[nekomi]

Tomorrow, we're picking up most of the materials to build our 90' x 70' doggie play yard! Tractor Supply was having a great sale on the fencing, so we decided to jump on it. I feel so fortunate to have enough acreage to dedicate a good portion of it completely to the pooches.

Next week we're having a contractor come out to give us an estimate on setting the fence posts. We're going to construct the rest of the fence ourselves once the posts are in, but I figure I want the posts set nice and straight and level, so I'm leaving that to the pros.

Anyway, just had to share my excitement! I've been wanting to build this since last October, but things never worked out the way we planned. The pups have no idea what kind of great surprise I have in store for them!

 

[winniec777]

Very exciting stuff! Would like to see pics when you're done. We keep debating the fence issue (we have 1.5 acres) but I'm afraid we'd spend all the $$ and Poca would just laugh and jump the fence the first chance she got. There are way too many tempting things around here for her to investigate - horses, deer, bunnies, cats, coyotes, ground hogs, etc.

How tall will the fence be? What kinds of things are you doing to keep them in the yard if you think that will be an issue? Any other plans for the yard?

 

[nekomi]

Oh man, I hear you on the escape-artist thing! We also live in the woods so we have lots of temptations on our property too. All of the above you mentioned, plus wild turkeys, which are apparently extremely appetizing to dogs.

We're making the fence 8' tall. It's going to be built out of 6-guage fence wire - definitely chew-proof. We're also putting a 4' strip of dig guard (ground wire) around the inside perimeter so that they can't dig out. It will also have a double-gated entry so that my sneaky pups won't slip past me into the wilderness beyond...

We're debating putting a hotwire strand on the upper 2/3 of the fence to keep Jasper from climbing out - it's not something I'd necessarily LIKE to do, but because Jasper is definitely an escape artist (and part monkey ), if it would give us some peace of mind, I'd do it.

As far as the inside, it's about 2/3 open yard/field, and 1/3 woods, so I think they'll have a lot of fun zigzagging in the trees and generally running amok. In the future (i.e., once the budget recovers from the fence itself), I want to put in either a small pond or a stock tank pool to cool off in, and plant a section of prairie grass where they can hide and prowl around in (for some reason, this is Willow's favorite pastime when we go on walks). I'd also like to build a dog house inside that's big enough for all 3 dogs to hang out in - I saw a really neat design on one of the rescues I worked on, that was a little log cabin with shelves inside. The dogs LOVED to curl up in there and lay on, and under, the shelves. It was really neat!

Anyway, that's about it for now... I can't wait to share pictures after it goes up. I know such a tall fence won't really be the most attractive thing in the world, but I'm still really excited.

 

[Kyllobernese]

Just remember if you put up a hot wire, it has to be low enough that the dog's feet are still on the ground so they will "ground" it or it will not work. That is why birds can sit on a hot wire and it not effect them as they are not "grounded".