Bad Dog!

As of late, Hubby has observed the decline in dogs on our street; particularly labrador retrievers. Why the decline? We live on a relatively busy street. It seems many of the local dogs are drawn to run to the road and several have been hit. The most recent victim was Billy's playmate Jack. Jack was an 11 year old black lab. He was typically confined to his back yard and had a doghouse. He was always tied up when Billy would go play with him. Last week Hubby and Billy were down at the house and Hubby was visiting with Jack's master while the dogs played. Two days later, Hubby learned of Jack's untimely demise which had occurred later that day he had seen him!
This afternoon, Hubby took Billy back to the pond for a swim. They came back to the house and were in our garage. Hubby saw Billy head toward the driveway. Billy got to the concrete apron and then just took off across the street! The neighbor over there is having a party (probably a Memorial Day picnic). Billy love people so he was drawn to where the people were. Perhaps he was anticipating the loud roar of Hubby's motorcycle as well. Hubby was just sitting on the bike. He didn't start the engine. I was in here and I suddenly hear Hubby screaming Billy's name. This is never good. I knew Billy must've gone into the street. It's such a rare occurrence for him to go to the road. Now we are back at square one: how do we keep him contained? We don't really have the finances to build a fence around the entire yard. We are considering Invisible Fence or a shock collar. I don't like the idea of a shock collar. I think that is a bit over the top. It would be the same effect as the electronic fence, however. The only difference being, the owner controls the collar whereas the fence just automatically charges when the dog gets too close to it.
For the moment, Billy is banished to the laundry room. I do not want our dog to become another highway casualty.