Frustrated

by S
(North Carolina)

my son adopted what was supposed to be a docile beagle puppy from the pound, only, after deworming the dog, she acted as if she had just consumed an entire case of red bull. Viola, I thought, this is not a beagle. Not sure what it is, but it is not a beagle. This dog is very active but she's also skittish. I took her for a walk on a retractable leash. She took off running, jerked it out of my hand & it began to retract furiously towards her. She tried to outrace her "pursuer" through 3 neighborhood yards before coming to a cowering quivering stop behind some bushes. If she so much as sees that blue retractable leash - 1.5 years later, she just sits & quivers. She, along with our other 2 dogs, have always had the freedom to run in the adjacent 100 acres, although she's the only one that stayed gone for hours. Never thought this was a problem UNTIL, yes, she killed two neighborhood cats, in a most determined manner. After a little research I now know she must be JRT or JRT mix. (Please do not berate me. Remember, I adopted a beagle)

I obviously must now keep her contained but am at my wits end as to how to accomplish that feat. After considerable "google time" I understand they dig under chain link fences and can blast through the shock zone for underground fences. And after her reaction to the retractable leash, I'm afraid of her reaction to a shock collar. She's miserable being in the house most of the time. We do go out to play tennis (That's me hitting balls as far and hard as I can for her to chase) several times a day. I can put her on a runner but that seems like a pretty poor solution. I'm not opposed to underground fences & shock collars if it will be effective and if it gives her more freedom (we received our fair share of spankings when we were kids & we're not damaged, we just don't talk back to our parents). And to make the situation just a little more interesting, I do work from home (mostly) but it's over 60 hours a week and my acquisitive son is now off to college. Any suggestions as to how to make my lovable 3 year old JRT-whatever-mix somewhat happy again are gratefully appreciated.