Weimaraner jumping over fence?

Question

HELP!!! I have a six month old Weimaraner who is jumping over our fence. We only have a 4 ft. chain linked fence and we split the backyard so that he could have the whole back area... he has learned how to jump out of both areas so right now we are keeping him in the house until we can find an alternate solution. We do not want to go with shock collar if possible... does anyone have any solutions that would help???

Answer 1

Your dog is a little young for a shock collar anyway at this point. Eventually, if you use one properly it will be the best thing you ever bought for you and your dog. Have someone teach you to use it with your dog when you are ready.

You have a high energy hunting breed that needs a lot of exercise, but also requires a lot of brain activity as well. Fetching games, hunting games (hide and go seek) with you, toys, whatever....will wear him out more that just a walk or run.

For starters, you have to watch him like a hawk when you first put him in the yard and leave, and actually set him up to give him a correction. Try to watch out a window or behind a tree, out of his sightline, and when he tries to jump over, run toward him shouting NO,NO,NO and waving your arms like a crazy woman. You want to give him a good scare so he backs down, but when he stays behind the fence, you can give him positive reinforcement which will help keep him in that fence. Pet him, praise him (over do it) and give him a treat (not always) after your correction.

If he gets over and you are physically able to do it, take him back to where he got over, grab him by the skin at his neck in one hand, and the skin at his back with the other, picking him up and placing him gently over the fence. It will not hurt him, but be uncomfortable enough for him that after a few times, he won't want it done again. It also puts you in a position of dominance being able to gently manhandle your dog which will also keep him in that fence.

If he is by himself with nothing to do in your yard, he will find something to do, and right now it is climbing over your fence. Don't just plop him back there, stay with him and play for a few minutes to give him a sense of security before you leave. Give him some toys to play with and check on him often.

He is still very young but they are a smart breed. They are very trainable and willing to please but you have to keep at it and not give him a chance to get over as best you can.

You only have about another year before he loses all the puppy in him, so have fun and he'll figure out that staying in the backyard is better than being cooped up in the house.

Best of luck.

Note:

Building a 6 ft fence is not training your dog. Any dog that has the physical abilty, which your dog does, and the drive to do so can jump a 6 ft as easily as a 4 ft fence. Your dog must be taught to stay in his yard. The techniques I gave you I have used for several years and they do work.

Answer 2

Weimaraner Jumping

Answer 3

The best solution I can possibly give outside of getting a shock collar (which really isn't bad) is contact a local dog trainer. There are quite a few that will come to your home and help train your dog not only for that problem but with basic and advanced behaviors. I don't mean Petsmart or Petco (not that I'm knocking their training) but you need something a bit more personalized.

The reason I suggest training is because I dog sit for a gentleman who owns a weimeraner (Deuce) and the gentleman lives on an acre of land. The dog is only allowed in certain parts of the yard and without a fence he stays in that area!! He doesn't run off even with other dogs in the area OR even when the neighbor calls him over. It's through extensive training that he is able to be out and about without supervision and no fence. BUT it is possible!!!

I wish you the best of luck because any dog jumping the fence is a serious matter. Aside from him running off and possible bodily injury there are a lot of sketchy people around. So becareful.

If you're in the Northern VA area - one of the best trainers I know of is Chris Valdes. Check out BeFreeDogs.com If not, contact him anyway, maybe he can recommend someone or give you some helpful hints.

Answer 4

I once had an elderly lady for a friend. She had a wonderful little dog. A mix of some sort. She had the dog trained well and it behaved very well. Learn here https://tr.im/kZnns

She kept an uncovered candy dish on her coffee table with candy in it. The dog was forbidden to eat the candy. When she was in the room observing the dog he did not even appear to notice the candy. One day while she was in her dinning room she happened to look in a mirror and could see her dog in the living room. He did not know he was being watched. For several minutes he was sitting in front of the candy bowl staring at the candy. Finally he reached in and took one. He placed it on the table and stared at it, he woofed at it. He stared some more, licked his chops and PUT IT BACK in the bowl and walked away. Did he want the candy, oh yeah. Did he eat it? Nope. They can be trained that well but most, I'll admit, are not trained that well. When I was a young boy, maybe 5 years old. We had a german shepherd. He was very well trained also. My mom could leave food unattended on the table, no problem. She would open the oven door and set a pan roast beef or roast chicken on the door to cool. No problem. He would not touch it, watched or not. But butter? Whole other story. You leave a stick of butter anywhere he could reach and it was gone. He was a large shepherd so there were not many places he could not reach. Really, I think the number of dogs trained to the point they will leave food alone when not being supervised is very small indeed.
.
Now if we are talking obedience training, not food grubbing, that is a different story. Way back when I was first learning obedience training one of the final exercises was to put our dogs in a down/stay and not only leave the room but leave the building for 15 minutes. The only person that stayed was our trainer, not the owners. Most of the dogs in my class did not break their stay, which would be an automatic fail. I'm happy to report my dog was one of the ones that passed.

Answer 5

Hmm, I have more questions about this situation. One is: is your dog fixed? Unfixed dogs (both male and female) tend to have a stronger urge to wander. Another question is: Is he getting enough exercise? This breed is very smart and high energy and needs daily walks/runs multiple times a day. They also need a lot of mental stimulation. Sometimes dogs will create their own exercise routine or mental stimulation (like jumping fences) if they aren't getting enough. Another suggestion is that your dog sounds like he might be a good candidate for agility training. You could channel his energy into something more positive than escaping your back yard. I would also try building a taller fence- wooden ones are harder to climb. Smart dogs especially can learn to climb chain link fences. A shock collar probably won't work if your dogs drive to leave the yard is so strong, he might try it anyway . The fun he has when he jumps might outweigh the temporary pain from a shock collar. The shock might also scare him and he might run off. One last thing that you might not want to hear is that sometimes dogs just cannot be trusted outside unattended. I work at a shelter and we have many dogs that end up being returned to us because they just keep outsmarting their owners. You are absolutely doing the right thing by keeping him in your house for now. I wish you and your doggie luck!

Answer 6

I have Weims and had the same problem.
You have two choices
Shock collar or install a 6foot fence.
I did the 6 foot fence but I also have a shock collar.
It works great for some things but fence jumping is not the best answer. You have to watch them the entire time they are out to shock them when they go to jump. As ofr the invisible fencing I have not had good luck with it and hunting dogs. Hunters are very high prey drive and most will run through the fence if they see something on the other side. They will take the shock and keep right on going.
I truely recommend a taller fence. 6foot worked for me and no one has gone over since.

Answer 7

E-collars will fix this problem or installing an invisible fence along your fence line. They are expensive but the good ones are worth it. I wouldn't get anything besides dogtra or tritronics collars. If your dog already knows what come means it will help.

Answer 8

Best thing to do is install an invisible fence. Dogs get use to them quickly and without harming the dog. Plus it is a whole lot cheaper than putting in a 6 or 7 foot fence.

Answer 9

Home Depot sells 6x6 panels of Chain link fencing (Including a panel with a door) all you have to do is clamp them together. Build him a nice big dog run that also has panels on top. It's a lot cheaper than refencing a 6 foot fence around your yard!

Answer 10

Go with the shock collar, he'll get the idea.