I’m sick of having dog poop all over the front lawn so we are fencing in the back lawn, where we can just open the door to the deck and let the dogs out.
The dogs will not be left out in the yard if we aren’t home, and definitely won’t be left out unattended for any period of time. Neither are jumpers or diggers.
Do you think 4’ tall fencing would be okay? Or should we just go with 5’?
What kind of dogs?
I have a 4’ fence and I have worried that it is too low, but the only time my dogs have ever gone over was once when we had a ton of snow and it drifted to within a foot of the top in one spot - and I hadn’t realized.
If I did it again I’d probably get 5’ just in case. But I think more important is to make sure the bottom is secure. If getting chainlink you need the bottom rail so they don’t push it aside and slip under. It only takes once to figure that out. My dog also got through two very small spaces that I would never have believed possible - both only about 4" wide. One under a gate set on a hill, so there was a gap at one end, and the other where the fence met a recessed window of my basement. That was a shock. Little bastard. Still can’t believe he slipped through that spot but I watched him do it.
My dog run which is 8’by 40’ has a 6 foot fence. My dog is a young Bouv weighing roughly 80lbs, When a car comes down the road, which isn’t very often he hurls himself up on the fence. That section now has a huge bow in it and his paws reach the top. I am keeping an eye on him. If he gets much better at it he may go over the top.
Initially I thought a 4’ fence would be sufficient but the installer was familiar with Bouvs and advised the 6’ fence.
Snow is something I hadn’t thought of (don’t know why it escaped my mind…we are in Vermont and I’ve lived here my entire life!)
We will go with 5’ fence.
The dogs are an Australian cattle dog and a golden retriever. Neither are particularly active
It looks great! This is exactly the type of fencing I’m ultimately looking at for fencing in my 2 acres - do you mind sharing how much per foot it was installed?
Well, we installed it, but purchased the stuff at Home Depot.
2 rolls of this wire was $204
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-5-ft-x-100-ft-14-Gauge-Welded-Wire-308313EB/205708541
22 posts (we had some extra, but put 1 post every 10 feet) @ $4.28 each = $94.16
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-1-3-4-in-x-3-1-2-in-x-6-ft-Green-Steel-Fence-T-Post-901176EB/205960892
3 bags of wire ties $2.48/bag of 25 = $7.44
https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-Aluminum-Fence-T-Post-Clips-25-per-Bag-901169BEB/205960888
So just over $300 for everything to do it.
The linear distance was just under 200’
I would recommend that this fence be used only where its flat - we had one tiny little spot that wasn’t quite flat, and it is a pain in the butt because it puckers the fence just enough that it annoyed me. A well-placed T-post fixed it fine, but ugh…
Thank you for sharing that. We need to get some fence up at our new place (worried about wildlife…moose, bears, wolves…not the coyote and deer my guys are used to). The 9 month old Dobe pops over the 4’ at our house down south like it’s nothing so I am worried with snow 5’ wouldn’t cut it either but I don’t see 6’.
Did you just pound the posts in? What sort of soil do you have?
OP- I know you went 5’ but for others reading the thread- we have the 4’ no climb horse fence. When we get snow we snowblow a perimeter so they can’t get over it.
We also snowblow a few paths, it helps encourage the female retired foxhound to use the great outdoors. She doesn’t like to get her nether regions cold. I don’t know how this dog lived in a kennel for the first 11 years of her life. She is finicky about snow, rain, cold.
My rugged boyfriend used this: https://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-3-in-x-9-in-x-1-479-500-ft-Metal-Fence-Post-Driver-901147EB/205960880
But we borrowed it from his parents, and his mom is able to use it to pound in posts, so depending on how strong you are, it should be fairly easy. Our soil isn’t super hard, but not super soft either. I think because the posts are small in terms of how much actually has to push into the ground, they go in fairly easy. We did not do anything to pre-make a hole either, just set the post where we wanted it and used this gadget to pound it in.
You can put coyote rollers on the top, that should keep him in unless he’s completely clearing the fence.
My dog cleared a 5 ft chain link fence like it was nothing. Neighbor drove down the rode and he just went over it. He is a 85 lb, all leg, plott hound and is very athletic. He jumped the couch for fun as a puppy all the time, one side to the other over and over again.
I think it might be the chain link fence though, because now we have a 6ft fenced dog run, 20 x 50ft and he has not gone over that yet. I think the fact that there is no board on top, it is wire with wood posts every ten feet, makes him hesitate. He is also 11 now, and that might be making him double think the athletics. Doesn’t act like it though.
My skinny 40 lb. rescued GSD scaled my 6 ft. privacy fence the first couple days I had her. Guess she was hoping to get back to the pound she came from or to get back to her real home. She didn’t realize she had come to a place that
would give her the best life a dog could wish for.
Here we are 15 yrs. later and I would give my right arm is she were healthy enough to scale that fence again.
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