escape artist, how do I keep him safe?

Question
I just adopted a hound, they say beagle/shepherd mix, from the SPCA.  He is wonderful except he doesn't like to be confined in any way.  He escaped twice from our 10x10 dog kennel outside, he went through the chain link. Our yard is fenced but with a 4 ft spaced picket that until yesterday, he seemed very content to stay in.  My husband came home to him sitting on our front steps.  No sign of digging and there's no area to squish through, so he must have went over.  Thank God he didn't run away or get hurt!  Today, I will leave him in the house with my other pup.  I was hoping to mix it up a little and do half outside, half inside but I guess I can't.  It's only about 3 hours in the morning, we come home at lunch, then three hours in the afternoon that he is alone (with our other dog) he has peed once inside but hasn't chewed or destroyed anything.  Is this the best solution?  We are also looking into fence extenders.  Thank you.

Answer
Hi, sorry to hear you have an escape artist on your hands, they can be daunting to say the least!

First off, since you have recently adopted him he is not yet used to his surrounding and most likely this is one of the reasons he ended up at the SPCA. It is safe to say he is a well trained escapee. Until you can be sure he will remain safe I wouldnt be levaing him outside personally.

If the way he is getting out is up and over this presents a challenge. When they are able to squish through I have found that taking that plastic/vinyl rippled siding stuff and bolting it to the fence keeps them from getting inbetween, it could though also make for a very slippery surface and hard to get traction on to climb. We did this all along our back wrought iron fencing in back and the problem stopped immediately, just bolted it to the fencing. Hopefully you know what I mean about the siding stuff.... you can get it at Home Depot.