Big Paws Only Dog Forums
BPO General Forum => General Board for Big Dogs with Big Paws => : Lena February 05, 2007, 05:32:29 PM
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Hi there. I have decided to try to build a dog run on our mountain property in the Catskills this spring. I have no idea how to go about this. I would ideally like it to be between 1/2 an acre to one acre large. Here's my question:
What would this entail given these specifics: Our land is hilly, rocky, uneven and tree-dense. I don't want to clear any trees - I'm hoping there is a way to put the fencing from tree-to tree, leaving the land within the running space in it's natural state (lots of trees and rock formations).
Does anyone have opinions on what type of materials I would need in order to attempt his? The fencing would have to be around 6 feet high because Herman (Coonhound-mix) can practically climb a 5-foot fence and he is only 8 months old.
Any advice greatly appreciated. Hope you're all well today. New York is a frigid zone.... :o
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Hi there, not sure if you have a large animal feed and supply store near you but I would try there, something like page wire fenceing might work as you buy it in rolls it's mostly used for livestock. The holes in the fenceing depends on what size you want some would allow wild life that live in that are to still come and go as they please, and some as small to keep chickens in. Trust me I know all to well about crazy Coonhounds I had a Redtick for 9yrs. Hope this helps alittle ~ Kim
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What about an Invisable Fence?? I have used it for a lab, a GSD, Corgie and two Pointer mixes. It takes a 2 inch trench for the wire and a collar for each dog.
The one thing I did do was to hire the installation and training (including the programing of the collars). I chose the company by the trainer not the salesman.
THoM
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There is also a dog collar that works like underground fencing and just lets the dog go a certain distance. Some friends of ours use one with their Great Dane and he does beautifully.
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Hi again and thanks for the responses - are these "Invisible Fences"... "shock-collar" devices? I'm not 100% sure I would want to go that route, but it may end up being necessary.
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if you decide to go with fencing, i'd suggest you make sure you try to secure the bottom of the fencing, i know my dogs are really good at pulling the bottom up if it's lose and away they go if something interesting is on the other side!
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Hi, my husband and I undertook a big fence building project this summer and will be continuing this Spring. The area we had to fence is very rocky, and there are also a lot of woods. In the clear are, we built a post and rail fence 6' high, with wire fencing in between. In areas we could not dig deep enough, we used cement.
For the wooded area we will be using the wire fence and using trees as posts. We got the wire fence at Lowes (or Home Depot) and it was pretty reasonably priced for a roll. It's 6' tall and has been very sturdy. We put a piece up last Spring, stretched between our new house and barn to see if it could withstand winter, and it has done great. It is also almost invisible from a few feet away so it won't ruin the scenery. Good luck!
Here are some pix-you can just see the wire fence behind the goats in the first pic.
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that was the fence I was talking about but didn't have a pic that looks awesome, and I love your little goats pls post some more pics of them ;D
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Binky - WOW - your fence and your goats and your puppies look amazing.
We are encouraged reading your post. My husband, Chris, poses this question: What about the "ground hardware"? What do we put down to make sure they don't dig under...etc/.//
Thank you so much.
Peace,
Lena
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the thing you can do with this type of wire fencing (we have the same fencing for our Bloodhound)is you dig a trench first, about 6-8 inches, and install the fencing, then return the earth over where the fencing was placed that way the fencing is partially underground, if your dog is an avid digger like mine, while you have the trench, and fence in place, before putting teh dirt back, you can evenly space some stakes, to help prevent a digger from getting the fence up. We used pieces of bent rebar, as they are heavy duty and hard to pull up!hope this helps!
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You have gotten some great advice on the fencing. The only thing I would add is that I would definitely dig a trench and lay wire or cement in as deep as I could. My dogs are diggers and the ones before them were major diggers. I would also make sure you use a heavy grade wire. Some of the wire can be pretty flimsy. I got some that I thought was pretty sturdy but Shiner was able to lay on it and bring it down and then proceeded to eat the small tree it was protecting.
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These are some fantastic instructions and tips. I can't thank you all enough. Gonna make a donation to this great website - I'm very glad I found it.
Any more tips are welcome! I am printing up this whole thread... ;)
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Hi, my husband and I undertook a big fence building project this summer and will be continuing this Spring. The area we had to fence is very rocky, and there are also a lot of woods. In the clear are, we built a post and rail fence 6' high, with wire fencing in between. In areas we could not dig deep enough, we used cement.
For the wooded area we will be using the wire fence and using trees as posts. We got the wire fence at Lowes (or Home Depot) and it was pretty reasonably priced for a roll. It's 6' tall and has been very sturdy. We put a piece up last Spring, stretched between our new house and barn to see if it could withstand winter, and it has done great. It is also almost invisible from a few feet away so it won't ruin the scenery. Good luck!
Here are some pix-you can just see the wire fence behind the goats in the first pic.
Hey,, AWESOME YARD!!!!! :D How much would you say that cost??? That is exactly the type of fenced in yard I want.
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Hi, my husband and I undertook a big fence building project this summer and will be continuing this Spring. The area we had to fence is very rocky, and there are also a lot of woods. In the clear are, we built a post and rail fence 6' high, with wire fencing in between. In areas we could not dig deep enough, we used cement.
For the wooded area we will be using the wire fence and using trees as posts. We got the wire fence at Lowes (or Home Depot) and it was pretty reasonably priced for a roll. It's 6' tall and has been very sturdy. We put a piece up last Spring, stretched between our new house and barn to see if it could withstand winter, and it has done great. It is also almost invisible from a few feet away so it won't ruin the scenery. Good luck!
Here are some pix-you can just see the wire fence behind the goats in the first pic.
Hey,, AWESOME YARD!!!!! :D How much would you say that cost??? That is exactly the type of fenced in yard I want.Â
Thanks for the compliments everyone. I wish that we had thought of digging a trench to fit the wire in- we will definitely do this in the wooded area- thanks for the idea. With the post and rail part, we just put the last rail as close to the ground as possible and filled any gaps with gravel. Knock on wood, while Binky does dig, it's usually not near the fence line or to escape.
As for cost, I am not quite sure. I will take a look for the receipts. I think it ended up being under $500 though which is really inexpensive for such a large area (we looked into a lot of options before doing this). We had never built a fence before and it took about 3 full weekends to finish but was definitely worth it. We rented a gas powered post digger for the holes (a must have as we were building in such a rocky area). We bought 8' posts and the most inexpensive rails we could find. The wire came in 25' sections and was pretty inexpensive. We also used cement and gravel in the post holes as wells as dirt. Sorry this is long, hope it helps! Here are some more pix. By the way, if my husband and I can do this, anyone can! We did it with very little planning and no idea how-just made it up as we went along!
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Check out this page too, before you get started- it shows how to inexpensively make any fence climb-proof. http://dogsdeservebetter.com/clova.html
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Basic strategy for fencing a large area is to adapt livestock fencing to suit dogs as Binky and her husband did. I would recomend you visit www.redbrand.c om , they're the primary supplier of livestock fencing. Feed and hardware stores like Tractor Supply carry their line, means you can price and even order your fencing online.
My suggestions would be as follows.
Get the heaviest fence you can afford, the heavier= thicker galvanizing, stronger wire = longer life.
Woven not welded, it will flex instead of break should something hit it(falling tree or wild animal).
Limit the distance between posts(nothing wrong with trees) to around 10-12', makes next suggestion not as critical.
Stretch the fence with a come-along or tractor, as tight as you can get it, it will help limit sag overtime.
Finally consider an appropiate anti digging method. Tim