What were dog professionals across our country talking about this week? They were talking about the four-year-old Utah boy whose hand was bitten off by one of his neighbors’ dogs. They were talking, they were arguing, they were sad. Everyone who read the story was sad. It was a horrible incident.
We’re not here today to talk about the incident.
We’re here to talk about dogs and safe fences.
I asked dog professionals on Facebook for their help.
Q. We can’t do anything to help the boy or to help the huskies, but we can help the kids, the dogs, and the adults who don’t know everything they need to know about fence and neighbor safety.
▪ What are your best suggestions for the safety of fences that contain dogs in yards?
▪ What kind of fences are safest?
▪ How to make an existing fence safer?
Kim Rinehardt (California) I have wood-slat fences. All [of them are] reinforced on the inside with wire mesh. I also have bricks dug in a couple of feet under the fences for those dogs who might try to dig. And in some places, I have a secondary fence inside my fence line to keep the dogs away from the [outside] fences. Plus locks on all the gates except the one where the entry requires you to go through an outside gate, then enter a 12-foot dog run (the width of the side yard) and go through the other side of the dog run, where there’s a fourth gate to go through. I used to have locks on all my gates, but then I realized that if there was an emergency, nobody could get my dogs out if any should be in the back yard. I still rarely ever leave a dog in the yard unless I am home.
Eileen Anderson (Arkansas) I think I have a pretty safe fence. It’s a six-foot privacy fence. My dogs can’t climb or jump it (I’ve seen them try), and can’t dig under because of tree roots on two sides and an additional fence on one side. I found out that it’s important to test for jumping, since a previous dog, only 30 pounds, could easily jump over a four-foot chain-link fence. That being said, I don’t think dogs are ever completely safe in a yard, nor are the local animals and kids who may try to get in. One day, my precocious seven-year-old neighbor climbed a tree and was walking along the top of my fence. I didn’t know she was out there when I went out with the dogs—they rushed out and jumped at her. When I had the fence-jumper and the shorter fence, I got in the habit of always being out with the dogs. Even now, I still do that. There’s just too much that can happen. Besides, they like it that I am with them.
Carol McPherson (Wyoming) Although we have a six-foot privacy fence, I usually do not leave my dogs in the back garden unless I am outside with them. If I can’t be out with them, I have a temporary fence I can put up so that they do not have access to parts of the garden not visible from my windows. Gates are padlocked so there is never the chance of anyone accidentally letting them out. Also, there is no access to the front garden—that way they never get to bark at passing dogs.
Christina Waggoner (Oregon) My fence was created specifically for my Sibes. It has an L-shaped buried fence wire so that it cannot be dug under, it is six feet tall but topped with large round wooden fencing that creates an illusion of a barrier, and it is non-climb. I take no chances. Plus, to come in, you must enter a first enclosure, then the actual dog yard. In case anyone is wondering why so much security, I hate things left to chance, and we live in a rural area. I’d hate my dogs to worry a horse or cattle.
Ruth L. Heller DVM (Pennsylvania) Our fence is set back from our property line a minimum of three feet—and in some places over six feet—simply because that way anyone close enough to it to interact with our dogs is clearly trespassing. Our neighbor put up his own fence with a similar setback, so there is about 10 feet between our two fences. Much safer.
Kim Campbell (British Columbia) The reason I put in a solid wood six-foot fence two to three feet in from my property line is so my dogs could be outside to play. When they bark unnecessarily, I bring them in. For the most part, they only bark at the neighbors’ four dogs when they are also out. The other thing is that my yard has only one gate into it. No one has to enter it for anything (meter readers, etc.) as those are outside my fenced area, and my gate is locked at all times.
Photo by Shannon Thier — Maeby
Julie Ellingson (California) I have a solid wood fence at the property line and an inset wire mesh fence five to six feet inside the wooden fence—mostly to prevent fence running, but it also serves as a safe place for possums and skunks to trundle through without my dogs investigating. All my gates are doubled so that there’s little chance of escaping by dogs. When I had property that had a front fence and gate, that gate had auto-closing hinges so that careless people wouldn’t accidentally let the dogs out onto the street.
Tim Beau (Oregon) We have a doggy door—it’s a chain-link fence. If the gate “forgets to shut itself,” the dogs won’t go through without me present; they have been trained. The house encloses one side, another side has the fence running on top of a six-foot wall, and the third side is covered in the neighbors’ ugly dense ivy. The fence wire goes a few inches under the dirt. I put blocks under the gate years ago so that Chiquis couldn’t crawl under it. Chiquis doesn’t bark at the neighbors, but Lalo does from a distance (scaredy-cat dog). A fence with chicken wire or some such material under the fence would be ideal. A kid could pass fingers through a chain-link fence, so if this hadn’t been the [existing] fence when we bought the place, I would likely have put up something else. Chain-link fences aren’t all that attractive anyway.
Amy Suggars (Ohio) I have a wooden privacy fence with a secure gate. I run an invisible fence line around the perimeter to use if I have a dog who tries to dig out under the wooden fence. I can also use the invisible fence to keep my dog from climbing over the fence if he so desires. I don’t like invisible fences by themselves because they are too easily breached by animals on both sides! The main downfall of my visible-plus-invisible fence set-up is when human beings (like meter readers or cable workers) leave the gate open! Fortunately, my dogs have a decent recall, so they don’t get far. I once lived in a subdivision that didn’t allow visible fences, so an in-ground fence was the only viable option. After a bad situation with that fence, I made sure to move only to places that allowed visible fences. Even though I have a doggy door, I don’t give my dogs access to the backyard unless I am at home. Supervision to me means that I am at home when my dogs are outside so I can easily see them or hear them.
Marcy Rauch (New York) I replaced my chain-link fence years ago when neighbor kids started putting fingers and hands through it. Then my adult neighbor jumped my fence to “dominate my dogs” to stop them from barking at him, like Cesar does. ACCCKKKK!!! Had a long talk with him and put in a six-foot privacy fence shortly thereafter. I don’t leave the dogs out without me outside with them, or within earshot. I also have a small yard, but with two levels, so have a fence between the two levels for when I’ve fostered, etc., or if I want mine contained to just the potty level.
Laura Bourhenne (California) I have solid block walls with concrete footers. They are five-and-a-half to six feet tall and we added another 18” of wood at the top so they are at least seven feet high. The front gates are seven feet also, solid wood on one side and vinyl on the other. Both have brick walkways going underneath so there can be no digging there. And there are double gates, 10 feet and 20 feet back from those gates. The front of the house [fence] can’t be more than a certain height also, but it can be more than six feet if the part over six feet is removable. The wooden top part can be taken down on the side and rear walls. The side gates, however, are a solid seven feet. There are so many homes with higher fences, especially if they border busy streets, that nobody says anything about it. If the [authorities] show up and tell me to take it down, I’ll do it, but until then—and unless they make everyone else remove theirs—mine are staying.
Katharine Weber (Illinois) I put up my fence, and I maintain it . . . even when my neighbor’s dogs pull the boards off it and dig under it. When my neighbors cut down a tree that fell on my fence, they offered to fix it. I had extras boards and I fixed it. If a neighbor’s kid teases my dogs through my fence, I tell them my dogs like to eat bad kids. My neighbor on one side put a fence up against mine. I was okay with that—except when they pulled up some of my posts and did not put my fence back the way it was. So I used the side facing me to reconstruct and repair my fence. The double fence is perfect. Their dogs now pull the boards off their fence and their kids can’t stick stuff through my fence. When a falling branch from my tree broke a couple of boards, I replaced them.
Debby McMullen (Pennsylvania) Make sure there are no breaches in the fence. If you have a digger, make sure that you have buried two-by-fours so they can’t dig under. If you have a climber, put a coyote roller-type system on the top of your fence. Make sure that if you build a solid wooden fence, you don’t get the shadow-box style. I’m not a fan of solid vinyl fencing because I think it’s very flimsy and typically has too much room underneath. In the winter is the only time my dogs are ever unsupervised in the yard, and it’s never more than five minutes. My gates are locked and I have barriers in front of both of them. I also think it’s helpful to have some landscaping-type stuff around part of the perimeter of the fence, depending on what’s on the other side.
Misty Mills (Texas) Redundant fencing on borders that abut another person’s property can increase safety. In the event that isn’t affordable or practical, landscaping barriers might also add a layer of protection. Something like dense shrubs might work. If digging under the fence is a concern, a buried concrete trench can help, or a stapled section of chicken wire that extends into the yard. Covering the wire with heavy river rocks can remove the rewarding nature of digging behavior. If climbing over the fence is the issue, an angled fence-topper or coyote roll-bar might be appropriate.
Jeanne Brennan (California) If I limit it to just the type of fencing, I think in terms of what blocks out the most visual stimulus. Possibly best is a six-foot solid fence, made with wood—better if the panels overlap. Worst, always, are picket fences and ugly chain-link, even if fence slats have been added. The biggest problem with those styles, I think, is that they encourage fence-line running, a very destructive behavior. The other obvious problem is that they allow people to stick body parts through the gaps, and dogs can stick their muzzles through. The list of bite incidents and dogs injuring other dogs or people through these kinds of fences is long, and not pretty. Working for animal control, I know them all. Dogs can die if their tongue is bit or severed off. I know of at least two times that has happened due to fence-fighting.
Chelsea Edwards (Oregon) Structurally, I find that a secondary fence (there is a whole movement about this on YouTube) is probably the single best safety installation that can be had. Next is a buried fence that prevents digging or even reaching under a fence. Both dogs and children should have a secondary fence preventing them from interacting at all in a situation that may be tenuous (fence frustration, barrier aggression, reaching or teasing through a fence, or inadvertently triggering predatory drift). The primary fence should be at least visually obscuring, ideally a complete visual block. Wood, vinyl, stone—all are effective fence options. Less desirable are welded, chain-link, and anything a child can put a hand through or a dog can see through. Ongoing maintenance? Check that fence at least weekly, from one end to the other. (Make sure as a renter that the landlord is receptive to fence management.) Observe the dogs—or kids—in the yard. They will generally “show” you where the issues are.
Next week, more suggestions on dogs and fence safety from dog professionals, including answers to these questions:
▪ Should dogs inside a safe fence always be supervised?
▪ What would “supervision” of those dogs look like?
▪ What are some alternatives to unsupervised dogs?
▪ How do dog owners prevent common problems that might occur when dogs are in fenced yards?
