terrier making a break for freedom

Hi I am at my wits end and need help. I have a small dog which used to be my daughters??

He keeps digging under my fence and running off. I am disabled and cannot chase him so i have to wait for him to comehome. Which he does. Unfortunately he is now breaking into my neighbours garden and eating their cat food and poohing on their garden.

My neighbour who does not have dogs is getting very angry at picking up after mine?

I need ideas and the cheaper the better as I am not working and my partner is also unemployed.

At the moment i am attaching his lead to the washing line but my lab cross keeps chewing the lead and freeing him.
Please please any ideas will be greatfully appreciated. I have eleven chickens and three dogs and two cats and he is the only one i seem unable to manage.

I think he needs a pen or use a chain to secure him rather than a lead - we had a rescue collie cross that was a swine for running off to find rabbits and birds so we had to chain her up if she wanted to be outside. Sadly she got out untethered a couple of years ago and we lost her on the road so please take care  . A couple of good long walks will also help tire him out 

the issue you have is that the dog is 'self rewarding' which is very powerful

basically the dog escapes and gets food and is allowed to poo somewhere else other than their own garden - one of my dogs will absolutely not poo on its own territory. I think its instinct to keep their own den clean

first things first block off the escape routes, the husky owners will tell you they dig under the top layer of soil near boundaries and lay chickwire, then put the soil back over...either that or have slabs laid

next thing you have to do is make it more rewarding for the dog to come to you than go anywhere else. for this you need 'high level' treats - i use bits of hot dog chopped up, liver (nuke in the microwave for 10-15 mins) or skinless and boneless sardines (smelly)

if the dog goes near the boundary, call it over and every time it comes to you instead it gets a reward...this will be slow at first but soon the dog will get the idea

above all use patience

Is he escaping to go looking for a mate, has he been neutered. I am not really keen on such measures but it may be the answer.
If next doors cat has left deposits in your garden in the past be sure to remind them of the fact.

lol My jrt used to help my springer dig his way out . Does he do it when your in the garden?

Thank god my mine's not doing it any more. what about oil of cloves it might put him off going near that side of the garden

This may sound a bit daft, but the naughty step idea worked with our JRT when he was catching chickens or ran away dispite being called bac.

When we first got him, he was going to live outside in the kennel, and did for a few weeks, but he gradually wormed his way into the house!  But if he ran away, or went for the chickens or killed a duck, he would go into the kennel for a few hours, when he came out he would not get excell fuss, but we would behave normally. 
He has not been in the kennel all summer so it seems to have worked.
Although on one of his wanders ( we live surrounded by fields and woods which he explores) he did get caught in a "Ragoudin" trap ( like a beaver but  with a tail like a rat!)  I found him eventually in the trap by our neighbours lake - he was after the apple!  He doesn't tend to go down that way anymore!

Our dog was rescue, his previous owner had given him up becuase he kept escaping - he would dig, but they sorted then, he then jumped two metres to get over the fence - Terriers are determined little things.  He has the freedom he need with us, and can go chasing rabbits as often as we want to let him, it must have been a difficult decision for the previous owner, he is a lovely dog, but I am sure he is glad that they did.
I hope that you get this sorted it must be a worry.

I had a Houdini of a JRT and he would usually find another escape route just as soon as we blocked off his last exit.  Exercise is the key to getting a JRT to calm down. Once he had his long walk where he could run for miles, not easy as he hated every other creature on the planet, he was calm and well behaved.  Training them is very hard as they are so wilful and headstrong, and ours was not food orientated either.

You should persist with the exercise on your scooter and I think your dog would get used to it. He needs loads of exercise to burn off all that energy and if he doesn't get it then you'll never get any peace.  They are tearaways and if not fully stimulated they go nuts