Dog escapes everything!

262 Views 3 Replies 2 Participants Last post by Lillith, Nov 1, 2018

htoothman

Discussion Starter · Nov 1, 2018

Hello....I'm beside myself right now. We acquired our neighbors 9 month old box/german shepard mix about a month ago. She is amazing when home with someone. Best dog you could ask for. She is so loving and is scared of our other 2 smaller animals. We put her in our garage the first day (we were not prepared he dropped her off with no notice). She ripped open the metal (drive in) garage door to get out and go back to him. I get it she didn't know us yet. When then tried a kennel....she got it open jumped out a 2nd story window on our patio roof and off that back to old owner again. Then zipped tied the kennel outside (nice weather here) only gone 20 mins. checked on her and was bending the metal bars on the kennel. We tried leaving her alone for 1 hr. in the house she did wonderful. But when I came back another hour later she had jumped out the other side of the window and ripped out cords to a/c unit (window unit).

We all love her and she is a loving dog we just don't know what to do we work 8 hrs a day. Our kids are in every sport so we are running with them a lot.

Right now we leave her out every morning and she goes back to the neighbor. We get home in the evenings we have to go get her.

Any suggestions????

Save

1 - 4 of 4 Posts

Lillith

· #2 · Nov 1, 2018

Have you tried a Dog Box? It's basically a heavy-duty crate that your dog would need jaws of steel to escape. It's very expensive, but it's pretty much escape proof.

Try leaving her with a stuffed and frozen Kong or another long-lasting, yummy chew.

It has only been a month, she may not be comfortable with you yet, and if she can so easily go back to see the neighbor, she probably still thinks he is her owner. Why did the old owner give her up? Was it because of her separation anxiety? If he gave her up because of separation anxiety, you might want to consider medication. If she never had that problem with him, it's likely just that she doesn't understand he is no longer her owner.

Save

htoothman

Discussion Starter · #3 · Nov 1, 2018

He said he was moving and won't be able to take care of her. She is excited to see us everyday now. He said she waits for us to get home. He tried to give her to someone else she jumped through their window, glass that time. We don't know how she isn't injuring herself. I just hate the back and forth. It seems like she has jaws of steal. I would be okay keeping her if we could get her to stay in the kennel while gone. He said he left her alone in the house (roaming free) and finally didn't have any problems with her, but he doesn't leave the house much.

We both work close to home and are there for lunches at different times during the day to let her out if she were kenneled.

Save

Lillith

· #4 · Nov 1, 2018

I imagine the pup is anxious that who she still perceives as her owner is leaving her. For example, my dog is perfectly fine being left in his crate at our home because he knows I will come back. If we go to another person's house, however, and put him in the crate, he'll throw a fit because I'm leaving him in an unfamiliar place. He hasn't broken out, though, haha.

Most likely, she's self rewarding because she is successfully breaking out and is able to go see her previous owner. Your best option is to get a dog box or other kennel that she cannot break out of. Leave her with something delicious like a frozen stuffed Kong. You might also try playing crate games to encourage her to enjoy the crate.

If you have a room that she can't destroy, like perhaps an unfinished basement with no exposed wires or wooden doors or anything she could destroy or get out of, that might also be a good option.

Quite frankly, it's only a matter of time before she jumps out a window and impales herself with broken glass or falls to her death, or gets hit by a car once she discovers her previous owner has moved on and goes about the neighborhood looking for him. If you cannot feasibly provide a space that she cannot escape from, it may be best to consider rehoming her. I don't think anybody would blame you. This level of escape artistry is difficult and expensive to curb, or requires someone who is home at all times.

See less See more

Save

1 - 4 of 4 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month