Need help...

[~clover~]

I have an 11 month old Jack Russell. About 3 weeks ago he started wandering.

Pretty sure the neighbours dog was on heat, but once he got out, he got the taste for it & just keeps going back. He's still going to that same house. He's been all over town, but mostly to that same house.
For the last 5 days he's either been tied up, or locked inside. He didn't leave the yard once in those 5 days, til today.

Kids ran out to jump on the trampoline & forgot. He was gone before I knew it. I sent the kids up to get him... maybe 20 minutes later. The people who's house he was back at told the kids that they'd tie him up in their yard & shoot him if he comes back. Great. Thanks.

I plan to desex him. As soon as I have the $220 to do it :/ Plus the fact that the closest vet is 2 hours away :/
For now though, I have a huge yard. HUGE! Especially for a jack Russell. He's an inside dog with 4 kids, so PLENTY of attention & love. He gets walked. Not every day, but every few days.
He's little, so its easy for him to find ways out. He was jumping through the hand holes on the gates :/

Any tips for keeping him in the yard? I won't be able to desex him for a while. I just don't have the money yet. But I need to do something.

[Kigga]

Have you thought about putting him on a run temporarily? My dog is on one for almost the exact same reason. Just a long piece of wire or rope tied across the run with a chain or leash around it you can clip onto the dog. That way he can't escape but he can still run the length of the yard and as far across as the leash or chain will let him

[~clover~]

I could do that through the day I guess. But he's never been tied up before, so carries on & I try not to disturb the neighbours as well Least where I have him chained at the moment he can get into the laundry, so feels like he's inside. And he's usually inside when I'm home. That's when the kids accidentally let him out, & the second he's out, he's gone.

I tie him up for toilet breaks now, because he wouldn't go while I watched him :/

I really don't want to have him tied up if possible. At all. I just don't know how to teach him not to run. He knows he's not to do it. If I bust him out the front he runs in, tail between his legs... He's a smart dog. That's part of the problem

[Kigga]

How about a baby gate with shadecloth or chicken wire over it so he can't get out the door? I dunno if you have aircon or not so if the door is usually open anyway

[glorious]

Can you chat to the vet! Explain the situation and ask for a payment plan? That way it is done.

[~clover~]

If he can jump over a metre on the gate, then push at the puppy pen panel I have tied to the outside of the gate & squeeze though, no amount of anything will stop him if the door is left open. We have 2 doors to the back yard & one at the front.

I will have to talk to the vet. Didn't think of that TBH.

[Arimeh]

Hey love, if you google National Desexing Network, they run a program with certain vets for low income earners to desex their animals for half price. We just had our kitten done for $110 - I think thats about half price for a female cat?

You apply for a voucher, and then participating vets do it (mainly because they support desexing of animals and it should be affordable for all, but for us on a health care card, it just isn't!)

[HotI]

There are collars and boundary systems you can get, but they will probably cost more than desexing.

It can be so hard with an escaping animal. Sorry the other people are being twats about it.

[LionsandBears]

Unfortunately, it's the nature of Jack Russells to dig or jump their way to freedom. Desexing will help, but won't necessarily fix the problem. Things that will help cost money: Expert dog training; building an enclosed, concrete based dog run; collar boundary systems.

Our dog can jump the gate, so we don't let him outside unsupervised. I realise it's difficult if your pooch sneaks out when the kids open the door. Sadly, dogs do not understand these weird human rules we have.

Do you know how reasonable your local council is? I wonder if would be any good asking them for advice. I'd mention you're trying to arrange desexing and you try hard to keep your dog in, but you're concerned as neighbours have threatened to shoot him if he wanders into their property again. This may put them on alert if something happens to your dog and they may have some advice.

[Dansta]

If you do a run, i'd suggest two larg pegs in the ground with a wire between them - that way he cant jump and choke and it also means he can run around with out getting tangled up and on a veeeery short tether.

My JRT wonders too - only to neighbours we know but to keep him chained up we get a big bone (Roo tail is good) and freeze it. then give it to him, it takes about 6hrs for him to chew the meat off it and then forever to chew up each of the bones in the tail. as for barking while tied up - you can get a "no bark" muzzle they can still eat/drink but they cant bark, we almost got one for another dog we had.

[Livinthedream]

It can be so hard with an escaping animal. Sorry the other people are being twats about it.

I am sorry, but I cant let this one slide
How are they being twats?
Clovers undesexed dog is going around to their place and more than likely harassing their dog.
It's not just happened once, but on multiple occasions.

Clover doesn't have the money to desex it and doesn't want to tie it up

If you we're the owners of the female dog, what would you do?

It's unfortunate that it costs $ to desex a dog, but in all reality, it's not like clover didn't understand that this is one of the implications of buying a puppy.


Clover, I would speak to your local animal shelter or vet and see if you can't cut a deal.
If you leave it too much longer, then there is every chance that your dog will start wandering out of habit and you may never be able to "fix" it.

[HotI]

I am sorry, but I cant let this one slide
How are they being twats?
Clovers undesexed dog is going around to their place and more than likely harassing their dog.
It's not just happened once, but on multiple occasions.

The people who's house he was back at told the kids that they'd tie him up in their yard & shoot him if he comes back. Great. Thanks.

This is why i said they were being twats. 1) Threatening to shoot the dog, and 2) telling kids that they were going to shoot the dog rather than address it with the adult owner of the dog.

We have a neighbour dog issue at the moment. He keeps coming over and destroying our property, digging holes etc. Yes it is extremely annoying, and the first step is to speak to the person responsible for the dog. They haven't completely solved the issues, but we can see they are trying.

[Livinthedream]

I guess I don't understand how that makes it ok to vilify the victim though.
Maybe they made it as a statement of last resort, maybe they are just very angry people.
I guess it's better than calling the council and having him impounded and then incurring the cost of getting himreleased and having to register him as an entire male.
At any rate, I hope you can resolve the situation clover.

[~clover~]

I am sorry, but I cant let this one slide
How are they being twats?
Clovers undesexed dog is going around to their place and more than likely harassing their dog.
It's not just happened once, but on multiple occasions.

Clover doesn't have the money to desex it and doesn't want to tie it up

If you we're the owners of the female dog, what would you do?

It's unfortunate that it costs $ to desex a dog, but in all reality, it's not like clover didn't understand that this is one of the implications of buying a puppy.


Clover, I would speak to your local animal shelter or vet and see if you can't cut a deal.
If you leave it too much longer, then there is every chance that your dog will start wandering out of habit and you may never be able to "fix" it.

I might not want to tie him up, but I AM. Telling the KIDS they would shoot the dog is NOT acceptable, no matter the circumstances. Especially, as I said in my OP, he hasn't been out once in 5 days, then when he did get out he was brought straight home again. AND I've apologised. And this person has dogs that wander too. Half the damn town has dogs that wander, but mine is the only one being threatened.
They walk past my house, they can see that there is stuff covering my gates to try keep him in. I've TOLD them I'm trying everything.

They also have an UNDESEXED dog. Is there no responsibility on them? Either way, I have a front door & don't need my kids having panic attacks over weather or not their dog will be dead the next time he accidentally gets out.

I'm making an effort. I've never had a male dog before, so honestly didn't expect it to be this difficult to have one. I thought he'd be easier than an undesexed female, but I now know that its actually worse :/ I've done the undesexed female before. I never felt the need to threaten the male dog that hung around here the one time it happened. It was MY fault my girl wasn't desexed.

As I said, there are 6 or 7 dogs I can count off the top of my head that just wander, day in, day out. I'm the ONLY one being attacked for mine doing it.

Arimeh - I found that last night. Nearest vet to me that does the scheme is 3 hours. Its still $150, but I have the voucher. If I can get there I'll be using it. If not I will be having him done somewhere else, asap.