Yet Another Fence Question: Keeping in the dogs.

[dmccarty]

All of the fence discussions focused my thinking on what kind of fence(s) we are going to need at our place. Our house should be done in November and we have two requirements for fences.

The most immediate requirement is to keep our dog in on the house lot. The one dog will eventually be multiple dogs. Our first thought was to use mesh fencing but that is expensive. If we where only going to put in a dog run that would be one thng but we want to fence in 5-6 acres. We want the dog(s) to be able to run around the entire house to provide security. Given that requirement and the lay of the land we are looking to fence in a good bit of land.

Since that much land means that much more money I was thinking of using HT fencing. Kelly does not challenge the chain link fence we have now and she could easily jump over the four feet tall fence if she wanted. Soooo, I'm guessing HT would work with her. Whether it will work with The Dogs To Come is another question only time will tell. If we had a problem with the dogs getting through the fence we figured we could put in an electrical wire right next to the HT fence.

Has anyone tried to keep dogs in with a HT fence?

The portion of the fence that will be seen at the road and from our house we are going to "cover" with shrubs. We will plant a bush on each side of each post so that in a few years the post will be invisible. The enitre length of some fence lines will have this double or a single row of plantings to hide the fence. The HT fence should be easier to "hide".

The other reason for using the HT fence is that we have a mile of property line we will almost certainly have to fence in at some point. This is to keep the ATVers and tresspassers off the land. I don't want to put up the fence but these bozos have got to go and I can't have them poaching on our land.

Later,
Dan

 

[Gatorboy]

Have you considered "invisible fencing?" It doesn't take long for most dogs to learn the boundary -- and even after removing their shock collar, they won't even try and cross the line. The guy across from my property has 5 acres and has that type of fencing installed -- his two dogs haven't worn their collars in years, yet when they are outside and see me, they run down their driveway and stop about 50 feet from the road. I guess Pavlov's Theory still holds true today. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

 

[GRUMPA]

Gatorboy hit the nail on the head with that one. It may/may not seem harsh/cruel to some but the end results are priceless.

 

[dmccarty]

Yep, we have considered the invisible fence. We have not had collars on our dogs due to the 4 foot high fence we currently have in our yard. The old neighbors had kids and they would pet the dogs by encouraging them to hop up on the fence so we kept the collars off so the dogs would not choke themselves on the fence. I don't like collars anyway. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

But we might be stuck with them if we use the HT fence since the dog(s) could get out. Now my dog has a chip implant so she should be returned if the pound gets her. But you never know. So that is a long winded way of putting a point in the No Shock Collar column.

One of our previous dogs had an invisible fence but it did not hold her in the yard. The collar would beep when the dog got close to the fence. She figured out the if the collar did not beep she was good to go through the fence.... So she would run the peremeter of the fence to get the collar to beep. She would stay out of the zone that would get her zapped. Once the collar stopped beeping, i.e., the battery was dead, off she went through the fence. She went through a couple of batteries in a couple of days before she was seen performing her escape preparations.... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

An electric fence was put in that solved the problem. /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif

Our current dog is smarter than old Chase but don't tell my wife I said so. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

We also need a real fence to keep out the deer. The chiggers and ticks are awefull at our place. There are so many deer that ticks and chiggers have a field day on them. Deer removal should start this year. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif But I can only put a dent in the deer population. I know the deer can and likely will hop the fence but Kelly will chase them back out. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif She will LOVE that job. We are hoping that this will keep the chiggers and tick out of our space and off the us and the kids.

So the shock collars are down on the list but they are there. We would be more inclined to put in an electric fence about a 6-12 inches on the inside of the HT fence to keep the dogs from getting to the fence. That way the won't have to wear collars.

Later,
Dan

 

[OkeeDon]

I guess I'm feeling a unusually dense and thick today, and I'll probably kick myself when I hear the answer, but what is HT fence?

 

[shoppintractors]

High-Tensile

High Tensile Installation Guide

Don

 

[EddieWalker]

I grew up in the East Bay of Northern California where everyone lived just about on top of each other. One thing I enjoyed was having the dogs out in the front yard with me.

At first I had to watch them real close. Whenever they crossed the sidewalk or the neighors property line I'd give them a good swat. You'd be suprised how quickly they learn the boundries.

I live on allot of land now in Texas and as of yet don't have a singel fence. My two dogs are chow/lab mixes. They say the chow is the most dificult dog to train out there. This could be true or not, I don't really know.

They will not even come close to the gates. I swatted them a few times and they got the message. They are never locked up, or allowed inside. They also know to stop at the doorway.

Disipline is for their own good, and when they learn the rules, they live a happier life.

I doubt this will apply to your situation, I just bring it up to offer another option to trying to fence in animals that can climb, dig, jump and wiggle through just about any fence in time.

Good luck with your project and please include photo's.


Eddie

 

[JDNineNinety]

Discipline is for their own good. HOW TRUE. I wish we would apply that to humans, too.

 

[dmccarty]

Eddie,

Yep the discipline works. Kelly knows the current boundries at our city house and she stays in them. I don't have to swap her at all. She is the smartest dog that has every owned me. I really should have named her Loyalty...

I don't THINK we will have a problem with her at the new place. My bigger worry is when we get puppies and wife is invovled with the local Golden rescue group. I'm sure we will be fostering dogs again in the near future. For fosters and new dogs we just might have to build a kennel to keep them out of trouble. I would prefer not to but it might happen. Many of the fosters we have had have had issues that might require a kennel when we are not home.

Later,
Dan

 

[dmccarty]

Don,

Good article. I'll have to print this out. I knew I could power the HT fence and after reading or rereading that link I'll just build the fence with a few strands that can be powered. Might work for two legged critters as well..... /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Thanks,
Dan

 

[Maxfli]

My wife is a Terrier Breeder, we just built on 6 acres in the country with a kennel off the back of the house. So far we fenced in about 3/4 of an acre with 3 Rail Split rail, an then lined it with a steel wire fence. So far That works fine. We also have a Tritronics Collar system designed for 3 dogs. Our dogs are almost perfect off leash. I think people think these are cruel, but we never have to use anything but the lightest correction, and you can hardly feel it on your skin. I tried up to level 3 myself just to make sure of what the dogs might be exposed to. These collar systems really do work. Now all I need to do is the get Thatcher to stop charging the deer, He is about 22" tall , fast as lightning, wire fox terrier and he has no concept of size, he thinks he can take one of these guys down. He leaves the Squirrles alone.

Bruce

 

[KAZZ]

We have six acres and we adopted a greyhound . I never thought there was a dog that I couldn't break from running, but the greyhound was my match. It seems since they are sight hounds that running after prey is just there thing. Well back to your question. We went through the same thinking process as you,but came up with the answer of invisible fence. I bought the system from invisible fence ,not an off-brand wal-mart version -installed it myself did four of our six acres ,laid all the wire with a self made sod slicer on the back of my kubota's three point. Total cost was approximately $800.00 for wire ,transmitter,Flags, and one receiving collar. The thing about invisible fenece is there are vast adjustments to the width of the field in which the dog is shocked, the dog receives an audible alert about three feet before they are shocked and there are vast adjustments to the strength of the shock because different breeds do or don't need the same amount of correction. They also are there to help, most instances they include one training session with your dog,and it only takes about one shock and your dog learns very quickly to stop at the audible signal. It was the best choice I have ever made. My neighbor upon seeing my results tied into my fence and did four acres of his own for his lab.
Don't be afraid it really works. And A second reason is that if someone is injured (Quadders) from running into your HT fence you are liable for there injuries.

 

[dmccarty]

KAZZ,

Its good to know that other people are "fencing" in such large areas. I'm pretty sure we will do the HT fence sense we want to limit the deer to the house site. The idea of having a electric fence also tickles my fancy just a bit as well.... /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif It might tickle someone else....

I'm lucky in that I can let my current dog chase deer. If I let her run em for a bit I can whistle/call her and she will run right back to me. Not many dogs will do that. Or at least that I have had. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I'm not worried about liability with the fence. If they are that far into the property they are criminals and there just is not much liability at that point. Plus the fence will be buried in the woods so its not like they can ride through anyway. The area to be fenced is buried in the woods and the only easy access is on a private road which is gated already. The only "open" side would face a clear cut that has been growing for 5-6 years. I don't think I could walk through that stuff much less get a ATV in that mess. Liability in this case is nonexistent thankfully.

Later,
Dan

 

[Luremaker]

KAZZ, How did you make your sod slicer? I have about 5 acres that I would like to run the fence wire aound. Steve

 

[Jim_Fisher]

Dan,

You've received a lot of good information. I'll just throw in my two cents and be on my way.

About five years ago, for reasons that I won't go into now, I decided that I needed a fence to separate my dogs from the road.

I built a fence that is split rail with woven wire along the road frontage and treated posts with woven wire along the west line. I tied to an existing woven wire fence that my Dad built in the late fifties and effectively limited my dogs to about fifty acres of my farm. A fourteen foot fiberglas gate was placed across the driveway and two ten foot steel tube gates were installed to allow access to a cultivated field along the west side.

I learned a couple things along the way.

1) Dogs are amazing. They can go underneath a wire fence effortlessly if it is not tight to the ground. If there is not quite enough room to get under the fence, they can easily excavate the remaining few inches. In fact, it appears to me that they enjoy digging under a fence.

When I first installed the woven wire, I kept it a few inches off the ground. It didn't take me long to figure out that I needed to lower the wire to where it touches the ground.

2) Deer are amazing. They aren't even annoyed by the average fence. If I didn't know better, I'd say that deer have received special dispensation from the law of gravity. They clear a fence with the same effort that you or I would expend stepping over a crack in the sidewalk. I would not want to have to build a fence that has to contain both dogs and deer.

3) Driving fence staples into seasoned locust posts will teach you patience. Gloves will save a great deal of wear and tear on your fingers while you learn.

 

[Currmudgeon]

Given your circumstances, the HT fencing seems like a good idea. You can space the wires pretty closely. If you set it up to be electrified, with the insulator tubes, you have the option of firing it up later with only the addition of a charger.

Most of my German Shephers will respect a 40 inch fence, but I've had dogs that will clear a six footer.

 

[Panache]

Fire or cut grass are the best things I have found to rid an area of chiggers. I understand it is hard on ticks too. I burn about 20 acres a year in my planted pines.

 

[dholly]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( KAZZ, How did you make your sod slicer? I have about 5 acres that I would like to run the fence wire aound. Steve )</font>

Ok, similar situation here and I would have liked to see a pic of KAZZ's 3-pt 'sod slicer'. Bringing the old thread back to ask if anybody else has got any design suggestions for a quick 'n easy homemade sod cutter/trencher to leave a clean, narrow trench for laying Radio Fence wire? I imagine I could rent some kind of commercial wire trencher/layer, but then, I do have a tractor now. That said, I don't really want to tear a jagged, several inch wide trench all around with some homemade trencher if at all possible. As a potential alternative, has anybody used or recommend Above Ground Radio Fence Installation? The wireless option is not workable for our 5+ acres. Ideas? Thanks.

 

[Scozz]

I fenced in about 2 acres 2 years ago. I slapped together a 3Pt contraption out of scrap steel that came to a vee at the bottom. lowered it and drive ... madd a slice about 6" deep about 1/2 inch wide. I'll check ... I think I still have it up by the shed ... if so I'll post a pic...Scozz

 

[Highbeam]

"I'm not worried about liability with the fence. If they are that far into the property they are criminals and there just is not much liability at that point. "

You even owe trespassing criminals something. You are liable for certain things even if the person was trespassing such as to go swimming in your private fish pond. A fence in general decreases your liability because it shows the jury a clear intention to trespass, my agent recommended I fence early on and remove potential "attractive nuisances".

The first electric wire needs to be low in an effort keep out the coyotes which are prevelant pretty much nation wide.