Mr. Moto, your Akita, was just at the screen door a minute ago, and now where is he? You look up, just in time to see his fluffy tail disappear over your 9-foot tall fence. This little Houdini has done it again, and unless you do something to discourage this temptation, it will only be a matter of time before your dog is walking himself around the neighborhood!

When confronting this issue, you must remember one thing: Mr. Moto is not doing this to annoy you, or because he knows it will make you angry. This is a human projection onto dog behavior. Yes, he may be doing this to get attention, but we'll return to that in a minute. First, let's look at the possible reasons your beautiful dog would want to get out of the yard. It may be one or more of these reasons, so be sure to evaluate your situation and respond accordingly.

• Your dog may be jumping the fence, because it is a self-rewarding behavior. In other words, by doing this action, the dog is getting what he wants.

• If he has not been getting enough attention from you, climbing the fence might be his way of getting some, even if it is negative

• He is bored and getting out of your yard is a way to entertain himself

• The activities going on the other side of your fence are more interesting

• He/she is looking for a little love

These reasons might seem hard to counteract at first, but there are some ways you can begin to discourage this behavior. They will, however, require some vigilance on your part, as well as creativity. Let's tackle each of these reasons one by one and when put all together you should have Mr. Moto staying put.

To counteract the positive reward for escaping the yard, the act of escaping needs to be an unpleasant and ideally, impossible task. Firstly, make your fences a little taller if he is just sailing over them. If Mr. Moto is climbing up them, then you will need to put down some chicken wire, plastic or other deterrent. Most dogs don't like the feeling of chicken wire or plastic on their feet and so will not continue to climb if this is laid over the wood. If this is not successful, then you need to construct a secondary barrier outside the fence, so that should he jump over, he won't get the freedom he expects. This only needs to happen a few times, before your dog will stop trying to jump.

If you are not spending time with him regularly, he will find his own way of getting your attention. If you would prefer this to be positive, rather than negative, make some time to take him out on a walk or play Frisbee. To keep him from being bored, always make sure that he has plenty of toys and things to explore out in the yard. You wouldn't stay someplace with nothing to do, would you? Of course not! So you can't expect your dog to either.

If he is easily drawn to the mailman, the girl skipping rope or any other type of normal every day activities, you need to block him from seeing them. Cover any holes or viewing points. What he can't engage, he won't go after. And, lastly, if your dog is going over the fence because he is looking for a little summer love, be sure to get him fixed!