Tangle-Free Dog Tie-Out Options?

[ake987]

Calling on the wisdom of COTH. I was supposed to have a 6’ privacy fence installed in my backyard - the work was supposed to begin today. I found out yesterday my town is now requiring all permits go through the zoning board, but since the meetings have been canceled, there is a large backlog and the soonest I can have the materials sitting in my driveway installed is now July. Sigh.

I have two medium-sized dogs that I’ve been using a cheap tie-out stake and two 30’ coated cables as an interim solution for. The cables get hopelessly tangled when they play, and are now all kinked. I ordered a SUREswivel 360 degree tie-out that I’m hoping will reduce some of the tangling.

Does anyone have any suggestions for alternatives to the coated wire cables that are less likely to get permanently kinked? Or altogether different solutions that have worked well for them?

Thanks so much!

[BEARCAT]

I would put up a temporary fence with chain link panels. Even if you have to purchase it new, the resale value is fairly good. Or Tposts and mesh fencing.
unless one plans on constantly keeping an eye on the dogs while they are on a tie out, they are just too scary as far as entanglement/hanging potential.

[Kyrabee]

When a neighbor of mine pulled out the old fence and had a concrete block fence installed…eventually, I used the cheaper woven wire and T posts as mentioned by Bearcat. I had 2 beagles at the time and it worked great. I put it off the back of the house and it only cut off about 5 x 25ft rectangle of yard and only used one roll of wire. It beat the heck out of constant walking or tying out.

Susan

[TKR]

Or you could buy a couple of “kennels” and even put several together for more room. I think tying dogs as a means of restraint of confinement is a horrible idea on every level and should be against the law.

[Sswor]

Agree with above. 50’ roll of 4’ garden fence and some T posts can be put up in an hour, cost less then $100, and will work great unless you have dogs hell bent on escaping.

Heck, for a super temp fence, you don’t even need T posts. Plastic coated metal garden stakes work great in a pinch. Just shove them in. I do stuff like this all the time, have at least 2 temp stretches of fence out there right now. I use and re-use that 50’ roll of garden fence all the time. Stores away in a tidy roll in the shed when not in use, drag it out when I need it, pop it up in a minute or two, shove the stakes in, repeat all the time.

[ake987]

Thanks, everyone! I agree tying them is not good. I’m always outside with them when they are tied, they certainly appreciate the ability to “self-lunge” and get the zoomies out!

I think I am going to pick up some T posts or garden stakes and 4’ snow or garden fence and set something up that way. My neighbors on one side (I’m sadly stuck in suburbia) have a fence that they gave us permission to tie the actual fence into, and the neighbors behind and on the other side know we are planning to build a fence, so I don’t think they will mind an ugly temporary set-up for a month or two.

There is only one house next to us on the non-fenced side before you hit a fairly busy road. My only concern is if some busybody reports it and I get a knock on the door. Maybe with everything going on these days, people will have bigger things to worry about and choose to live and let live.

[Sswor]

Coated garden wire fence is almost invisible erected in the environment and more sturdy for the money. Snow fence is horrid and will sag. Regardless I would think COVID related delay in your contractor plus your desire to keep your dogs contained would trump any bylaws in the interim. But if you put up a snow fence someone is going to report that :eek: :lol:

[ake987]

@Sswor

Coated garden wire fence is almost invisible erected in the environment and more sturdy for the money. Snow fence is horrid and will sag. Regardless I would think COVID related delay in your contractor plus your desire to keep your dogs contained would trump any bylaws in the interim. But if you put up a snow fence someone is going to report that :eek: :lol:

You may be right! :lol: Can you share a link to the type of fence you’re talking about?

[Sswor]

@ake987

You may be right! :lol: Can you share a link to the type of fence you’re talking about?

I hope this link works: https://www.menards.com/main/buildin…9153029855.htm
I use this stuff all the time, for everything in the yard/garden. Keeps chickens and dogs contained (under supervision). We even took the roll with when we rented a cabin up north so we could have a little dog temp yard while there. I used it to fence in a small “potty paddock” within my yard while my dog was recovering from an injury. You and animals can see it close up or from 30’ or so but it pretty much disappears from the road. Anyway, great temp fence, roll out what you need, roll back up when you don’t. You can cut it with bolt cutters but I usually don’t bother. Just thread the garden stakes through the weave and shove in the ground. My local big box home improvement store sells rolls of it in several heights and lengths in the garden section year round.

[ake987]

Brilliant, thanks so much, @Sswor! I plan to put some raised beds in eventually and this would be great to try to keep some critters out.

[Sswor]

I use them for that too. I am using a 2’ high roll for a chick brooder in the spare bedroom right now, lined with a tarp.

[SonnysMom]

@TKR

Or you could buy a couple of “kennels” and even put several together for more room. I think tying dogs as a means of restraint of confinement is a horrible idea on every level and should be against the law.

I am not a big fan of absolutes. I adopted a lab mix to a family that had a day care at their house. During lunch time it was all pre-school children. For the half hour or 45 minutes the children were eating lunch Brandy got tied on a long overhead cable run. She had access to a doghouse while on the run. It was probably 35 feet long. If it was really cold they would put her in the garage. But the garage was where the litter box and cat food was so it was less convenient. No I don’t want a dog to live on a tie-out but for how they used it I was fine.

For the first two weeks I lived at one house I would occasionally tie out my new dog while we were having the fence installed. Once again it was for a short period of time mostly when DH and I were there working on the fence. He preferred to be tied out with us close rather than locked in the house.

I don’t like to make something 100% illegal. I prefer thoughtful legislation that addresses the underlying issue and I really don’t like laws that are selectively enforced.

One person I boarded at that worked at a horse rescue wanted it illegal to turn horses out without access to a 3 sided shelter. My argument was what about a lot of show barns that have individual turn-out or rehab turn-out where there isn’t a shelter for every tiny paddock. Plus there was always staff there when the high priced show horses were turned out. They weren’t turned out when it was bitter cold, really rainy etc… She was like Oh I don’t mean places like that. IMO you cannot make a law that you only chose to enforce some of the time.

I have seen newer legislation where dogs cannot be outside on tie-outs for longer than x period of time or outside in extreme heat or cold without access to shelter for longer than y period of time.

[enjoytheride]

@TKR

Or you could buy a couple of “kennels” and even put several together for more room. I think tying dogs as a means of restraint of confinement is a horrible idea on every level and should be against the law.

What a stupid, judgmental, and absolute statement to make.

The OP isn’t tying her dog out 24/7 to a tree.

I tie my dog while I’m riding so she can’t wander away and get lost. I also tie her in the afternoon when I come home from work but before I’m ready to go outside with her. The rest of the time she’s running loose on our farm as long as we are outside as well. I suppose someone should come arrest me.

For the OP, we use a lunge line. It wouldn’t work if two dogs were close to each other but it works great for what we need. If I’m tying her while I ride then I use the cross ties.

[GoodTimes]

Is it possible to set up two overhead cables? Close enough that they can touch noses and play a little, but far enough apart that they don’t get tangled?

My in-laws have two huskies. They are escape artists. They have a covered run on a cement pad so they can hang out unsupervised, but it would cost a fortune to build something big enough for them to really run around in. They are too unreliable to be off leash ever, especially when they’re together.
Instead they set up two overhead cables that run from the house to a couple of trees. Nearly 100’ long. The dogs can run as fast as they can, racing each other. They don’t get caught on rocks, snowbanks, the steps, etc. And the snaps are always easy to find and don’t get dragged through the snow, mud, ice, poo, etc.

I agree that tying a dog 24/7 or in extreme weather without access to shelter isn’t fair. But there are lots of dogs who are perfectly happy being tied for short periods, for their own safety, while their owners are busy.
With the right set up they often have more freedom than while on a leash, in a kennel, or in a small fenced yard.

[sherian]

second the overhead zip lines - used them for my dogs until we could put in a run and they worked great - no tangling and the dogs aren’t dragging the line thru everything

[DiamondJubilee]

I know this is an old thread but I just wanted to comment on the overhead zip lines and my terrible experience.

About 15 years ago I had a lab that we would temporarily tie outside when someone was always around but we couldn’t quite watch him (typical lab that loved to eat everything!). It was made of a laundry type line so it was rubber coated and it went from a tree to tree about 20ft up in the air. It was on a pully so he could walk or run around a bit without it getting tangled and he even had a doghouse he could go into.

It was a nice day and I tied him out as per usual, but a freak storm popped up and lightning struck the tree that the line was tied to. It went right down the tree to the coated line and down to his collar and killed him right away. We were in the barn at the time as we ran for cover when it suddenly down poured and never once thought that something like this could happen. We purchased the line in a pet store and thought it would be safe. He was only 2.5 years old and of course it was devastating to us. The lightning fused every link in the line going right to his collar. He was in his doghouse at the time and when I ran back to check on him, he was dead. The local news came and did a story on us as we didn’t want anything like this to happen to anyone.

Since that happened, my husband built a “condo” for our dogs. Its more of a loose run that is 12’ x 7’ with a covered roof, a kennel that they can go into, rod iron fencing so they can see everything while they are out, pot lights in the overhang and a fan for the warmer days. We have it situated in the shade and is our “summer house” for our dogs from now on. You can just see the opening for the kennel to the right. We have since mounted the fan to the inside ceiling so it blows down on her and there isn’t a towel in there anymore ha ha! This was my husband just taking a photo when my girl was a couple of months old. We were getting her used to the idea of the summer house as it was her first time in it (she was previously in a crate in the house due to her age). I also never leave a collar on her, even to this day as I worry she will jump up and get it hooked on the top of the rod fencing. I also purchased a break away collar just in case but still won’t leave it on her when shes in the house.