Diana Logan

Certified Professional Dog Trainer

Pet Connection Dog Training

www.petconnectionmaine.com



"I want my dog to learn to stay in my yard. Will you teach him not to wander?"



This is a question I often get. Anyone with a dog, whether in the city, country or somewhere in between, needs to keep him safe and on his own property, but it can sometimes be a challenge… I had a horse for nearly 3 decades and it was much easier to keep him contained than a dog!



Let's take a look at some of the features of our best friend, Species Dog. Animal. Predator. Hunter. Scavenger. Opportunist. Egocentric. Social. Always on the lookout for a good time, quick to be triggered by movement and blessed with a nose that can detect a minute hint of something that interests him. His sense of ownership does not recognize invisible lines on a property map but instead, according to ages-old Doggie Cultural Rules, may consider anything within his immediate reach as his own. He is a perpetual toddler in mindset, a veritable athlete in body and he's armed with knives! The bottom line is that there's a lot out there to tempt him and unless he has a compelling reason to stay put, he might not.



When is comes down to it, you have 3 basic options. Here is a quick summary:



1. Fence your yard.

Whether this is a solid physical fence (preferred) or the "invisible" variety, be sure it's the right one for your dog.



The pros of solid fencing: it's secure, comes in a wide variety of styles, allows your dog freedom of movement, reduces visibility and doesn't require training.



The cons: it's expensive, reduces visibility and can be challenging to integrate into the property. The average, non-Olympian dog needs a fence about 6’ high.



The pros of "Invisible fencing:" it's less expensive than solid fencing and doesn't alter anything visually.



The cons: it can be harmful to some dogs, doesn't provide any visual barrier, can be misused and can condition dogs to become reactive. Not all dogs do well with "correction" based confinement and in fact some should not be subjected to this, period, so very carefully weigh your options.



2. Secure your dog with a long line or overhead run (always supervised).

Fit your dog to a body harness to protect his neck and avoid injury. Make sure he can’t get wound up or stuck on any objects.



The pros: it's cheap and portable and doesn't take up much space.



The cons are that it doesn't allow for freedom of movement or aerobic exercise and dogs can get tangled or injured. A tied up dog MUST be supervised.



3. Train

The pros: positively done, there are no negative side effects.



The cons: there is no quick and easy way to train your dog to stay in your yard. It takes significant time and even more consistency. There’s a 0% mistake tolerance.



Given the dog features listed at the beginning of this article, our yards can easily get trumped by the Bigger World out there in terms of what they have to offer.



Let’s not leave it up to our dogs to figure out what to do. We need to take the lead and teach them what the rules are – not what they shouldn’t do but rather reinforcing the good stuff. Spending time conditioning ourselves as positive motivators means we’ll have a much greater chance of our dogs coming when we call them. “You get what you pay for,” is my dog training motto! Put your pup on the payroll!