keeping Milly contained

Hi there

i am desperate to keep milly the little rat on our land as she keeps getting out and onto our track...there isnt much traffic as i am at the end of a dead end but that is not the issue [!] I ma peed off keep having to stop what i am doing to find the little bugger....hubby said to tie her up, that is not an option for me as i dont have to do the other 2..they are too big to get through the 8 wire fencing..she slips through so easy [!]

I have looked the zone fencing but its sooo expensive..anyone on here used one and finished with it and want to sell it on..i know once she gets used to where she is allowed she will stop...but until then i am pulling my bloody hair out...and i dont have much! []

I have used the bark collar in the past and they are amazing and i only have to show it to them big dogs and they go quiet so i hope that the fencing has the same effect too, where she knows if she steps any firther she will regret it..i feel bad doing this to her but its either that or the harsh fact that someone walking their dog past here may take a chunk out of her or steal here...or she gets knocked down...i dont want any of that to happen to her so unitl i get her sorted i can only let her out with me.

She espapes so fast she is like a whippet....ther one min then off on the road over 250mtr away....scary for me, i love her to bits and need to know she is safe....

any advice help ANYTHING much appreciated...[!]

I presume that milly is a dog, and not a rat ...... Keeping a rat in is a bit different than a dog .
Is she visiting the neighbours? If so, ask the neighbours to chase her home, and to hurt her but not injure her. Blackmail them by telling them that milly will have to be put down if she does not learn to stay home.
If she is young then she is learning her boundaries. It might help if she has a short collar which you attach to the fence when you reach the bounday and tell her to stay. You go on but leave her at the boundary for a while.

We have put wire netting on the inside of some of our fences to keep our little dogs out of the sheep paddocks - works for one but not the other, as he just squashes as flat as a worm and under he goes! In Wellington, to keep my houdini BC in, I attached a (very) long length of wood (like metres and metres long) to the bottom of the wirenetting so that he couldn't lift it up. That might work. We are having problems at the moment with one of our Lhasas and one of our BCs (they are a team). We have an absolute purpose built dog proof fence on two sides of a courtyard (huge), a garage with a concrete floor on another and the house on the fourth. This side is the problem side as the two dig out depite huge quantities of bricks laid against and under the edge of the house. We just need time to sort this one, but I know how you feel - it is a serious worry. Neither of ours have worried sheep (the little one is unlikely to do so being somewhat frightened of them after a butting incident a while ago) but we don't want to run the risk of even allowing the BC to be spotted on a neighbour's property.

i cant put netting on the fences as there are 100s of meters of fencing around the house...and along hte neighbours place...which is over 300 meters away and they are still building..no other neighbours in sight..she just wanders off..and yes she is a poschion (SP) little dog...very cute and very naughty...if i had to estiamte it would be over 1000 meters of chicken wire to keep her in...our house sits on a hill side and the land for pasture surrounds us....a bit of a mare to little dog proof..i think we will have to go with the zone fencing...
LR i wish i had the time to train her with the boundries but i jsut dont..and i know i should make time..but i turn my back and she is gone in a flash...she is tiny but really fast...like a mouse running under the fridge fast!!

Just build a dog run and when you can't be supervising her put her in that, it could be as big or as small as you like. Be a lot cheaper option too I reckon.

cage her or tie her up.. have several tethers at certain places.. if she doesnt have self control then you need to do it for her..
Im guessing she is a bit like a terrier in thought and the internet sez they have to be controlled at all times.. so I consider myself blessed that mine is happy to stay home, mainly cos she has been bitten by the electric fence several times and so wont go out without me there..

MM i dont want to have her in a pen as i dont have to do that with the big dogs...i know it would be much cheaper but i think i may just have to speak nice to hubby for the 400 bux fencing thingy...
beedee she is usually really good and is always at my feet but she has just got her first season and is trying my patience a bit...i dont have the time to keep tethering her up..i want her to behave like the others do...i cnat even have the doors open now without me with her....and i am trying to paint etc and its just bugging me now...so i think i haveno other option than to getthe underground wire fencing as our drive is open to the gate from the house and that is a run of over 200mtr then there is the paddock fencing that she can get through ...and if she is feeling really sneeky she goes through next door and down their paddock so i cant see her in the act! It takes a second and shes gone...hubby said to tie her up...but i really dont want to...but in the short term i may have to...

I know from experience what a pain small dogs can be to contain - mine used to manage to squeeze through the squares on sheep netting! She may be wandering more to look for a mate if she's in season. Are you going to get her neutered? if so that may help. Don't think of the underground fence as a quick solution as she will need training to work out where she can't go. I looked into it and decided it was too much hassle and a lot of money for something that would only work if I put the time & energy into it.

I was told some time ago, to tether Bria, my dog, to me. I tied her lead to my belt loop and off we would go, wherever I went, she went... If I could take her with me, she stayed in the back yard (which is dogproofed and has an electric line around the top). She wasn't escaping but she was being a pain in the proverbial, not coming when called, getting into mischief and barking at only gods know what.

If you're painting inside, well she can stay inside with you and if you are outside, just tie her up and move her when you move, give her a bone or something to keep her happy. This isn't a long term solution but at least you will be able to keep an eye on her while you're trying to get things done, especially outside.

Because our two dogs fight over their bones (they don't fight over food that has been stolen.. in fact they are both incredibly quiet during these times) we tether them to the deck, one at each end, then they may have a bone each. They are more than happy to lie down and get onto the business of gnawing said bones down to nubs. Once they have finished, the remnants of the bones are discarded and they are let off.
This could be something else you could try. It is tethering madam but she will probably be too busy to notice and you will get some peace.

Keeping her busy might just stop her from feeling the need to go touring the neighbourhood.
They do have a tendency to work your last frazzled nerve ending.

If you can make it difficult for her to actually get at the bone, put it in something so she can't just take it but has to work to get at it, wedge it somewhere tight, she might even be busier longer!

Yakut

Sorry - I missed this info. What breed is she and what age is she?

Westie - try not to read this in the wrong way - but this is a problem very close (too close for comfort) to my heart...
You have to remember a small dog is ALOT different than a big dog...
You need to get back to basics and train with chicken (or her favourite treats)...
Small dogs are very clever and get bored very easily - so keep her entertained..
Not sure of what the make up of your property is and where it sits in relation to the roads around you - but BEWARE, small dogs are NOT seen!
So if you need to crate her, chain her, box her, tie her - whatever it may be - it's got to be better than dead...
Consistent training for years has worked with my little one Mini, she is approaching 3 years... finally, thank goodness for that.
A water pistol and eyes in the back of your head, reward reward, scold, reward sounds like the plan for going forward...
Goodluck!!!
Sundays

Ditto sundays. I to don't mean to critisise but the reason I was asking for info is that I have had large dogs and small dogs and Sunday's is 100% right. They are different!

One of the reasons I was asking is that you made the comment that you want her to behave like the bigger dogs. Well it isn't that different to having children. We put so much into "training" the first one because of our own parenting insecurities, we slack off slightly on the second because we can, and then assume she will be right with the third because the older ones will reinforce the boundaries...not literally but poetic license is allowed!

Maybe that works with humans to a degree (the third is usually hugely independant and busting the boundaries) but it does not work with dogs. Your little one has different genetics and no inbuilt sense of right and wrong or human bigger animals to teach her. That is up to you to teach her - so go back to square one with her and teach her the boundaries just as if she were your number one child - which as a new dog, she is.

Tie her up, cage her, do whatever you have to do to make her respect you as pack leader and want to please you. She wants to - honest! It just sounds like she is the wilful No 3 child and you have to rein her in for her own safety. Trite I know and not meant to be lecture, as you probably know all this, but sometimes it takers an outsider to "read" a situation and make genuinely well meaning suggestions. All the best.

Maybe the other two are sending her out first to see if she gets into trouble, before they have a turn[]? Well thats what my boys used to do with their younger brother[:0]
When I first read your post I thought Milly must be a goat[]

Milly is a cross between a poodle and a beishion (SP) and is only 9 months old and the size of a small cat! and yes you are all right i do need to go back to basics with her and treat her like child no1 She is getting the message slowley that running away from home is not taken lightly and shutting her in the garage alone fo 10 mins in 'time out' seems to be working well and a good telling off too...the other 2 dogs never ever leave the house and neither did my other old boy that passed last year...so she is a complete new challenge for us all...
I dont want to go to the expense of the fencing and like you say i still need to train her on that anyway..
And yes whilst i am inside so is she its that split second that someone opens the sliding doors and they all run out im always shouting wheres milly!
We are not fixing her just yet, i think we may have a litter from her, she is a really cool dog and we all love her to bits and i have a few friends that have said if you breed from her i want one...that is not the reason why we will breed her and i know a littler dosnt calm them down either
The GS has taken to telling her off for running away from the house too..a bit like the oldest kid keeping the youngest in line..so funny...
My property is really difficult to keep her contained, we have a 65 acre hillside plot and the house is surrounded by paddocks, we have about 50 acres in pines and some native bush too and our house site is fenced off making up paddocks but the drive is over 200 meters long and open for her to get to the front gate..we are toying with the idea of having a gate on the drive but its a bit steep so stopping and starting again once we open the gate my casure issues..tried talking hubby into a gate that opens for us...will keep working on that one too
The only other thing i have though of is to stock fence an area outside the sliding doors on the front, nothing too huge but enouogh to let her out and not get out...would be much cheaper than trying to chicken wire over 1000 meter of 8 wire fencing..lol...
training is a huge issue i think i need to get on top of with her, she at least comes when called now...and with rewards everytime she does come bhack that is going well...she is also following the other 2 and they will do anythign for treats...one is a HUGE labradoodle so he hoovers food up!
thanks for you time on this one, i know its mostly common sence but like DiDi popinted out sometimes you need to hear it from someone else
We do not want her killed on the road that is for sure, our private track only has about 2 cars a day up it and me so its not a busy track at all...but that dosent mean that one of those cars wouldnt get her...
TKP the others are so well behaved and that is why Milly is causing me so much drama...lol....but i know they love the treat part of her training..they all come in age order for their treats...they come in the house in age order too when called in...lol..