I don't think that they printed the pictures of the fence on their webpage. But it was a 7ft high stockad fence. Wood. You can not even see through it. With heavy duty gates. The fence appears to go all the way to the ground. If the dog has never gotten out before, what else do you suppose the owner could have done? I am not implying the owner is not liable, but he was not negligent. What else could have been done. There is a police dog that comes to our club. The handler was telling us that when his PSD was younger he caught him scaling an 8ft high chain link fence to his kennel. He managed to climb up the corner. He had taken every precaution. He didn't realize his dog could climb. The top has since been lined with electric. If anyone has owned a Doberman they will agree that they are extremely intelligent and very quick to learn. So what else can be done?

Yep, dogs can climb. Some can flat-footed jump an 8 foot fence like it was nothing. Either keep the dog in the house in a crate or with you, or in a kennel with a roof or electric. Even then, some dogs will pull the chain link loose with their teeth... it is up to you to keep the dog in.

One of the two articles did mention that the gate was not properly latched and that was how the dog got out.

Just curious, not trying to cause another rift, but if this place was the equivalent of doggy alcatraz, how did the dog get out?

That is a good question. How did the dog get out?

7 feet is nothing, my dogs can clear that in a heartbeat. Wood fences are also easy to get under, with a little digging or good terrain.

Climbing chain link is no problem either. You should have an overhang on any fence where you have an athletic dog that needs to be contained. You should also ensure that you put something below to keep Fido from digging.

Anytime your dog is in a yard, unsupervised you should really have him in a kennel with a roof to keep them from climbing/jumping out. The kennel should also have a cement bottom or underwire to keep them from digging out.

For those times you let em' out in the yard for a little while to do business the extra fencing stuff should work. If they have hours to mess around they can escape if they really try.

Electric wire REALLY works well. One line over, one line near bottom. Dogs stay the heck away from them once they feel the sting.

With dogs that have a lot of prey drive, accidents can happen, that is why it is so important to control and contain.

If you looked at my house and kennels/runs you would thing I run a prison camp. Broken glass, barbed wire, alligator moats, and gun towers are in order when you have a real escape artist dog.

Unfortunately the owner may have been negligent. We don't know how the pooch got out. If he did get out, it is the owners responsibility to keep him in.

I am not implying the owner is not liable, but he was not negligent. Of course he's negligent. There is a thread somewhere around here where someone has to put a roof on the kennel because the dog climbs.

It's not like he was in perfect compliance with federal guidlines regarding appropriate fence-height...becaues there ARE none (and that's how we should want it). With this personal freedom we enjoy, comes personal accountability. Unless you'd prefer the gov't having more of a say as to what ALL dog owners can and cannot do on behalf of the reckless minority.

The question is...who pays for this? Me via higher insurance premiums? I don't even have a dog, my friend. How about dog owners who manage to keep their dogs contained? Is that fair?

In other words, you're saying this is on par with a bolt of lightening. It is not.

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He didn't realize his dog could climb.

I musta missed this. However, nothing changes.

What's the most common thing said after an accidental discharge? I didn't know it was....

And I'm talking about fire-arms...perverts. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I am not sure on this one but I would think this area had zoning regulations. One of those homeowners things. They fine you if its not pretty to look at. What if the dog had never tried to get out? Most of these places forbid electric(radio) fences. No one even knew there was a dog there. He was quiet.

Negligence is a willful disregard of the law and public safty. Explain where you see negligence.

Ok, you do pretty latice work around the top of your fence at an inward angle to keep dog from jumping. You run electric wire along inside of fence at the base and a few feet out from the base. Nobody is ever the wiser.

I'm not talking radio in-ground electric, I'm talking like cattle wire on little posts around the interior of the fence. Doesn't look that bad either if you use nice posts made of black pole or something unobtrusive.

You have to make a realistic estimate of the dogs ability to get out. Plain fence is no guarantee.

Willful disregard of public safety. You have a dog with high prey drive and a tendancy (even if unknown) to chase and bite kids on bikes. Said dog gets out of your yard and bites kid. You are negligent. You willfully disregarded the dogs ability to escape, maybe left the door open or left a faulty gate lock on, and didn't train the dog to not chase and bite kids on bikes.

How about that?

Dobeonguard, are you the owner of the Dobermann in question?