securing a garden

awanderer

Hi!

My partner and I believe we are ready to adopt a dog: when I work, my partner is at home and when he works, I am at home so the dog would have company almost 24/7. What is more, even without having a dog, we both always have at least one longish daily walk and we live less than 5 minutes walk from the sea and a very quiet pier where a dog would have lots of fun roaming.

We both grew up with dogs and have wanted to have one for years but up to last year we were unable to do so, we became free doggy sitters for our friends dogs instead:D.

A year ago we moved to our current house after making sure that the landlord was ok with us having a dog (in fact the ad for the house already precised "dog welcome").

Unfortunately, we cannot find the solution to one last problem: our garden is not secure. We share our big front garden and driveway with our neighbour and can therefore not guarantee that the gate would always be closed and the dog always be safe.

We have however a smallish (by rural standards) back garden which we believe would be ok but for one fact: 3 sides of that garden are secured by a 6 to 7 foot high fence but the fourth side is not fenced at all and would allow a dog full access the front garden and, through it, the road.

The owner of the house is ok with us fencing that 4 th side as long as we do not damage the property in a permanent way but I have been all over the internet and haven't found any way of fencing that 4th side without spending a fortune and digging all over the garden:(.

Can anyone suggest a solution to that problem ?

I have seen so many lovely dogs stuck in the local rescue center but as long as our garden is not secure, I know that we can't offer to adopt any of them as we wouldn't pass the home check:(.

cocker5

OP,

Well done on taking the first step in deciding to adopt a dog...

Here are my concerns....

you are correct.....Most rescues wont allow you to adopt unless your back garden is fully secure- its a rule most of them have.

What if you decide to move from your current rental property and cant find another landlord who will allow dogs? what will happen to the dog then?
Now please dont get me wrong Im not sugeesting at all that you would get "rid" of the dog etc but you bwould be surpised how often this happens.

if you have a communal front garden with your neighbours, if you got a dog and it was using the front garden how would your neighbours feel? TBH i wouldnt like it, it would drive me mad TBH and I am a dog owner and lover etc.

To be very straight with you, without securing your back garden : one no rescuse will allow you to adpot and two even if you got a dog through another means it wouldnt be fair on your dog or the neighbours etc...

have you looked at building yards ? they may sell some panel fencing cheaply?

Have you lloked at Adverts.ie or Dondeal.ie for some cheap fencing?

you may get someone selling good cheap fencing 2nd hand but in good condition etc....

http://www.adverts.ie/home-garden-services/timber-fencing-wooden-gates-decking/3152481

aonb

I guess it depends on how determined you are to have a dog.
You know you have to fence in that 4th side of the back garden.
What length is this 4th side?
Are either of you any way DIY inclined? Do you have a friend/family member who could help you.
We have enclosed our entire garden with sheep wire, stapled to posts. You can buy some sheep wire in a farm shop by the roll. You can buy the stakes/fence posts there too. It neednt cost a fortune. You can use an old pallet to make a gate of some sort (this is where the DIY comes in!) You just need to make sure that the sheep-wire is 'taut' or bend the bottom 6 inches in/out on the ground.
You can easily remove the posts/sheep wire when you move. Do you have a long enough lease on the house to justify the effort/expense?

awanderer

Hi Cocker5 and thanks for the answer:). I thought about what would happen if we moved. I hope to be able to buy my next house but should we have for any reason to move before, there seem to be regularly dog friendly houses for rent in the area (we live in a rural area).
We are not supposed to have to share our front garden but the neighbours' house is behind ours and to gain access to it they have to use our driveway which passes through the middle of our front garden (it is quite difficult to explain). We can not realistically separate our long driveway from our front garden so we couldn't garanty that a dog would be safe there. So securing the back garden seems indeed to be the best way as it is of decent size and the safety of the dog wouldn't have to depend on the goodwill of our neighbours.
We certainly do not intend to find another way to get a dog rather than a solution to secure the garden: one of the dogs we doggysat recently was killed by a car because his owner had decided the dog was smart enough not to go on the road and therefore he didn't need to secure his garden!
I seem to have problems opening your link but it could be because I am using my work computer. I'll try again from my home computer tonight. Our primary problem is to find a fencing system that wouldn't require to much digging and destroying of the garden.

Hi aonb and thanks also for your answer:)! I used to be ok with DIY but have now been renting for so long that I wouldn't rate myself as a pro anymore (and I do not want to rely entirely on my partner as he is better at planning the perfect DIY project that at finishing it)! Luckily one of the fenced sides of the garden already has a gate (leading to the driveway). Furthermore the back garden can also be accessed directly from the house by a door and a french window. I must double check when I go home tonight but I would say that the part that has to be fenced is between 7 and 10 meters. I did think about chicken/sheep wire but couldn't think of a way of making it dog proof without digging a big trench to inter its lower part (hope I am clear, you might have guessed that English is neither my first language nor my strong point). Is bending the bottom of the chicken/sheep wire really sufficient ? Our lease is long enough to justifiy the effort and money. The owner has always be adammant that he wants us to stay as long as possible. Of course though, the more we spend on this house, the less we would have to spend on our own house should we buy it soon:o.

Hooked

For what it's worth, this was my solution to a similar problem.





I raised the back wall by 2 blocks, paved the area in front of Hugos outdor den (bad weather last year forced this) and the dividing wall - which is similar to your dilemma - I fenced using 3 panels and posts picked up on done deal.

The fencing, posts and concrete (I had to dig 3 x 2 foot holes - worst few hours of my life) came to about 170. The door was made out of old off cuts. But whatever you do - make sure and sink the posts and the fencing (a few inches) to prevent escape underneath.

HTH

muddypaws

If you lay patio slabs down, under where you're going to put the fence, so that the fence sits over the slab, with a bigger part of the slab coming into the garden, and a smaller part outside, if that makes sense, it should stop the dog digging. You used to be able to get the Heras fencing second hand cheaply enough, but as the building industry has slowed, there is less being used and disposed off. Keep an eye on the buying and selling sites, sometimes there are real bargains to be had on there, a friend got enough really good quality fencing to do their entire garden really cheaply.

Best of luck, sounds like the dog you adopt will be very lucky

awanderer

Thanks a lot hooked and muddypaws.
Yours posts are really usefull as I saw chicken wire as the only alternative to wooden fences:rolleyes:! It is so strange as as soon as I saw a picture of (gorgeous) Hugo's garden and I checked what heras fencings are:o, I realised that I had been looking in the wrong places and missing the obvious!
I am not sure yet which of the 2 solutions you proposed I will go for but I am already almost certain that I will plant some giant sunflowers against the fence .

And thank you for the encouraging words muddypaws:).

runawaybishop

Chainlink onto pretreated stakes will probably be the strongest and most cost effective and last you a long time. Bury the bottom into a trench and backfill it. A 10 meter roll will cost from 30-50 euro, depending on how high you want it, stakes 2-3 euro each.

Chicken/sheep wire may not be suitable - a small animal will go through the sheep wire and a large animal will destroy the chicken wire.

Aesthetically I'd go with Hookeds' fence though every time.

JOS52

I have used that fencing myself for a large dog and its excellent.