The escapee
Toby is going through a bit of a teenage rebellion phase. We’d read that this is common at this stage of his development (he’s ten months old) but knowing this doesn’t really insulate you from the experience itself which we’re living through right now.
Having a six acre croft means we have plenty of space for Toby to roam. And we do want him to be able to roam rather than be tethered or just go out walking on the leash. The croft is the perfect environment for a dog to be in with plenty of long grass and a burn to play in.
Sadly however, the ancient stock fencing that we inherited when we bought the croft isn’t great in places and we’ve yet to complete installing the fencing at the bottom of the croft around the access track, meaning that it’s easy for him to wander onto other crofts or gardens if he heads that way.
This hasn’t been a problem until recently. He’d mainly stay up by the house, never out of earshot and always racing back if he was called. No longer.
The first time we realised we had a problem was a couple of weeks ago when a neighbour brought Toby back on a piece of string. He’d been cavorting around in their garden after wriggling under the fence and was very pleased with himself and the whole adventure.
The second time was when husband returned home in the car and spotted that Toby had left the croft and was playing in the ditch on the township lane. Although it’s a quiet lane it leads to a busy main road and the last thing we want is him wandering onto that. My blood literally ran cold, especially after losing Fergus recently to a car on that road.
We bought a tracker which Toby now has attached to his collar. The software allows a virtual fence to be set up which alerts us if he breaches the zone we’ve defined. Although this doesn’t physically stop him it does let us know that he’s wandering again and allows us to track and retrieve him. It’s not a long term solution but it will help until we can get the fencing sorted out, which is a massive and costly undertaking, but which we know needs to be done.
We do have a secure area around the polycrub and vegetable beds which we deer-fenced last year but it also houses the compost bins, which Toby sadly finds deliciously attractive.
We need to find a way to stop him leaping up into them and happily eating all the decomposing kitchen waste as if it was a banquet, which he does at the slightest opportunity. Maybe we can secure them with tarpaulins in the immediate term - we’ll work something out.
In the meantime Toby is largely confined to the house unless we’re with him. A frustrating restriction for both us and him, but one that’s necessary for his own safety.
The joys of dog owning!
Oh, the joys of parenthood 😁. 'WHY can't I paint my room black!?' 😂😂😂
Why can't I paint my room black? Oh I remember those days! He will grow out of it.