool remains soft. While fiber and other natural methods might be OK, my vet recommended that we keep him on stool softeners. It is just far too easy for Lucky to become blocked again and surgery into the intestines carries its own risks.

After letting him heal from the surgery and figuring out the proper number of stool softeners he would need each day, I contacted Hilary and her family, since she had been very eager to adopt Lucky before he got ill.

What can I say about this family? I just wish I was a dog! They are some of the nicest people I have ever met and their grandson is a very nice young man. We arranged to meet them halfway between their house and mine (they live in another State) and the adoption day went very well. Lucky was kissing their grandson in no time and it was very obvious that this was the perfect home for him.

Lucky is right.

Grace has her own blog

Grace has her own blog now:

www.shysheltiegrace.blogspot.com

Toenails

Grace let me clip three (!) of her nails last night! Of course, she was a bit hesitant and pulled back a little on the third nail, but she did great. And, got lots of treats. We'll do a few more tonight.

She is also getting much better about going out the door. She will now come out of her crate when coaxed and, even though she "slinks" across the room, she will allow me to grab her collar when I need to and is walking much better on a leash. She doesn't bolt away in fear anymore, either. In fact, she is doing so well that I am no longer using a drag line inside the house.

Her crate is her safe spot, though, and she doesn't like to come out of it. But, she has gotten to the point where she will stand in the doorway to her little "cave" and watch me while I prepare a meal or give the other dogs their treats. Of course, she gets treats, too, but she isn't ready to brave the room to get one. So, I walk her treat over to her and she will take it out of my hand, rather than cowering in the back of the crate.

And, because she spends so much time in there, even with the door open, I make sure that she gets plenty of stuffed Kongs and playtime outside. The Kongs keep her mind busy and the playtime outside lets her really stretch her legs. She especially likes to roll in the powdery snow. And, she has begun interacting with Robbie and Ella. She greeted Maggie really well last night, too.

And, since the kitchen is the place where we practice our obedience training, she gets to watch the other dogs go through their cues. Last night, she watched Maggie practicing "down." Every once in awhile, I would toss a treat to Grace, just for paying attention while Maggie was in class.

This doesn't seem like much improvement, but it is. She is getting braver and more confident. Tiny baby steps on the road towards adoption.

Classes

I spend so much time with the foster dogs that my own dogs aren't getting the training they need. They get plenty of attention, but their obedience skills are lacking. Here are the things I want to fix in my own dogs:

Ella steals food as often as she can. She will steal candy from babies! Right out of their mouths. She isn't growling or anything, just stealing. I would like Ella to learn a really good "Leave It" this year.

Maggie has awful recall (come). She takes off any chance she gets. She comes back, but in her own, sweet time. This can be nerve wracking when she does this in the fall, during hunting season. I would like Maggie to have a more reliable recall.

Robbie is afraid of strangers, especially men, and children. I would like Robbie to learn to approach strangers without alarm barking.

Bear is also afraid of strangers. It is much harder to get Bear used to strangers, since he is deaf. However, my goal this year for Bear is to take him more places where we can safely get him used to new people.

Spirit has improved so much since she came to me. But, she really needs more basic training, including sit! So, I would like to teach Spirit how to allow collar grabs from me and how to sit to take treats.

I could probably teach all of this at home. In fact, I know I could teach this. But, setting aside the time to spend with each dog individually is really difficult! I have decided that the best way for me to meet these goals is the sign each of my dogs up for a class:

I have signed Ella up for a level 2 class - we will be working on a longer down, stay, recall and better heeling. And, while we wait for class to start, we will be working on leave it. Ella's class starts April 29.

I have signed Maggie up for a basic obedience class. She already knows many of the cues, but the classroom setting will help get her ready for the level 2 classes, which work on recall much more. Maggie's class starts May 31.

I have planned out when I need to sign Robbie up for his Level 1 class and when to sign Maggie up for the Level 2. If Ella does well during the Level 2 class, then I will sign her up for the Canine Good Citizen (CGC) class.

Bear will get to take a class late this fall. In the meantime, I will begin setting up meetings with friends to get Bear used to strangers. I will be doing the same with Spirit.

Bark bark barkety bark

Grace was so excited about dinnertime last night that she started barking! She had her head stuck out of her crate and then pulled back into it, twirled and barked. It was a happy bark. An excited bark.

It also made Robbie start barking. I don't think the others had heard her bark before. I know that I haven't.

Shatzi was debarked on Thursday. After a few months of agonizing over this, asking other sheltie rescues what they would do and having quite a few potential adopters turn her down because of her barking, we decided to make the appointment and have her vocal cords nipped. Now, she sounds like a dog that has been smoking for 30 years - hoarse. And, much quieter.

When she barked for the first time with her new voice, it freaked Robbie out and he started barking at her. But, then again, lots of stuff makes Robbie bark.

She still barks, make no mistake. But, when she goes outside, I can't hear her inside and when I am outside with her, I know that the neighbors can't hear her, either. Their dogs might still be able to hear her, but that part doesn't concern me.

Inside, she seems to be barking less. Maybe it is because her barking no longer echoes around the room. She will bark once or twice and then stop, which is a new thing for her.

Now, we just have to work on the issue she has with cars - and, find her a forever home.