Fence for dogs - please help dog people

[mross_pitt]

Don't forget that the aluminum fencing posts are separate and cost $20-$25 each(not sure why since it's usually just a 2x2 piece of aluminum). So at Lowes you're looking at $100 for a six foot of the basic aluminum fence, while a wood picket with 4x4 posts might cost about $45 for an 8 foot section.

I have been browsing them as well for my dog. Seems like an old house sin to suggest aluminum over wood, but I think it's a longer lasting option and you can recycle it in the future, whereas you'll just end up with a giant pile of rotting wood to dispose of with a wood fence.

[Eden]

Yeah, I will need posts, etc. I never do anything to historic homes that can't be removed w/o damaging its origins. So fencing in my mind is OK, so is decking. But to each his own, afterall ,bathrooms, furnaces, air conditioning, etc have been added... But I'm a stickler about keeping windows, original clapboard, and if a modern door has been added, I go to a salvage warehouse and find one period to my home. Just depends on $$$ and taste.

Plus, we all the no-nos here, like, if I ever replaced my 1847 windows w/vinyl ones, I just wouldn't tell here, LOL

And that pile of rotting fence wood can't be used for firewood - they still treat them w/a chemical, don't they or are they back to plain cedar now?

[Nancy W]

Since you are making a smaller yard for the dogs, set it off to one side and not try to have plants they would trample, just let it be a dog run. You certainly have enough land so you can have a dedicated dog run. Either use another entrance for people or add a gate from the dog run. I'm not sure how/where the doors to the house are configured in relation to where the dog run would be. You'd be lucky if there were a second back door or a side door so that one was for the dogs to the run and one for you to go to the yard or your car.

Edited to add - if you want to landscape the dog run, add plants to the outside of the fence.

[Civil War Seamstress]

Late to the party, sorry.

I have one of those fake out wrought iron fences for 6 years now.
Here are some of the pros and cons of them

Pros:
They look like the real thing.
The are well made and you don't have to worry about them rotting.
Mine was installed by a fence company and unlike some models of these types of fences
this one actually angles the vertical poles so that they slope with the ground in case you have a hill.
My fence is gauged stronger than the average fence according to the specs in the brochure.
It cost me WAY more than that for each section back in 2006. Around $200 and something, I can't really
remember.

Cons
They are aluminum. Therefore they are lightweight and are prone to problems
You can't let the kids crawl on them.
The kids in the neighborhood were playing football and when the ball hit the fence enough times it bent the bars.
The bars do bend back into place but still......
The winter of 2009-10 produced record high snow in the North East. The snow and the frozen ground caused frost heaves.
the horizontal bar on the 8 ft wide gate broke. We have to find a way to weld it.
The powdercoated black coating, can wear off.
Skinny dogs and small dogs smaller than a decently fed beagle can get through the bars. Ask me how I know this.....
My friend's 15inch but thin beagle almost managed to slip through the bars. We just got him in time. Mine is a porkchop and can't get out unless some one leaves the gate open....

I still love this fence over the idea of going black chain link as I did in the rest of the yard. Besides the issues mentioned it has held up just fine....

Here is a link to my photobucket so you can see it rather close up.
http://s166.photobucket.com/albums/u86/ ... IM1450.jpg

[lavender_bush]

Skinny dogs and small dogs smaller than a decently fed beagle can get through the bars. Ask me how I know this.....
My friend's 15inch but thin beagle almost managed to slip through the bars. We just got him in time. Mine is a porkchop and can't get out unless some one leaves the gate open....

Thankfully our pups are too 'solid' (aka chunky/fat/podgy) to squeeze through any fencing you can buy instore - and although they are terriers? I'm not so sure that they are that smart.

We have a fenced area off the back of our house and since there is no critter activity? They just sniff around the chipmunk holes that the chipmunks have had the sense to vacate. What the heck - it keeps the pups busy

[Eden]

Kathy, we have that kind of fence for the horses.

Nancy, I'm having a narrow deck wrapped around the house in the back from the kitchen door on the east to the mudroom door in the back on the north, both will have gates. I'll probably put a dog door in the mud room and fence, leading from that deck gate to to the shed and fence the ell area. They will probably hang out on the deck a lot more than the yard, because they are what my dad use to call them, especially my Rott, nosy dogs and they can see more up on the deck, that's why I'm installing gates on the deck. If you'd come up, you'd be more help, LOL.

Civil, I love your fence, Lavender, you've got me worried, my B&T may figure out that the slats can bend. Although she's a good 90 lbs, she gets through and under in spaces I didn't think she'd fit. Back to lining it w/hot wire at the bottom. I think that's my best option.

BTW, going to the farm this weekend, my mule is coming up from southern VA! Want to see him, did I already post him?

Drop down to the black mule named Joe and in a few seconds a slide show will start, I think he'd move faster if he wasn't wearing that crupper under his tail - must feel like a wedgy, poor guy, I'm getting him a britchen:

http://www.resthavenfarms.net/horsesmules-for-sale.html

[downtowndahlgren]

Joe is so gorgeous! But why do they have a crupper on him with a western saddle? He's outside, not in a show ring.

[Eden]

He's being ridden by his present owner's friend as an add for him. The reason most mules wear a crupper or brichen is because they don't have much of a wither to keep the saddle from sliding over it's neck and dumping the rider.

I'm getting an Australian saddle for Joe as he is strictly for pleasure. I'd never do show. We will be visiting local farmers and trails around the farm.

I couldn't believe my ignorance, these are very intelligent equines. They follow you around like dogs, can open gates and jump up to 5/6 feet from a standstill like a cat, they learn all kinds of tricks, they are coming back. So,about mules, if you are really interested:

http://www.everycowgirlsdream.com/mulesarebetter.html
http://vi-brown.suite101.com/the-mule-i ... se-a345065
http://www.helium.com/items/1393712-mul ... artnership

Coon jumping, I've seen a lot of pics of mules jumping and balancing, they just do it, no problem:
http://donnacsmith.hubpages.com/hub/Roc ... Trick-Mule


OK, OK, shouldn't have gotten me started...

[Don M]

Since you are making a smaller yard for the dogs, set it off to one side and not try to have plants they would trample, just let it be a dog run. You certainly have enough land so you can have a dedicated dog run. Either use another entrance for people or add a gate from the dog run. I'm not sure how/where the doors to the house are configured in relation to where the dog run would be. You'd be lucky if there were a second back door or a side door so that one was for the dogs to the run and one for you to go to the yard or your car.

Edited to add - if you want to landscape the dog run, add plants to the outside of the fence.

We installed a post & rail fence off our porch in MA. It had wire mounted on the inside which didn't show from a distance. You could suppliment that with the hot wires & that might be a workable choice requiring less wood. We also used gravel inside the dog run which avoided grass & mud & planted small bushes outside as Nancy W. suggests.

[mfglickman]

We just put in a welded wire livestock fence around a part of our land. You'd have to bury some of it for the digger. Not sure what the Rottie would do with it. Our Newfoundlands respect fencing so ours is just basic 4 foot welded wire...but you can get cattle or horse grade that would likely stand up to some shaking. I like it because it was inexpensive, easy to install, and nearly invisible if placed near greenery, trees, stone walls etc.

Civil War Home, I love your fence!