NEEDS fence?

[assortedagility]

Lately when just browsing I've been noticing a lot of shelters/rescues that demand you need a fence for EVERY dog they adopt out. Not just depending on the individuals dog, but they demand EVERY dog goes to a home with a fenced in yard.

Now, I can see that this will help to prevent dogs from running away, but I have experienced, talked to, and know wonderful dog owners, not all have fences. Some people live out in the country and teach their dog boundaries to stay in. Some people live in town but are very active, taking the dog jogging, swimming, etc with them for exercise. Other people don't own their house or could not possibly put up a fence. Yet, all these people could potentially make wonderful dog owners.

So what do you think about this EVERYONE needs a fence rule? Do you HAVE to have a fence to make a good dog owner?

[Rain]

I don't have a fence. In fact, I don't even have a backyard. I live in a condo. But I'm very active with my dog, doing agility, going to the dog park, or just throwing the ball or frisbee in the common area behind my condo. I think my dog gets more exercise than some dogs who do have a back yard.

[agilitydog]

I think it is a good rule to have in place BUT be willing to play it by a case to case basis.

I agree, there are a ton of great homes available to people without fences.

[dobermom]

I take it on a case by case basis.

Really depends on the dog, and also how the owner plans on exercising the dog.

[Diamond]

I agree it should be a case by case basis as well

We don't have a fence, actually in both the place we rented and now the house we own here.

From the very start our dogs have always known our property line and they abide by it. Besides, they are obviously never left outside unattended.

My trainer actually doesn't have a fence either. There are plenty of people that are responsible enough to leash their dogs, and work on training the dogs to stay inside the property line that would make wonderful dog owners.

Although on the other hand, I do understand rescues/shelters concerns.

[RoughCollies]

Case by case to a point. I think that in most cases, it's a great rule. There are some excellent homes out there without fences, but it's not the general case for most dog owners. Those that are, it would depend on their excersizing techniques.

[Faith]

i think it's complete BS.

a fence allows an owner to throw the dog in the backyard and not have to walk it or interact with it.

[Obedog]

Some of the best homes I know don't have fences. But I understand the rule, to weed out the people that just tie their dogs out and forget about them. So it is a good back up rule, if you have a potential adopter that you do not want to place a dog with, then you can pull the fence rule out, but should be waived for good homes...

[Moo]

We have a ft 6 wooden fence out back, and my dog can get out of it. He's never out unsupervised. That's a dumb requirement.

[Dignity]

Oh, I want to add a story here - on my cube I have pics of all my animals. A lady stopped by and asked me what breed they were and I said 'great pyrenees' she said that's what she thought and told me how they were looking at getting a 2nd dog and had an invisible fence installed. When the guy came out to install it - he asked what breed, she told him and asked him why it mattered.... he REFUSED to install invisible fences for Great Pyr owners... he had 2 great pyr customers where the pyr sat close enough to the fence to wear down the battery in the collar and then run through the fence after the batteries had died.