amitymamaThe Attachment Parenting Community

SaphiraKay · 08-10-2004, 01:33 AM

Cinch will be a year old in early October. He weighs about 75 lbs and is a great family pet. But he has some behavior that is so frustrating. I need some tips on solving these issues.

1) Cinch will not stay inside a fence. We own 7 acres in one location (where we live now) and 100 acres where we plan to move. Cinch has a great deal of space to run on and for the most part, he is free to roam on our property. But occasionally, he must stay in a pen. Our business often has semis loading and unloading and the area in front of our current home is used to turn around semis. I need to pen Cinch when I am not outside to watch him and we are expecting a truck. Cinch's fence is 4 feet by 5 feet in length. This is ample room for him, his house and his toys. The process of caging him goes something like this: Call to Cinch, he comes

I then must drag his heavy body to the pen. He does the "Wal-Mart" walk that toddlers know so well. I place him inside, he gives me a pathetic look and I go to my truck. Cinch then beats me to the truck. He climbs out of his pen. It is nearly 5 ft. tall. My MIL has a fenced location where he can play. This playyard is nearly 20 ft. square w/ a 4 ft tall fence. Cinch can clear it in seconds. How can I keep this dog inside a fenced location?

2) Cinch has developed a love of chickens as playthings. He goes to our neighbors and steals one and brings it home to play with. He does not kill or harm them, but he is very strong and has the potential to do major damage. We have had problems with these neighbors in the past and want to stop Cinch before he is killed by these neighbors for being a chicken thief. We know he is not hungry when he takes the chicken and he has plenty of toys, so I am unsure as to where to go.

He is outside most of the time during the summer and in daylight during the winter, because he needs so much active play.
Any tips would be appreciated.
Thanks
Amanda

NicosMami · 08-10-2004, 01:45 AM

Aaahh, the lovely HYPER life of boxers. They can climb just about anyfence, regardless of height. My parents had to add an inwardly inclined stretch of fencing on top of their 6 ft fence to keep their boxer in. As for getting him in the pen in an easier fashion, that requires a training class and then after that continued refreshers. It can be done, but will take lots of love and patience. As for the chickens, all you can do is make sure they are inaccessible to him, ie he needs to be successfully fenced. That behavior is 100% normal and you will be hard pressed to get him to stop. Good Luck!

tinyterror'sma · 08-10-2004, 06:48 AM

Can you put a top on the fence?

As for the chickens, I'd be P*ssed as hell if a dog borrowed a chicken of mine (not that I own any-LOL). Don't know a solution though.

Shannon · 08-10-2004, 05:53 PM

We had to put an electric wire around our fence. Oh and when he gets out he does kill whatever he can find (squirrels, skunks, etc.). After he killed something that was bigger than a skunk (no idea what it was) he was put outside and sleeps inside in a kennel at night. I feel bad for him and would love to have him inside, but I'm afraid he would kill the cat.

~Denise~ · 08-10-2004, 08:34 PM

Is he neutered?

Also, he sounds like a typical but bored Boxer to me. Is he outside alone? Dogs are pack animals and I am betting you are seeing the results of him being bored and not with someone/other dogs. If he is not bored, and not alone too much, then you will need to consider a larger, taller pen. Most Boxers I know are in pens with another dog for company, and the pens have tops and are about 6 feet high.

jogirl · 08-10-2004, 09:38 PM

My boxer is extremely needy and lovey. She requires company of any sort. She loves the neighborhood beagle who comes over to play and she loves going whereever we go. We did the electric fence thing. She's crossed it twice, but not since the first week of it being active. However, she's 5 years old and was trained to one before we got her (we just got her 2 months ago). We've never had the jumping problem, we've got the opposite! She's got pretty bad arthritis in her back leg joints. Probably couldn't jump our picket fence if she tried

. I know that boxers are very needy animals... the only solution I can think of is to get a big big fence (but she's still going to try so hard to play and have company) or another dog (preferably another active playful dog). Josie (our boxer) just loves to play with other dogs. It's amazing how happy she looked when she finally got to play with another pup. She was all alone at her old place.