playing with no fenced yard

[GypsysMom]

I was wondering how the members here that dont have a fully fenced yard play with your dogs outside? our Kennel is in need of some repairs before the dogs go in, and we dont have our fence (yet) so I put Gypsy and a long tie out and play fetch after about 10 times she will walk up and sit on my lap, its neat today I told her to go get a drink and I was shocked she went right to her water bowl, I was also proud when the dummies next door came out barking and she just got her ball and continued on, but I will not for any reason have her off leash

[rottcrazed]

Can you take her to a safe park to let her play off leash or is that not available to you?

I have not had a situation like yours, so I don't really know what advice I have. I suppose if she plays and seems content, then you are doing a good job!

Kristi

[zorro13]

Well here at my place, I only use the "crate", what I call the kennel actually, as the place to do business mainly. We throw balls and now frisbees, and he likes to run around the yard basically too, this is all done off leash. I train from the get go a strong recall and stay, none of my dogs leave the property, regardless of any distraction. Now, my current dog Zorro, he does have it in his mind to want to visit a cat passing by, to which he gets the 'grunt' of the day, that is any noise that happens to come out of my mouth to get his attention, then he gets a come here, then he gets a 'get in your crate' to which he goes. But, the dog(s) is/are always supervised of course during off leash playtimes. Now that it's getting warmer, I have skunks to tend with at night, as one was in the dog kennel/the crate, and Zorro got sprayed yet again (not recently, this was the last incident last year). So, at night, when I take him out before I hit the hay, I will leash him. Now, if I can get my husband to just do that, all would be well, as both times Zorro got sprayed, my husband was on duty. sigh. But, I started out with long lines on them.

I should've just fenced in the whole yard from the beginning, now that is the plan. Through the years, there are just too many dogs in my little neighborhood that are either breaking their chains or getting out of their fences and wandering around. Because of that, crate/kennel only. There's been too many times when I come home from work late at night, to put my dog in his crate/kennel to do his business, and then some strange dog appears. One night I spent about 20 minutes trying to chase off a dog that is a 'regular' around here, and even a neighbor came out to help as well. Very frustrating when I am trying to get my dog safely in the house. I ended up having to wake up my husband for more help. It's fence the yard time.

Oh, we also go to a park, not a dog park, and to fields to play/walk etc.

[GypsysMom]

well the crate is the crate thats inside and the kennel is where they play and run outside, but the 2 dogs dug in it so much last season we are doing concrete and putting a top on it since I beleive Gypsy can jump over it now.


we dont have any parks around here she can go to and I dont go to dog parks, her recall isnt the best she does have one but nothing I chance 100%
she is still young, id say with alot more training and advanced training it will be better, she seems happy when we are playing as long as we have that socceer ball thats all that matters, I cant forget to take that when we leave for vacation..

[flipon1]

We started with a in ground fence which worked excellent for keeping the dogs in but it doesnt keep others out. So we put up a 5 foot fence around the 2 acres all except the driveway. Once in the driveway you must enter a gate to the yard. The dogs have free access the fenced in yard only in the kennel if we both have to leave and cant take them. At night they sleep in their crate which we call their bed.

[Ayoka]

We use a nice light longline so that I can maintain some control over how far bear goes and I don't throw the ball too far...

[shybird]

I used the long line too. That way if I threw the ball a bit to far, I could move up with them to get the ball.

[Gunsey'sMom]

We don't have a fenced yard. We have a 20ft tie out that I put him on sometimes to play on (with me). But now I have a 30' long line that I clip to his collar and let him run around on. If he starts going too I call him. If he doesn't listen for any reason I have a back up- I can always "manually" get him to come to me by stepping on the line or picking it up. It has been really great for excersicing him since it gives him much more reign than a tie out.

It also enables me to practice recalls with him all the time. I should have done it sooner. I like to go out with him and run around with him so he can herd his push n' play ball around and play fetch.

I now hardly use the tie out at all, only during some training sessions.
At first I was turned off by how skinny all thelong lines I found were. I have actually found an 1'' thick one , but found we do just fine with the thinner one.

[GypsysMom]

The vet tech recommeded the invisible fence, NO WAY since that is what the neighbors have and they have broke threw it several times, The fencing I want is $3400 but the problem is my dh works out of state so it will be hard for him to put it up, maybe we can save and get it up by a company next summer, and for now do a larger outdoor kennel, and long lines, what do you all use?? I have rope I bought by the foot from home depot and then strong clips

[Ayoka]

Mine is boat rope and a brass clip...easy on the hands when it's wet.

[flipon1]

We have had the underground fence for 4 years and NEVER did our dogs cross the line even when our neighbors female shepherd was in heat and came toward our boundery line. We put the other fence up to keep others out! Guess we are thankful it worked for us!

[GypsysMom]

yeah my neighbors dogs are Goldens and he has crossed his seveal times usually after other dogs, I took Gypsy for our daily walk today and if the owner wasnt right on top of the dog he would have ran after us AGAIN, I carry a walking stick with me now since he has attacked while i was in my yard taking them pee, so Im prepared my dogs will not be hurt by him again, dont get me wrong I love animals but its me or them..

I will check the boat line I want something that wont hurt my hands

[zorro13]

17 years ago I bought I think it was a cotton web long line (used for tracking), probably 20 or 30 feet, can't remember now as Zorro chomped that thing in half with one bite as a pup. As a back-up, I just used my longeing line that I have for my horse, basically the same, just a little thicker. Yes, you want to find something that won't burn your hands or snap in half easily.

If you find the regular clip-types don't work for you, you can also look into a bull clip or bull snap, different places call them different things.

[Gunsey'sMom]

You could try wearing gloves too if you know you are going to be outside playing. I think I am going to have to! Gunner busted a zoomie the other day and I grabbed the line-it burned right on through one of my fingers! The line we use is cotton webbing-anything can hurt at a high speed.

[Shelby427]

We're lucky that we have a HUGE field/woods behind our apartment - no other houses or buildings so Shelby can run loose (while we're out with her of course) and we have the luxury of taking her for long walks in the woods off leash - she never wanders far from either of us. We're looking to buy a house soon, so we're pricing out 6' privacy fences.