This spring we seem to be over run with bunnies. We have seen at least three of them hopping around our yard eating the clover in the grass. They are brazen things too. Last weekend one hopped up bold as can be and sashayed across our deck right in front of Storm who was standing in front of the open patio door. Thankfully she did not crash through the screen, instead she barked at the darn thing and that sent it on its way.
About a month ago (while JoAnn and Glory were here for the breeding to Thunder), Storm had a similar encounter with one of the bunnies. This time the door was closed and the bunny was hanging out under a bush.
Again Storm barked at the bunny. Since it was early in the morning and our house-guests were trying to sleep, I decided to let Storm out so she could disturb the neighbors. I figured she might chase the bunny so I made sure she her invisible fence collar on before I opened the door. Sure enough. Bunny ran and so did Storm—but she stopped short of the edge of the yard. Chase thwarted.
People question whether an invisible fence will stop a dog chasing an animal. It will, provided you put in the time and training. Our dogs know the boundaries of our yard and respect them so rarely do they activate their collars by straying into the field. We do cheat a bit with a couple of lawn flags around so they have a visual of the boundaries and they usually stop well before. I swear the bunnies know the boundary too.
Random Photos
I took this photo one day when we were out training. It was such a beautiful day, I wanted to capture it.
These are photos of some of the birds that have been around.
At our training pond.
The woodpeckers disappeared for a time at the cabin in early spring, but they came back. Unfortunately we had to stop feeding for now because the darn raccoons keep ripping down our feeders. These pictures are form before the raccoons arrived.
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The bunnies are going crazy here, too! That’s awesome that your dogs respect the electric fence. I had neighbor’s who had dogs that didn’t. They would scream as they ran through it and then they would not go back home. It was so sad.
I love the photos of the birds! They are beautiful!
Our dogs have been trained to retreat if they hear the collar beep (that is a warning before the collar activates). This is probably the most important part of training the dogs to the fence and the step that a lot of people short change.
great that it works and Storm interrupted the great bunny hunt :o) we have a lot of small bunnies here… yesterday one jumped out of the grass and ran away… fortunately Easy was so puzzled that he forgot to chase the little guy with his dad in tow :o)
I remember Storm barking. We have lots of bunnies in our yard to. The cat weed lays and tries to get them and so does Gambler. You random photos are very nice. Have a great day.
Great photos – especially the birds 🙂 We’re having trouble this year for the first time with raccoons and our feeders. Hate that. I believe the rabbits on our farm have a death wish or they’re incredibly dumb… which explains why so many meet their doom in our backyard 🙁
Hi Y’all!
What fantastic woodpecker photos…and the oh, so cute, chickadee.
One time we used some electric fence as temporary paddock fencing . We spent a lot of time schooling the horses to respect it. We’d lead them around and around the fence line and let them learn the perimeters of the paddock. We’d stop periodically in different spots and let them stretch their nose out and touch the fence. Once or twice was enough and they never went near it again.
If you don’t teach animals or people how to behave in a certain situation, you are setting them up for failure. Is it people are too lazy? or what?
BrownDog’s Human
Invest the time, reap the rewards. You guys train your dogs right!
Wow, these are all gorgeous photos!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
Great Blues are magnificent but still love those woody woodpeckers! Keep a
zot wire at top of cedar fence, that did not stop Macha from clearing 48″ and
flying two blocks after one of “those” bunnies. Or from knocking an entire panel into the neighbor’s side yard! Storm , you were a very self-restrained Chessie.
We have tons of bunnies here and many hop right onto our patio and taunt Oz. He barks and goes nuts inside but the bunny remains unfazed, knowing the dog is locked behind the sliding glass door. Oz loves to chase those bunnies if he is in the backyard…he even caught one once, which honestly surprised me. Interesting that you use the invisible fence. I always worry that a dog will run through or constantly trigger it by getting too close. Obviously, with the right training that doesn’t seem to happen.
That’s great that you’ve trained your dogs so well. Those bunnies sure are lucky!
Great pictures, especially of the hummers.
The bunnies have been extra busy this year. We’re run over by them. Fortunately, the gardens are all raised, so it’s not such a big deal. And it keeps the dogs busy in the back yard, chasing them. Love your woodpecker photos!
We don’t see many bunnies where we are. When we are lucky enough to get a sight of one, they are often hiding in bushes at the sides of the roads.
sumskersandearlskers13.blogspot.com
Wow what beautiful photos. I have not seen any bunnies around here yet, just lots of raccoons and squirrels, and a skunk smell one night. It’s great you took the time to train them with the fence. I think a lot of people skip that step and the dogs learn the hard way if at all.
Well, we have about 30 bunnies that hang around our yard, so I’m going to send some your way. Luckily neither Jack or Maggie have an interest in them anymore. Jack chased them at first, but soon realized he was never going to catch one, so he’s given up.
Delilah saw a rabbit (before I did) on one of our morning walks. She stiffened right up and I looked over…sure enough. Thankfully these are not as enticing to her as the dang chipmunks which I swear provoke her intentionally.
I think Storm was a good girl to restrain herself. 🙂
Mom would never trust an invisible fence with us as we are so into chasing critters. She is nervous with a real fence and would never relax if it was all up to the invisible one. We see how they always seem to work with other dogs, but it isn’t for us.
I bet you would be surprised that you could train them to the fence. Our dogs have a ton of prey drive (they are hunting dogs after all and Storm has gotten a rabbit out hunting), but they learned the boundary.
We used to have rabbits around our property years ago but I haven’t seen one now for a long time. Maybe they know about the dogs and are smarter than your bunnies? 🙂
I love the bird photos…I love to watch the birds. Unfortunately around here we have bears so we can’t put feeders out in the summer.
We haven’t seen any bunnies around our yard at all. Just the squirrels and birds to drive Ducky and Shadow crazy.
Beautiful photos, even the black-n-white bunny!! The chickadee and tufted titmouse were always my Mom’s favorite, so I try to protect them from the girls whenever the need arises. Actually, I try to protect all the birdies as best I can.
We don’t have anything to chase around our property, but on several occasions the guys have taken off in pursuit of jack rabbits while hunting.