Dogs tied up?

TG1

I'm looking for opinions on dogs tied up in gardens. My lovely 13 year old border collie retired and moved to the country with my parents. It was one of the hardest decisions I ever made, but I live on my own and work a standard week so staying with me was no longer feasible.
He now lives in a fab house with 6 acres of garden, but it's not fenced. He previously had the run of a suburban back garden but could never get to the front. Since he moved he's had a couple of run ins with delivery men at the front door, so my dad bought a post, an 8m washing line rope and a mountaineering clip and Bob now spends his days tied up "helping" my dad weed. The post moves with my dad so the dog just follows him round the garden with a slobbery tennis ball.
I would previously have been horrified at the thought of a dog tied up all day, but having been down there it's the only way to let him out safely (there's sheep next door and horses across the road) and he seems happier then he was with the free run of a boring suburban garden, as he's getting much more attention now he's an only child! He gets walked on the beach every day and is inside when my parents are in, or on the odd occasion that he's on his own.
So what are the thoughts on this type of system, as opposed to runs, or fencing a section of the garden?

peasant

A supervised and accompanied tie down doesn't sound as bad as it first looks, to be honest.

The dog seems to have a pretty good and active life.
Fencing is very expensive and the usual "runs" are just glorified cages ...as long as your dog doesn't have reliable recall and plenty of temptations this really sounds like the only practicable system to keep him safe while outside ...for the time being.

Another suggestion would be to be to get him started on a field line / drag line.
Simply tie a long (10 - 20 m), thin rope to his collar and let him drag that around ...gives you long distance control by just stepping on it if needs be and helps immensely with training (and enforcing) recall

EDIT:
something like this:
http://www.zooplus.ie/shop/dogs/dog_collars_dog_leads/nylon_leads/special/151432

Pretzill

I wouldn't do it. My land is fenced in but I'm sure there could be weak areas however my two bc's are content to sit in the garden on warm days like today and run around with us when we're walking the land.

At 13 I'm surprised your guy is wandering perhaps it's because he doesn't know or isn't familiar with the boundaries. A bit of fencing, or gating would be far better for him IMO - than a long leash - what if he got tangled in it? Or if it was a hot day and he couldn't get shade? No to reduce the stress that he may wander I think secure fencing is needed - remember the fencing also keeps neighbors livestock out too -

(I had a grand lawn turned into potholes by wandering cattle after leaving the gate open years ago.)

Stooped

I have my dog on one of those and she seems to not mind it. She has wandering issues which are probably down to not setting boundaries earlier. But she gets a run around every evening and gets brought for walks as often as possible.

ShaShaBear

We rented a place out in the countryside not too long ago. The garden was totally fenced in with chicken wire but it was only about 4 feet and Shadow scaled it with ease. There was also no gate onto the direct main road which also was the beginning of Northern Ireland, so there were frequent hellish speeders. We bought one of those things that you twist about a foot into the ground and it had a 25 foot cable that attached to his harness. He was only ever on this when we were out in the garden cutting firewood, gardening or just enjoying good weather in general.
If your boy is only on this when he is attended to outside, how is it any different from him being on a lead when on a walk?
I would feel different if he was outside on it alone. But if he's in close company, it's really no different to a walk on a flexi-lead

Capercaillie

An electric dog fence might be the solution.

DBB

Oh lordy, let's not go down the electric fence/radio fence route A sure-fire thread-closer.

OP, one major caution about using a line to secure a dog... Use a harness to attach the line to him, not his collar.
Another possible and perhaps safer option is to put up a zipline (a washing line?!) and run a lead from the zipline to his harness. Does that make sense? It means he can't get tangled and you can potentially give him a pretty big area to potter about in.
Like SSB, I don't see any great issue with him being tethered whilst he's with someone in the garden. Ok, it's not perfect, but it's not such a bad thing either, given that it sounds like he has a pretty nice life

Capercaillie

DBB wrote: »

Oh lordy, let's not go down the electric fence/radio fence route A sure-fire thread-closer.
)

Why?

ShaShaBear

Capercaillie wrote: »

Why?

Because they don't work, are not reliable, and many of us do not advocate hurting a dog to teach them a lesson. A quick look at your local pound's intake photos will show how many dogs show up there with their fence collars still on them.

TG1

DBB wrote: »

Oh lordy, let's not go down the electric fence/radio fence route A sure-fire thread-closer.

OP, one major caution about using a line to secure a dog... Use a harness to attach the line to him, not his collar.
Another possible and perhaps safer option is to put up a zipline (a washing line?!) and run a lead from the zipline to his harness. Does that make sense? It means he can't get tangled and you can potentially give him a pretty big area to potter about in.

Oooh, love the zip line idea, as I do get regular calls from my poor mum giving out about how he decapitated a strawberry plant or uprooted a row of potatoes with the rope! That might sort that issue.