This Hunting Dog Mix Unlocked 30 Acres of Freedom with SpotOn: Ava's Story

May 30, 2023

Meet Ava Louise from Lebanon, Missouri.

Two year old Ava Louise is from Ava, Missouri, which is how she got her name. Ava is a Plott Hound and Mountain Cur mix, a combination of two hunting breeds. She is also an extremely intelligent and adventurous dog who loves to run and chase any creature who crosses her path, including birds flying by! As you can see in her video, this fun-loving girl is also quite athletic and serious about fetch!

Ava lives on 30 acres of mostly open pasture, with a wet weather creek running through the farm for fishing and for swimming when it gets hot. The creek has trees along it and a small patch of woods for added adventure. Thanks to her 30 acre SpotOn fence, Ava has plenty of freedom to run, play and hunt on the farm. She happily spends her days chasing birds, digging for moles, and hunting along the creek and in the woods. This busy girl also watches over the horses, and loves to hang with her canine buddy Henry and feline friend Clinger.

Ava takes her job of protecting the farm very seriously and doesn’t rest until she comes in at night. After a full day of hunting and running through the field, she is ready to crash at night. Once inside, she gets a bath or sponge bath depending on what she encountered that day. Then one last game before bed; hide and seek with Ava’s bones. Stephanie hides bones all around the house and Ava sniffs them out. Once she has found her bones, it’s time to cuddle in bed for this hunter-turned-cuddle-bunny.

We wanted to know what life was like with this high energy, prey driven pup before SpotOn.

‘Before SpotOn we would worry about leaving her since she was such a hunter. We knew if she got on the scent of something, she would follow it and with a highway close by we were worried she would get hit or someone would take her.’ - Stephanie E., Owner

Since she started using SpotOn, Stephanie’s relationship with Ava has changed, building more trust and enhancing their bond.

‘The experience using the fence has created even more trust between us. Ava has learned to respect the physical boundaries we put in place for her at both the farm and the lake but she also respects us as her leaders and trusts that we will take care of her. We also know that we can trust her to protect the farm as well as us should the need arise.’

In addition to the peace of mind Stephanie gets from knowing that Ava is now safely contained, she loves the ability to check in on her from work to see where Ava is and what she’s up to.

As for what originally sold Stephanie on SpotOn Fence, it was the tracking feature and the portability. The ability to easily create multiple fences was really important, since they have more than one property and often go camping.

‘When we go camping with our horses we have the ability to create a fence around the campsite so we do not have to worry about her going off hunting or getting on other’s campsite.’

As for new adventures that await, Ava will continue to also enjoy her SpotOn freedom at their lake house, where she’s free to hunt, swim and play with her neighbor and best furry friend Molly.

‘At the lake, she wades out to the island to hunt, swims, goes kayaking and plays with her favorite neighbor dog Molly.’

Having used SpotOn since 2021, Stephanie is happy to have upgraded to Gen 2 and is enjoying the enhanced experience and the new features, including the new app, the better cell coverage and the family sharing flexibility. She also likes the ability to easily draw fences right in the app.

‘I love the ability to protect my dog with such ease. The ability to draw your maps on your phone is so much more convenient than walking the fence through brush and creeks.’

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Author Bio:
Amy McPoland is a dog mom, dog lover and Sr. Brand Strategist at SpotOn Fence.