Good Fences Make Livable Dogs
Irradiated by LabRat
Sorry I don’t have much clever or interesting or just splenetic to say. Last week the dogs broke out of the fence, which they accomplished by reaching under the fence at a rabbit scrape and physically yanking the planks off. This was not the first time, but it will be the last, which means that until we fix the fence up right, they cannot be outside unless supervised. “Right” has yet to be defined, since we’re trying to figure out how to make this specific point of exit more difficult without a major construction project or constant maintenance problem.
This is a problem because the dogs love being outside. Kodos would be entirely happy LIVING outside if it weren’t that the best vantage points were here in the office and his occasional desire for affection. I do not love being outside when it’s winter and the yard is a mix of mud, slush, and solid sheets of ice, but they do. Today, it is snowing, and they both LOVE snow and thus want to be outside all day. There is a period of roughly twenty minutes to half an hour after a spell outside (with me sourly watching them eat snow and hump each other’s heads) in which they sleep, after which they revert to sighing heavily, desultorily orbiting from the office to the kitchen to the living room to the dining room and back through the office, and generally leaping up and reminding me how awesome it would be to be outside right now every time I move. Actually, strike that, it’s been ten minutes since their last trip outside, and Kodos took five minutes to meditate on his bed before returning to ownersynchronous orbit.
Hanging around with cold wet feet (my boots are disintegrating, and while proper new ones are on the way, no doubt they will not arrive until the final storm of the year has passed) while snow accumulates in my hair is not an inspiring experience for me. It might have been just toe-curlingly awesome for Robert Frost, but I have concluded I am a warm-weather and indoor sort of writer.
In conclusion that is why there is no meaningful content today.
February 23rd, 2010 at 12:51 am
Looks like you’ll have to install a good old fashioned palisade. That should make for a fun backbreaking project. OTOH, you’ll be known for having the most badass fence in town.
February 23rd, 2010 at 6:29 am
So what is the final fence fixing method to be? I was going back through the Dogblogging category in the archives, and July last year, a few people suggested invisible fences or electric collars? My uncle trained his dog to stay on the property with something like that, although I’m not sure exactly what he used.
By the way, I’ve been enjoying both your VC appearances. I think Alan is right, there should be a VC consisting entirely of LabRat doing silly voices! Anyway, keep up the good work, listening to VC keeps me going through my average working day, so I appreciate it!
February 23rd, 2010 at 6:36 am
A friend of had a similar problem. He bought a roll of 1′ wide sheet metal a screwed it around the bottom foot of the wooden structure to keep his dogs from getting a grip.
February 23rd, 2010 at 8:44 am
RobertM: That won’t work against a digger.
February 23rd, 2010 at 1:06 pm
They don’t really dig, though. They just use raw force to break through the fence. Kang certainly CAN dig when she wants to- she’s constructed several dens in appropriate locations- that’s just not how they’ve been getting out.
Tarb- unfortunately an invisible fence would NOT work on either of them. They’ve both got a high pain tolerance when fixated on anything; first rabbit to come through and they’d not only be gone, the fence would keep them *out* of the yard if/when they came back tired. I think a hot wire of some kind is definitely in their future- something horse-grade- we’re just not sure which kind to get and where to place it so that it both works and isn’t rendered nonfunctional by weather and/or brush.
ETA: And thank you very much for your kind comments.
February 23rd, 2010 at 4:30 pm
With large sighthounds, I’m more used to worrying about dogs jumping out than tearing the fence apart. Friends who had a pound-rescue escape-artist Viszla stopped the problem cold with two hot wires on the inside of their chainlink, one near the top of the fence and one near the bottom. The dog could climb that fence like a squirrel.
Any farm store fencer should do. Dry conditions tend to weaken the jolt, and require a longer grounding rod.
February 23rd, 2010 at 5:46 pm
How does snow affect these systems? Right now we have several inches on the ground, and the low wire would need to be pretty close to the bottom of the fence to be effective.
February 23rd, 2010 at 6:22 pm
Don’t envy you the solutions you will have to work through… E-fencing is probably the best, and the farm store could probably provide all the info you need. Re snow impact, damnifiknow…
February 23rd, 2010 at 8:47 pm
How are the boards secured to the fence? What is the thickness of the lower stringer?
If it’s a 4×4, use lag bolts to secure the planks to it.
If it is a 2×4, you’ll have problems … may need to go with carriage bolts and fender washers.
Nails won’t stop a determined assault by large bored dogs. Digging may require cinderblocks buried vertically inside the fenceline.
Other option would be to replace with chain-link … bury the cinderblocks under it, and lace it with anti-climb/privacy strips.
February 23rd, 2010 at 8:48 pm
I cured our three of digging out with a hot wire.
The oldest one had experience with regular hot fences and *knew* that it stopped for her to get out- and she taught the others.
What I ended up doing was to actually connect it to the hot side of 110V. I used some scrap #2 alum. cable(insulated) as standoff insulators along the fence and bare galvinized #18 solid.
If you screw the top part to the fence, you can bend it as low- OR as far out as you need to stop digging and still use a weed-eater along the fenceline.
One or two good hits with that and you can turn it off for months.
Yes, I’m an evil Gaia hating conservative that knows pain is a good teacher.
February 23rd, 2010 at 10:24 pm
http://mal.sbo.hampton.k12.va.us/fourth/socstudies/indianwebquest/images/palisade.jpg
If you want to get really fancy you could go for a granite palisade. Although finding ones tall enough might be a problem.
February 24th, 2010 at 6:45 am
I use a hot wire myself. Pretty effective.
February 24th, 2010 at 8:41 am
Hot wire is much better than invisible fence for unsupervised dogs. I make lots of money on people who leave their dogs out along all day in invisibly fenced yards - because most dogs will, sooner or later, break through it can create all kinds of behavior problems.
For advice on products and installation go to the nearest feed store and chat up the staff and customers.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:49 am
Ravenshrike: I like the log palisade idea.
You can also cut firing slits in them … we had a section of palisade set up with firing slits and positions, with pop-up targets set up in the tall grass in front of it for our Fort Shoots at Forest Hills Black Powder Brigade Rendezvous’.
Keep the dogs inside … and act as cover when the Zombies come.
February 24th, 2010 at 10:51 am
It would make the place look like a Horde village as well.
February 25th, 2010 at 6:19 am
Take a look at deck nails, once in never out. I have yet been able to remove one, end up having to cut the head off. They look like nails with a twist in ‘em.
February 25th, 2010 at 5:19 pm
Ours is as you know a 7 foot plank fence with reinforcements under. It works for all but Ataika who simply flies over it, which is why she is the house dog (she won’t leap when watched). I have often considered adding 2 hot wires low and high as well,but as Taik would evade them and the others don’t try it seems a bit superfluous. Hecate knows- maybe I could place them to stop even the Princess (;-)
Also though I am REALLY pleased with his (Ibis’s) healing having a rambunctious year old pup who thinks he is healthy in the house 23 1/2 24 is… wearying. Will have new photos of him up soon.
February 27th, 2010 at 10:13 am
Whatever you decide to do to stop the dogs, make it stronger than you think you need. What would have stopped them before they discovered that they can pull the planks off will not be good enough now, they know the planks come off and they will try harder next time. Making the barrier a little harder at a time is just training them to be better escape artists.