‘Desperate’ Owner Begs for Help as Nothing Will Keep Dogs in Fenced Yard

A woman who owns three German shepherds has turned to the internet for help after discovering how easily they can jump over the fence and escape.
When dog owner Shayla McCormick of Colorado first saw her German shepherd, named Liberty, leap over the garden fence, she assumed it was “a fluke” and wouldn’t happen again. But she soon realized it wasn’t just a one off, because any time Liberty and her sister Sparrow, both 3, sense something fun going on nearby, they don’t hesitate to go and join in.
“Our dogs get FOMO [fear of missing out] and want to play with the neighbor and his dog, so they just help themselves over the fence to play,” McCormick said. “We also have a community pool right behind our home and, a few weeks ago, they saw my husband and I at the pool, so they just jumped the fence to come join us.”
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The fence is approximately 4-and-a-half feet tall, which hardly poses a challenge to McCormick’s mischievous dogs. “I wish it was taller, but we live in a Metro District and we all have to have the same fence,” she added.
Whenever they escape, Liberty and Sparrow, nicknamed Libby and Row, always stay near the house. Thankfully for McCormick, her oldest German shepherd, Hamm, 5, hasn’t “quite figured out how to do it yet.”
McCormick has tried multiple options so far, including netting over the top of the fences as an extra hurdle; she has currently got saran wrap running across the top of it to stop them leaping over.
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While the latter appears to have stopped Liberty and Sparrow escaping so far, it is only a temporary solution. As she felt so “desperate for suggestions,” she took to TikTok (@hammsmom_shayla) to ask internet users for ideas and the clip went viral with over 5.4 million views and more than 538,000 likes so far.
McCormick said: “We put up some bars with saran wrap, and that has worked well. They haven’t jumped the fence since that has been up. We are still pondering a permanent solution, though.
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“I know our dogs are friendly and love other people and dogs but want to make sure they are always safe, and I want to make sure they stay in our yard when they are outside.”
After going viral, the clip amassed over 7,500 comments on TikTok as plenty of social-media users offered suggestions for what might keep the dogs in the garden.
McCormick is incredibly grateful for the positive response to her clip, as many dog owners lauded their hilarious antics.
“I am glad people found the humor in the video like I did,” McCormick told Newsweek. “I think it’s hilarious that they know they’re being naughty, but they still jump the fence with ease right in front of me.
“I am definitely still looking for a permanent solution because I want to keep them in our property and keep them safe.”
Among the thousands of comments on TikTok, social-media users offered up plenty of advice and suggestions for McCormick to test out. One comment reads: “Invisible fence until they stop jumping.”
Another TikTok user wrote: “Electric hot wire or coyote rollers or no climb fencing (coated wire fencing).”
“Plexiglas. Add a wooden border around and it’ll look like an extension of your fence,” added a third person.
Others couldn’t contain their laughter at the dogs’ misbehavior, as one comment read: “I’m sorry but the dog jumping [through] the bungee strings absolutely sent me.”
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