Well, the inevitable has happened. Violet killed one of our feral (I call them that; they were strays that showed up one day) cats that got into the yard late last night. I tried to intervene, and the cat got me pretty good. But, Violet managed to kill it. I think it was FU2 (Feline Unit #2). I'm kind of shocked, because the cats had been staying away from the fence. I think my wife is a bit hurt because, although she is deathly allergic to cats, FU2 was her favorite and the one she most wanted to find a home for (because we knew eventually one or all would meet this fate).

We've tried to get Violet to warm up to them. We gave her their binky to play and sniff, brought them to her in our hands, etc. Nothing worked. Talk about a prey instinct!

Just ranting...

CG

No!!! It's worse than we thought. Now, Violet has figured out how to top our fence! We just spent an hour in a cow pasture, powerless as she chased a heard of cattle around. We are in big trouble.

Yup. That one can end badly. Sounds like you've got a project on your hands.

Sounds like supervised tie out time to me! And with the cats... At her age it's really to be expected, hope everything is OK. It's a hard thing to deal with.

Oh, poor Kitty I dread the day that a cat is stupid enough to come into our yard with the pups out. We have had an opossum issue and a few pigeons too

As for the fence, I'm with Kristina...supervised tie out time!

Sounds like it's time for a hot wire at the top of the fence!

Ugh, I've lost a cat and a kitten to my huskies. The worst part is they were my pets, not strays.
Those were horrible days and I hope I never have to live through another one.

A tether or a hot wire across the top of the fence may be in your future...or rather your husky's future. lol

sorry to hear that, as much as you can prepare for it it still hurts when it happens, S&J have gotten 2 kittens in our back yard, strays, not sure how they got in.... and some birds and squirrels at a friends.

now that she knows she can, A. kill and B. hop the fence your in big trouble and need to find a solution fast. i forget what kind of fence and how high it is but might need to go taller or hotwire, hotwire is the best solution.

Sorry to hear about the cat You definitely need to fix the problem quickly, I'd definitely get hotwire also..

Been shopping for hotwires today. They cost a quarter of what it will cost to add height, and then there's no guarantee she wont top that as well.

Are we talking about a standard cattle/horse style electric fence? I have found one for about $50 with wire. All I'd need is some insulators. I love playing with electrons! Who new Huskies were going to be so much fun...

Thanks all!

CG

PS: Fortunately, the cattle owner is a friend of ours, and he knows about our Sibe. Still, don't want her molesting the livestock.

at least the owner is a friend, many sibes have lost their life from a shot on site cattle owner.

there is a thread somewhere on here about the hotwire set up...

The1930sRust wrote:

Been shopping for hotwires today. They cost a quarter of what it will cost to add height, and then there's no guarantee she wont top that as well.

Are we talking about a standard cattle/horse style electric fence? I have found one for about $50 with wire. All I'd need is some insulators. I love playing with electrons! Who new Huskies were going to be so much fun...

Thanks all!

CG

PS: Fortunately, the cattle owner is a friend of ours, and he knows about our Sibe. Still, don't want her molesting the livestock.

Ya - get the Parmak one. http://www.amazon.com/Parmak-HS-100-110-20-Volt-Surround-Impedance/dp/B00099H04G/ref=pd_sbs_ol3

It plus into an outlet - which is nice because you can turn it off for garden parties.

I got all the Zareba connectors and the poly wire. I sprayed the connecters black with Krylon Fusion plastic paint since they're yellow. I got the long ones so that it sticks out about 6 inches at the top of the fence. They hit the wire before they get to the top of the fence, that way.

Suuuupppper easy to set up. Make sure you order a tester too - they're about $15. http://www.amazon.com/Zareba-RSVT8-Eight-light-Voltage-Tester/dp/B000HHJIWW/ref=pd_sim_ol14
You'll also need a grounding pole - I got one at the local hardware store for $11 - 8 ft copper pipe with a sharpened end. I found a technique online where you dig a hole and then fill it with water. Stick the pole in there and keep adding more water. Press the pole down more - you'll bury the entire pole in about 1/2 hr without digging. Brilliant! You'll also need about 2 ft of copper wire to be the grounding wire (goes from the pole to the controller), plus a clamp to keep the wire on the pole.

If you have gates, also get the gate handles and connectors. We had it set up within hours. There's a ton of tutorials online from Husky rescues - all of them highly recommend it to keep Huskies safe and inside your fence. We also put up homemade coyote rollers on top of the fence - but we used ABS pipes and it warped - so have to replace those with PVC to make them work again.

Tutorials:
http://www.huskycamp.com/security.htm - one method - we didn't use the pvc piping for the wire - we used the professional connectors at the top and the bottom of the fence (to prevent digging under).

http://www.northstarhuskyrescue.org/info/display?PageID=7358

Happy Fencing!

Oh! And when you first let the dog out - leave her alone in the yard with it alone and allow her to test it. Don't allow any of your other animals - because she'll associate the shock with it. We left Frosti in the yard with it and went outside the gate - she started exploring (plotting her escape) and hit the poly wire. It's just a small shock but enough to make the think twice. I touched it three times while testing it, you definitely won't hurt your dog or any other animals or people.

Bought a Zareba unit and some wire today. Will have to order the insulators I want. But so far, she hasn't topped it again...

The1930sRust wrote:

Bought a Zareba unit and some wire today. Will have to order the insulators I want. But so far, she hasn't topped it again...

Congrats! Which one did you buy? I'm sure since you were so excited, that you know the differences between the different kinds (solid state vs low impedance)! I didn't and had to do some research. We bought the Zareba and the Parmak, and ended up keeping the parmak based on some reviews. Hilarious review with "furry dog" test : http://www.turtletimes.com/forums/topic/69649-how-to-put-in-an-electric-fence/ I love the pic of the hairy dog. Frosti is extemely well insulated when she's got all her undercoat.

Uggh, thats the worst feeling ever! Arkan killed a kitten a few months ago on a camping trip. Apparently the owner had set the kitten down (in an area around where there were at least 6 dogs running lose, mind you) and stopped watching......even though everyone agreed it was pretty dumb on his part I still felt awful. That puts Arkan up to 1 kitten, 2 squirrels, and a chicken. I dearly hope he never gets the chance to consider cows.


Hope your hotwiring is a success!