How high can a beardie jump? Is my fence tall enough?
Just bought a bearded collie pup - LOVE her! We're putting in a fence so she has more room to run and play. How high should the fence be? We are planning a 5 foot fence. (She will not be outside unsupervised). Just be watching her play, she seems more likely to try to dig out than jump - but she's only 5 months old. Anyone know how high an adult female can jump? Thanks much! |
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It's not just a matter of jumping, but as you said, digging under, or climbing, in which case it doesn't matter how high the fence is. Since the pup will be supervised, that will give you an idea as to the dogs individual tendencies, and you can guage how much to trust the dog as time goes by. Congrats on your new furkid  |
| Hi Dst,
Congratulations on your Beardie ! We are currently investigating fence options, most likely it will be 5-6 ft high. We are in the process of selecting the fence style for an area approx 40 ft x 40 ft. Best wishes ! There is a Beardie site at www.beardie.net/bcca Enjoy ! |
| I'm not sure if I'm lucky or not but Clyde is the world's worst climber. He can only get halfway up on the bed and stops. It's not that he can't do it because I've seen him if he takes a running start, he just has terrible technique. He pulls so much of his upper body on the bed he can't get any momentum to get his butt up. I'm thinking a gardening fence would be fine for him
My other dog is a Beardie/Briard mix and, though not a climber or a jumper, she's crafty. She'll dig when no one's looking a little at a time over many days to plan an escape. I spend the whole summer filling in beginnings of holes. You're smart to keep her under supervision! |
| Thanks for the quick responses. She's a really athletic pup. We'll probably choose the 5 foot tall fence (can be installed faster) and hope to put enough toys and fun in the backyard to keep her busy!
We are leaning toward 4 inch wide "pickets" (not pointy) versus 1 5/8". At 5 months Zoey can get her head through 4" rungs but not her chest. (This is why she won't be outside unsupervised). We think that in another month or two she'll be too big to get any part of her body through the fence. 1 5/8" made us feel like we were in a prison and solid fences blocked our view of the woods. Kids are actually ringing our doorbell and asking if our puppy can come out and play... a little unnerving for a kidless couple...but we figure it's good for Zoey to socialize with kids and other pups so we're going along with it. Thanks so much for the tips!! DST |
dst wrote: Kids are actually ringing our doorbell and asking if our puppy can come out and play... a little unnerving for a kidless couple...but we figure it's good for Zoey to socialize with kids and other pups so we're going along with it. DST  Wanna borrow a couple of mine?!  |
| Thanks for the offer! - I dont' know how you do it, we've barely survived the puppy-proofing stage! |
| Jil-
That made me laugh, Beau was the same way. If he did manage to get on the bed we had to lift him off, he couldn't get down. He's almost 8 now and when he gets on the sofa I have to get the ramp to get him off; his big butt weighs 100+ and nobody can lift him. |
| Ironically, getting down is no problem-- thank goodness! Clyde's a little over 60 pounds now and getting harder to manipulate. Getting him in the car is the bigger problem. I bought an old Jeep Cherokee just for the dogs and he can't make it in. People look at me like I'm nuts picking up this giant dog. We've got it worked out to a booster situation now though. He does his halfway thing and then I grab his back legs and give him a boost. It's one of those things that now seems very normal to me but I bet looks really funny to other people! |
| That's how I used to get my dogs in the truck(when I was younger and had a good back). The thing I hated was them jumping out. Now I take the easy way and use a ramp. |
| I've got hope that he'll be able to make it someday. He almost made it in the Jeep yesterday but missed with his second foot and slipped and got all discouraged so I had to lift him up completely. I keep trying to guilt him into it-- "Clyde, look, Lucy can do it. I guess Lucy's just more strong and agile than you..." Hee hee James said I'm going to give him a complex. |
| We got our Old English Sheepdog when he was four months old. He would jump in and jump out. Relatives thought we would need a ramp, because jumping in the van was to tough for him. Day he got neutered, he also jumped in and out. I figured I would have to load him in and out. At 10 months, he weighed 60 pounds. Our dog has to get a running start at the bed, or he only gets he upper body on the bed and needs help also. It is so funny looking. I won't help him. I figure if he wants up, he can get up. When he is older, I will help or get him a ramp. |
dst wrote: .......seems more likely to try to dig out than jump - but she's only 5 months old..........
I have a 6 ft fence. Had 7 OES. No problem with any of them jumping, digging, or climbing. My problem was with my puppies. I ended up putting railroad ties at the base of my fence to keep them in. No problems after that. One more thing you might keep in mind is what do you have in the yard that's close to the fence. Things she could jump on and then jump over the fence. I know of a lot of dogs that used their dog houses, air conditioner unit, etc., to help them get over the fence. We had one about 20 years ago that got out. Couldn't figure it out, but finally caught him. His dog house was near the shed. He jumped on top of the dog house, then jumped up on the roof of the shed and over the fence. Luckily, he never injured himself before we figured it out! Are they smart or what!  |
| Make sure your fence is higher than 4 1/2 feet. Our Jules absolutely SAILS over the low part of our fence which is 4 1/2 feet. She can probably get over the 5 foot higher sections as well. She truly looks like she is flying. Her back legs shoot out straight. I wish I had a slow motion film of it. Nevertheless, it is a pain. But we can't get a new one right now. Good luck. |
| We found 7 month old Bosley on our front porch a couple times, and then my BIL saw him sail over our 4 foot side fence like it was nothing. Then he jumped the baby-gate in the hallway, so we now have him ONLY in our back yard, with a 5 1/2 foot fence. But he also likes to be "helped" onto the bed, and into the van! |
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