Best Way To Train My Ig Pups To Not Go Near The Road?
Filed under Care & Training Q&As
I have two 4-month-old Italian Greyhound puppies. Right now, because it is cold outside, they don’t go very far. But as it warms up I know they will enjoy being outside. I will be living in an apartment on my father’s small farm. We have a decent amount of land and I want to give the pups their freedom to run, play, etc. But, I do not want them going near the road or going in the horse pasture where they could get trampled.
An invisible fence is out of the question. I was considering a wireless pet fence but I really don’t want to do that either.
My father has a 1-year-old rat terrier the pups play with a lot. My dad has trained him not to go near the road. He has the freedom our previous dogs (lab and doberman) always have had. They basically had the freedom to run wherever they wanted and never went in the road. But I’m worried that if the pups go near it, their rat terrier friend will follow.
I would invest in a fence but we have so much land it would be almost impossible. Others have mentioned chicken- wire type fences that I should put up in an area on the lawn.
Please give me some advice. I know my dad will help in training as he has trained all of our dogs very well. I would like some additional suggestions.
Thanks!
~Smokey & Bandit’s Mommy
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I’d recommend getting an inexpensive fence for at least an area around the doorway – check out BestFriendFence.com – you can also find other, similar systems at many farm and ranch stores. You don’t need to fence a big area, but it would cost less then $300 to fence a 50×50 area around your front door safely.
IGs are sighthounds- the smallest member of the sighthound family- and as such, they generally are NOT trustworthy off leash, even with a lot of training. It just only takes a second for them to fixate on an item in motion and be off in pursuit – and at that point, there’s essentially nothing that you can do to recall them.
You might also check out the “Really Reliable Recall” DVD available on Dogwise.com – it has some useful stuff- but please, for your pups safety? Get SOME kind of fence.
Rat Terriers are a very different breed- while they ARE a terrier, they’re one of the most trainable of the terrier breeds and a highly trainable dog overall. IGs are trainable, but hunting/prey behaviors are SO hardwired that this is going to be a very difficult pattern to interrupt.
you should just walk it with a leash every day, and over time the pup will mature and begin to realize not to go in the road. (while walking them on the leash if they wander close to the road tell them a firm no!)
First poster gave an excellent answer. I live on a rural place too. I can’t afford to fence the place more than it is already. I never ever let my dogs out unattended, and when we’re all outside I keep a pretty close watch on them, like I check about every 15 seconds. It only takes a moment and they’re in trouble. Last year, I forgot to close a gate and one of my dogs ran in front of the school bus which bumped him but, very luckily, didn’t hurt him. That was from about 2 minutes’ worth of inattention on my part. I rarely walk out to the road with my dogs, and when I do l make them stop inside the fence line, sit down and wait for me to come back in. If they learn that walking onto the road is a “we don’t do that at our house” thing, they’re less likely to do it. But I don’t have sighthounds, I’ve got Lab X mutts, who are older and well-trained. Sighthounds are different. Ever watched a Greyhound race? Find a dog race on TV or the net. That’s what your dogs will want to do-chase some small fast-moving thing–bird, rabbit, whatever. They’ll see it before you do and once they’re off they aren’t going to come back, they won’t even notice a car coming. It’s what they do. If you want your dogs safe, I think you have to put up a fence. It’s a small investment and far cheaper than a vet bill for a dog smucked by a car. Then they can have all the freedom they want, within that fence. And not chicken wire. Use mesh fence wire with small openings.