Escapability & Training Behaviour

I'm considering adopting a young female husky. She's been in a shelter since August of this year. The story the shelter has on her is that she was an owner surrender, that she didn't get along with another dog in the house and that she escaped the backyard too many times - she was turned in to this same shelter as a stray twice from the previous home. The previous owner claims she jumped a 5' wooden fence. Both the shelter and I have trouble believing that.

The dog is about 2 1/2 years old and small. Perhaps 20" at the shoulders and about 32-34 lbs.

I do have experience with northern working breeds, having had a husky cross in the past and currently have a samoyed.

I have seen the husky in the shelter twice and my samoyed has met the husky once at the shelter. They seem to get along and the husky attempted to play with my dog a couple times. The shelter tells me that the husky is quite picky and if she doesn't like another dog, that is known immediately. The shelter was pleased at how the husky interacted with my samoyed.

I have a fairly large backyard with a standard 4 1/2' chain link fence.

I have a couple questions.

Does a dog's happiness with its home factor into its desire to escape? I believe it can, but would like some expert insight. I say this because my samoyed had been stray twice before I got her, escaping both times. She managed to get out of my backyard once (through an opening under the fence that she should not have been able to get through, but she did, and the opening was immediately closed off) while chasing a squirrel. But after she dispensed with the squirrel (according to my neighbour), she simply came back and sat at the foot of my front walkway waiting. I was unaware as I was in my basement office working and my neighbour knocked on the front door.

Can a dog's instinct to escape be trained out of it? I'm thinking of other behavioural training like jumping up, or jumping on furniture. With proper training, those behaviours can be eliminated.

Thanks in advance.

We were told a 6ft minimum would be required for out Malamute buried an extra foot too for digging, currently have a 4ft deer fence, with pegs in the ground to disuade digging....never seen anything remotely resembling a desire to jump the fence.

I would assume that a wire fence would be harder to escape as its unstable, a wooden slat fence would allow some climbing....seen Huskies getting into all manner of places but ive also seen pitbulls leap about 4m up a vertical face and i know that not all owners have that kind of safe structure.

If she's determined enough she will get over or under the fence, If a Gsd can clear 5ft easily am sure a husky could, you could use wire mesh angled outward/ inwards along top of fence.

Training/activities and plenty of exercise may help but if she has got into the habit of escaping it could take some time.

Thanks to you both. The shelter tells me she has made no effort to try to get out while in their care.

Shepherds and malamutes are larger, so I can see them getting over a 5', or 6' fence. Most huskies are larger than this one, too.

Understand that it could take time to train her out of trying to escape. That's not an issue. And yes, she would get good exercise.

Any additional thoughts appreciated. Thanks.

Another question -

WRT the idea of wire, or other fencing on top of what I have now, I'm thinking about something like this.

What I would do is overlap it by about 1' with my existing fence and secure it to the existing posts and top rail. It would then reach above the current fence by 2'. It's quite sturdy material so wouldn't be flopping around and is much stronger than chicken wire. If she were to jump, or climb up it, it would not be strong enough to hold her though and she would fall backward into the yard.

Thoughts?

Thanks.

Hi there,

Well looks like there is a question facility on the website so I'm sure you could enquire with any questions to the actual website. You could ask them there views on using it for a pup/dog.

Thanks,
Jane
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Yeah, not really sure that's the venue for such a question.

I asked here because someone did mention the idea of adding more wire/fencing above what I already have, so this seemed like the appropriate place to continue the discussion. If not, I can certainly leave.

Nononono,

Sorry you get the wrong vibe from me. I'm not asking you to go... certainly not!!!! I can't help you, so I wondered if you could ask there and maybe receive a better response. Sorry if it sounded harsh. I feel so bad now. I'm sure out the bunch we have you'll be able to find someone who can give you a perfect answer though.

Jane
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I had a 20" Terrier Lurcher from rescue who could easily scale a 6 foot boarded fence. On another occasion she very nearly escaped by working her way through an 8 inch by 10 inch trellis opening, one leg at a time. I don't think she could have handled chain link, but I might have been a little worried that she could end up putting a leg through, and be left hanging.
She did improve over time, but never lost her boundless energy. A friend suggested that I put her jumping skills to good use by training her for Working Trials. They do say that the best way to stop a noisy dog is to teach it to speak, and stop, on command. Perhaps a similar thing happened with asking her to jump.
A flavour of my naughty girl.

I know basically nothing is 100% guaranteed. What I'm looking at is minimising possibilities as much as possible. The fencing, combined with the company of another dog she likes, combined with a home where she's well treated, combined with good exercise, combined with good training, combined with - maybe - something like agility training/competition, all together keeping her (a) stimulated and (b) tired (a tired dog is a good dog) would minimise the chance of her escaping and her desire to do so.

Again, I'm just thinking of my samoyed which went stray from two previous homes, but when she had the chance with me, didn't. She has the chance pretty much every day because she goes for off-leash walks and could easily bolt, but doesn't. No, I wouldn't let this husky off leash till she was WELL-trained and had plenty of practice in an enclosed off-leash area.

Edit: Jane, sorry, not used to friendly discussion boards. Most are fairly sniping and offputting. Didn't mean to offend.

RE: the wire topping, looks sufficient gauge to not crumple under the weight of the dog but the key will be getting it under enough tension to not be droopy. but if it gives peace of mind i would go with it.

In terms of our fence, its low enough that Everest can easily put her paws on it and stand straight up, but given its slight wobbly nature she doesnt do that at all (save from when her absolute favourite postman comes by)

Thanks, Allan. It's strong enough to stand upright. It's fairly heavy gauge and welded at the joins. They key, I think, is that if she were to try to climb up on it, because it's not supported by fence posts, her weight would cause it to be unstable, to bend backward and she would fall off.

This was what i meant

Understood. I think the utility fence that I'm considering would have a similar effect, or similar to a 'coyote roll'.

If you stick around, and I do hope you will, you will find that Breedia is a definitely friendly discussion - and helpful - forum.

Hiya,
You didn't offend me and don't need to apologize. I realize how off-putting some forums can be and it really affects the way you look at them. I hope that as you spend more time at Breedia you'll be able to look at them as a helpful and friendly place to learn again.
Jane
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Just to put a cap on this... thanks to all for the insights and ideas.

The husky did come home with me and for reasons which I won't go into - nothing to do with trying to escape - unfortunately she has to go back to the shelter.

Thats a pity, seems like you had put a lot of thought into it, i guess it must be a fairly serious issue to have to return to shelter.

Very serious. Safety issues. Don't really want to say more in a public forum.

Of Course, Your prerogative.

Hopefully youre not put off a fantastic northern breed, though perhaps one without the renowned escapee reputation.