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No escape!

Julie

Well-known member
We are in the middle of lanscaping our back garden and at present have no boundery walls on 2 sides. I have been so worried about this happening but for 2 weeks now Chloe has shown no interest in trying to escape.
I had visions of running after her down the road everytime I let her out.
What a relieve this has been. The first day that the back fence came down I had her tied to a stake on the lawn but she was so frightened by it she didn't move an inch.

Are your dogs as trusting as this? Or do you have any great escape tales to tell?
 
No I'm afraid ours would be out!!

If Rupert sees an open gate or door, he's through it like a shot, and Teddy is the same :shock:

Cavaliers don't seem to have any sense of danger - I think they just love the World and everyone in it so much that they don't realise they could come to any harm.

Rupert disappeared one morning after breakfast - had been out in the garden and didn't come back in. Hubby and I went frantic, searched the garden, drove round the neighbourhood looking for him {He's deaf so there's no point in calling him}, went to his favourite neighbour to see if he'd gone there...she was very pleased to see us at 7.20am...fortunately she was feeding her hens!!

Couldn't find him...so we came back home to do another thorough search, and there he was, hiding behind a box in the upstairs bedroom :D

Oh boy had he given us a scare...


Another time I was out the front of the cottage, filling up the bird feeders and saw this gorgeous Cavalier walking up the road towards me...I couldn't wait for the owner to appear, we don't see many other Cavaliers here...and then realised it was Rupert!!! :lol: :lol:

Someone had left the garden gate open, and bless him he had come out and was walking back to the front door to get back in :D

Since he's been so poorly, he doesn't like going out of our sight, so doesn't go far if he does get out. Also we live on a very quiet road - if we see 4 cars a day, that's a busy day! There is also a nasty bend, so they go very slowly. The people who lived here before had a dog who roamed free {there's quite a few like that here} and their little boy {4} used to play out the front, so it is fairly safe.

I used to have Westies, and if you took them anywhere, they'd go round the garden testing the fences for gaps to get out...I've never known a Cavalier do that.
 
Nicki said:
Another time I was out the front of the cottage, filling up the bird feeders and saw this gorgeous Cavalier walking up the road towards me...I couldn't wait for the owner to appear, we don't see many other Cavaliers here...and then realised it was Rupert!!! :lol: :lol: /quote]

That is too funny!

I can open the front door and not worry too much about Jake and Shelby taking off, they would have to go around the bushes out front. But other than that, can't trust them.
 
Once upon a time I thought Quinlan would never run for a opening, but that all ended Monday night. I take him to dog parks all the time where he is off leash, and he does great. He never strays too far and he comes when I call for him. I live in an apartment and had never had a problem with him running out the door when it was momentarily open; I just have to tell him "stay." Well, on Monday my boyfriend was leaving my apartment and we had to leave the door open a moment while he was carrying a huge box out the door. We told quinlan to stay, but I think he was so excited from playing with us and really had to use the bathroom that he ran straight out the doors and down the stairs! icon_yikes He stopped for a second to greet a girl coming up the stairs, but then he saw a girl riding a bike (he HATES bikes) and we went running after her, into the street! No mind you, this is a pretty busy street and it's night time. I was panicking, had visions in my head of him being hit by a car. I was sprinting after him, calling for him, asking for the girl to stop riding her bike until I could catch him....neither she or he would stop. A car came up behind him slowly, and I think that scared him off so he came running back to me full speed and jumped into my arms. I was thanking God at that moment for keeping him safe. Now I am much more careful about the door. Just because he's never done it doesn't mean he won't. Needless to say, I felt like an awful dog mom for even giving him a chance to get out the door.
 
Boy weren't you lucky. Just goes to show...you never can tell! Will make me think twice the next time I open the door and think they will stay.
 
Sorry to hear about your scare Quin's Mom.

Sadly it is too easy for these things to happen - and it's so quick.

However well trained a dog is, something can scare them, and they can just take off. I tend to think it's better to be safe than sorry.

Rupert has been taught to stay, I could put him in a down stay and go out of sight for 10 minutes, and he'd still be there when I returned, but I have learnt not to push my luck!!
 
I first got Stormy when she was 7 months old,as a bud to Bella.She was coming into her first heat.I had no worries letting her in the back yard,it's fenced and 9 other cavaliers have not excaped from it.Well the excape artist got thru the fence twice at which point a second fence went up.She's been in since.Lynn
 
I'm glad Quinlan was ok after his escape. What a scare that must of been for you.

Although Chloe doesn't seem interested in going out the front to explore I am certainly still vigilant when she is out just in case.
 
Welcome to the board Lynn.

Hope to hear more about Stormy and Bella - sorry to hear that you had a scare when Stormy first arrived though.

Some do seem to be more talented as escape artists than others :(


We're really pleased with TeddyEdward, just discovered that a neighbour's bitch has been in season, {about 1/2 mile away across the field}, and TE hasn't even tried to get out. He hasn't seemed bothered at all. Rupert was neutered at the age of 1, so it's a long time since I've had an entire male about, and to be honest, I expected more problems :D
 
Max broke for the door everytime it opened. We have neighbors who walk their dogs and if Max was out he was as good as gone. We constantly took him out to potty on a leash and poor guy really couldn't be trusted to run and play even. He would wonder off if he saw, a person, bird, bunny anything. He wasn't trying to run away but curiosity always prevailed! We didn't want to fence our front yard and the fence in our back yard was more like a 4 rail fence that wouldn't contain him. So....we installed an underground invisible fence AND IT IS WONDERFUL!!!! Now when my kids leave the front door open or when a visitor arrives Max can run out to greet them and we don't worry. He play all over the yard, he goes potty without being on a leash and he gets so much more exercise. He seemed to learn the boundary for the fence within a couple of days and has only tested it once after training. My neighbor and her dog walked by and off he went. He got stung and did an about face, ran to porch and sat down. Now he doesn't even attempt to venture beyond where he hears the warning tone. We diligently watch him becuase I don't believe anything is full proof but we live on a relatively quiet street. Life is good! 8)
 
Those undergroud fences are supposed to be really good Max's Mom. One of my hubby's mates has one for his 4 retrievers and they never wander.

My darling angel leaves home even if there is a crack in the door :~( He used to really scare me but now he just wanders down the close to see his little friend and sits in her front garden in case she comes out to play LOL

When we had Holly I let her out the (enclosed) garden for a wee and then after about 10 minutes called her in again - no Holly! I called and called as we have a large garden with lots of places for them to hide and she was still exploring.

Next thing, my son comes in and says Muuuuuuuuuuum I just found HollyHorrorbag on the front step! We still don't know how she escaped but hubby spent a day putting chicken wire round every bit of fence and both gates in the garden. Apparently she'd gone through the fence at the back ( we couldn't find any holes and it's 4ft high) into the garden at the back of us and then out under their gate and back to our house :roll: :lol: .

Maxx's lead broke once though when hubby was walking him through the park - he took off ran straight in front of a lorry that skidded and just missed him and then up onto a low wall. Hubby caught him just as he was going over the wall - it was a 10ft drop into someones garden the other side. I think it took hubby a week to recover from the shock, I'm just glad I wasn't there to see it.

Btw Quinlan's mom, Maxx chases bikes and cars too - must be a trait they have icon_yikes
 
Maxxs_Mummy said:
Maxx's lead broke once though when hubby was walking him through the park - he took off ran straight in front of a lorry that skidded and just missed him and then up onto a low wall. Hubby caught him just as he was going over the wall - it was a 10ft drop into someones garden the other side. I think it took hubby a week to recover from the shock, I'm just glad I wasn't there to see it.
icon_yikes

EEK, that must have been terrifying. So glad he was ok.


Please be careful with the underground fences, it's ok if you're there to supervise, but there have been cases of dogs still getting out, with sufficient incentive - such as a cat to chase, as the adrenaline kicks in and they ignore the shock.


Also it doesn't prevent other loose dogs coming into your garden, who could frighten or even hurt your dog.

Sorry but I'm not a big fan... :cry:
 
It's OK Nicki, we've got a 7ft high fence all round our garden and enormous trees at the back of us too. Maxx is such a 'Houdini' that we made sure of this before we even contemplated buying this house!
 
Oh that's ok - I won't worry then!!

I do know of another Cavalier who's an escape artist like that - funnily enough he's also called Rupert {NOT mine though}, he was scaling 6ft fences EEK! Sadly I don't think mine could get over a 2ft fence now - the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak :(
 
Oh please don't tell me that icon_yikes - Maxx is probaly too fat and lazy anyway ;)

My friend has a Boxer who jumps over her 6ft fence. She then goes to see her neighbour for a biscuit and returns and sits on her doorstep LOL
 
Nicki,
You are definitely right the invisible fence isn't a babysitter. However, at this point it's working well for him. I've watched him without him knowing it and a dog has walked by and he obeys his perimeter but I know better than to think it is full proof. Like I said before fencing our entire lot (nearly 2 acres!) wasn't an option so this is a great alternative for us. We always supervise him outside because of the issue of other animals getting in the yard. The biggest problem we've had as of yet is that Max wants to be outside all the time now. He "cries wolf", pun intended, when he just wants outside to romp around instead of only when he needs to potty... it's costs me a mess a couple of times when I thought he was just pulling my leg about needing to go! :roll: I guess we're both still learning! But I promise we'll always keep close tabs on him while using our underground fence. They really are okay if you're the kind of owner who uses them the way they're intended. :)
 
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