# advice needed regarding my cheeky naughty jackawawa please!!



## chellebelle8701 (Dec 16, 2013)

Hi there, I'm looking for some help regarding my jack Russel X chiwawa, Belle. We've had her for a year and we also have a staff who we have had for longer.
A few months ago the neighbours 2 doors down got a little female terrier and belle soon learnt to jump the fences and how to get round to get to their garden. The 2 of them have become friends and the neighbours don't mind which is good for me, but they also give her fuss and let her in their house...
it's gradually got more and more often, and I'm now at the stage where as soon as I let them out she looks at me and just legs it!! She can hear the other dog barking when she's inside too. 
Ive tried different ways of punishing her from keeping her on the chain in the garden, locking her in the kitchen for a few hours, praising and treating my other dog infront of her after she's done it, but nothing at all seems to bother her, as soon as I trust her or give in she does it again!! 
This is really becoming a problem for me I have a 1 year old and am due to have our second child in 2 weeks and really really want to get it sorted as she's a lovely girl and part of the family but I know in reality know not gonna be able to carry on as I am :/
any suggestions or advice would be appreciated, thankyou!!! :aureola:


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## Fluffster (Aug 26, 2013)

Ok, a few things.

1) Is there no way you can increase the height of your fencing to stop her being able to escape? For her own safety as well as for your peace of mind.

2) Don't ever punish her. By punishing her when she does come back, she'll be associating that with something negative. Work on her recall in the house then gradually move it to outside. There's some good threads on here about improving recall if you search.

3) Tell your neighbours to stop making a fuss of her - it's rewarding her. They need to ignore her.


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## chellebelle8701 (Dec 16, 2013)

Its not a small fence that she jumps lol and Ive had to patch up all round where she's dug n chewed whilst on the chain... 
she will not come back ever I either have to go get her or the NNeighbours being her back. 
What's the best thing to do with her then after she's done it?


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## Lizz1155 (Jun 16, 2013)

chellebelle8701 said:


> Its not a small fence that she jumps lol and Ive had to patch up all round where she's dug n chewed whilst on the chain...
> she will not come back ever I either have to go get her or the NNeighbours being her back.
> *What's the best thing to do with her then after she's done it?*


You bring her back indoors and convince her that you're fun to be around.  After she's escaped and come back, there's nothing you can do to convince her that "escaping is a bad thing to do" - it's too late by that point. Just carry on as normal. You should never punish her for coming home, since it will just make her want to escape again (plus she will not realize why she is being punished - the time gap between her escaping and the consequences are far too far apart. Any form of consequence has to be delivered within 3 seconds of the behavior for the dog to have any idea which behavior it was that caused it - and even then, many dogs do not connect their actions to the consequences. Not that I'm condoning punishment - it's the same theory for delivering treats for good behaviour).

How much time is she actually spending in the garden? It sounds like she was originally spending quite a lot of time in the garden...?

Alongside escape proofing the garden, can you make it more interesting for her so that she wants to stick around? E.g hiding high value treats around the garden, getting a sand pit and hiding toys in there, boomer balls/running eggs, tug toys dangling from branches (if you have some sturdy trees), same with water bottles with holes cut in, filled with treats (like a pinata).


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## labradrk (Dec 10, 2012)

Wow, you must have extremely tolerant neighbours as I would be fuming if my neighbours repeatedly failed to contain their dog. Not only is it rude but it's also putting your dog into a potentially dangerous situation.

The solution is quite simple - you fence your garden properly with fences that are of an adequate height that she in unable to jump over. Either that or you put her on a lead every time she goes in the garden.


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## Billie mae (Aug 25, 2018)

chellebelle8701 said:


> Hi there, I'm looking for some help regarding my jack Russel X chiwawa, Belle. We've had her for a year and we also have a staff who we have had for longer.
> A few months ago the neighbours 2 doors down got a little female terrier and belle soon learnt to jump the fences and how to get round to get to their garden. The 2 of them have become friends and the neighbours don't mind which is good for me, but they also give her fuss and let her in their house...
> it's gradually got more and more often, and I'm now at the stage where as soon as I let them out she looks at me and just legs it!! She can hear the other dog barking when she's inside too.
> Ive tried different ways of punishing her from keeping her on the chain in the garden, locking her in the kitchen for a few hours, praising and treating my other dog infront of her after she's done it, but nothing at all seems to bother her, as soon as I trust her or give in she does it again!!
> ...


I dont have any suggestions sadly but mine is the same! They are so cheeky and dont give a crap about discipline


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## Cleo38 (Jan 22, 2010)

Billie mae said:


> I dont have any suggestions sadly but mine is the same! They are so cheeky and dont give a crap about discipline


That's because you haven't trained them properly!  

OP - You need to fence your property so you dog can't escape, it's pointless to try & do something after the event. She is being massively reinforced every time she goes to your neighbours house so will continue to do this.

Make sure she can't jump the fence by increasing the height & in the mean time do some training with her on lead so she can't run away from you. If she's been doing this for a while then it will not be an overnight fix


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## Sairy (Nov 22, 2016)

This thread is ancient. @chellebelle8701 you might want to start your own thread maybe?


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