Toby is obsessed with squirrels. Unfortunately, one of them lives in a tree in my backyard in a hole about eye level. He in fact is so obsessed with chasing them, he jumped over the fence into the neighbor's yard during a BLIZZARD last week. I had to go out and walk him around the block to get him home.
Since that happened, I have been really paranoid about him getting out again, so for the first few days, I donned my snow boots and dressed up and took him out on a leash. I also started clicker training him to come and we've had hit and miss successes. I am probably not doing it right. But whenever he comes, I hand feed him several treats, one at a time, jackpot! He's gotten better about coming, but if there is a squirrel in the backyard, all bets are off. The only way I can get him to come in when he is squirrel chasing is to dump food in his bowl.
I can't even SAY squirrel or he jumps to attention and scans the ceiling of my home...
I am probably going to be investing in a cable sort of set up so that he can't reach the fence. The only downfall to that is that my roommates dog goes out with him often (we are in school and take turns letting the dogs out at lunch) and with Toby's leash reactivity with other dogs, I am afraid that if Tilly just flirts along the outside of his reach (which she is sure to do) it's going to frustrate him a lot. I guess we can stop letting them out together unless I am there to supervise Toby and distract him before he jumps the fence. >.<
P.S. I am renting here and will most likely be moving out at the end of May. Doing any expensive fence work is definitely out of the question.
I will also continue to train him daily, I'm not expecting overnight results. Just looking for any other tips and ideas. Thanks!