Wire fencing/Dog run questions

My friend who has the german shorthair, Lady, was wondering about that type of fence...where you bury a wire underground and the dog has a collar...I'm not sure what it's called. I told her I'd ask some opinions on it.

She lives with her parents and doesn't have a fenced yard, nor will her parents fence the yard. Her dog, Lady, is out all the time, but she's on a tie-out...Melissa would like to be able to let her run and play more. I know she'd only put the collar on when she let her out and she'd never leave her out there unsupervised. Just wondering if anyone has tried it, if it works, etc.

And a question from me. Nebo has a large dog run that he just stays in when I'm not home. He hasn't really tried to dig out or anything, but it's just dirt (well, it used to be grass lol)...at the bottom of a hill...so when it rains, he's just *covered* in mud. I was wondering about doing something with the floor of it sometime...like cement, bricks, gravel...something....as it's really not easy to carry him up 2 flights of stairs to wash him off all the time when it's rainy. Any info on what's the best/least expensive would be great, thanks!

electric fencing isn't as bad as alot of people think, in my opinion. It's only a small shock. But I think it's pretty pointless after the dog figures out that once it crosses a certain boundary, that it's fine :rolleyes: lol. That's what happened with my aunts golden retriever, Brandy. She figured it out right away ;)
But if your friend isn'tgoing to leave her dog unsupervised, why would she need this anyway? Couldn't she just call the dog when she sees it wandering? :confused:

I'm not sure about your other question? I would probably try using wood, although I'm not really sure...that would get rotten faster...I would try planting grass, but that's no good when winter comes along and ruins it lol :rolleyes: I guess you'll have to leave it to some one else for that question lol, I'm not help :p

I've never used an underground fence for my dogs but did have a bad experience with a dog "on" one while out walking my dog. If your dog sees something that it wants that fence is not going to stop him/her. An obedience trained dog and supervision is a must with these fences.

As for ground cover in a kennel...I have gravel in my dogs run. Mud is not a problem here.

Stacey
Zoey ~ Giant Schnauzer

Hey Amy!

My mom just got doing our dog run ground. She was soooo sick of them tracking in all the dirt (what was once grass too). It would get in our air conditioning vents and clog those up, cover our sofas, etc. What she did was take 12"x12" cement paver bricks and spread them a few inches apart going in an arch. At the end she put a layer of small 3"x5"(about that size) bricks, Then a few feet of sod/grass. She then put little bits of sod (mostly roots) in between the paver bricks. That was the dogs still have an area to go to the bathroom(grass) since they won't go on the paved part, and the mud and dirt doesn't really get tracked in the house and it keeps them clean too.

The pavers cost about 50 cents each...maybe less.....not completely sure...and the grass is fairly inexpensive too so it's easy to replace a few times a year.....just make sure it's watered heavily at first.

Just a suggestion....i will take some pictures of it tomorrow in the daylighjt to show you how it looks. Hope this helps. :)

I hear those electric fence things are good..but if you think about it, it keeps your dog in, but doesn't keep others out..I don't know if thats a problem or not, I guess if shes tired it wouldn't but anyway..I doubt I'd use it myself..too paranoid, but I'm weird lol..

I remember when I was a kid, I went to see my babysiters dogs..she had 2 GSD and she kept them in dog runs..she had cement for the ground and dog houses at the back for them if it rained..it worked really well for her :D

We just fenced in our yard here. With normal fencing. It's impossible to have 2 dogs on chains :eek: lol

My dad met this guy (by luck) that had used the electric fence, he said it was great, but the wire goes bad within a year or 2 & using the lightest shock doesn't even work... The guy said he had pros but one in, the wire was much thicker & had lasted 3 yrs so far with no problems & he got the heavy duty shocker & it actually worked... he said he tried it first to see it it was too strong & he said it gave him a good jolt, but didn't cause any pain... so get the pros to do it :)

stay away from the ones in stores

There's really not much of a problem of other dogs coming in. She's tried training Lady not to run off, but well, she's only a year old, and being a hunting dog...is ruled by the nose. She'll usually stay in the yard pretty good, but if she decides to run off, she'll run off....she does not CARE who is calling her. She doesn't stop either. I know, as I've helped her catch her a couple of times...she wouldn't even come running to Nebo...she was determined to run and not stop! The only way we were able to catch her (before she ran into a busy street) was with the help of some kids who cornered her on their porch.

She'd love to just fence the yard, but her dad won't let her, and she can't pay for that much anyway. Though I'm not even sure if the collar would even stop her if she really wanted to run off.

Thanks for the suggestions/advice about that and also the dog run. I was thinking if I did put something in his dog run, I'd leave an area of sand for him to dig and possibly a grass area for potty. I'd love to see some pics of that setup, Lauren, thanks. :)

All the suggestions & opinions are dgood but another to consider is if the power goes off then ther will be no fence. German shorthairs have a strong prey drive, what if it see's other animals? Will it chase throught the shock to get to them. I know you said your not worried about other animals comming into the yard, but why? You never know if a mean dog is loose or a wild animal enters your yard it could cause serious problems like injuries or diseases.
You say she will only let the dog out supervised then maybe she should enroll into an obedience class to better the dogs recall.

Okay...here's some pics Amy. Sorry I took so long in the day to get them to you.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...8/fc5b1476.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...0/fc5b1475.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...f/fc5b1473.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...7/fc5b1471.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...0/fc5b1470.jpg

And a few more...


http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...e/fc5b146e.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...c/fc5b146d.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...1/fc5b146c.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...4/fc5b146a.jpg

This is the fence we put up too....simple and somewhat inexpensive too
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...4/fc5b1469.jpg

Quote:

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Originally posted by lv4dogs
You say she will only let the dog out supervised then maybe she should enroll into an obedience class to better the dogs recall.

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Sometimes this is not the case. Kia has been in obedience classes and she still will not come when I call her if she sees something more interesting. It's a Husky trait and I'm sure Amy or Anna could vouch for me.

Go to just about any website about Huskies and they can never be off leash unless in an enclosed area. If they want to run they will run and you can scream until you are blue in the face and they will ignore you. Other breeds can be just the same, just like Amy explained.

Lauren,
That is some very nice brick work!!!

Thanks.....I like it alot...I think it turned out well and there is virtually no dirt tracked in the house, and mud is minimal when it rains. I'll let my mom know that you liked it! :)

Do the dogs go potty on the triangular grass area? I would like to limit, as much as I can, where Binx goes potty. I figure it will be easier to clean up, and still keep some of the postage stamp sized lawn intact. I wondered about river rock, too...it would be small...but, I wonder if he wouldn't like the feel of it under his freezer sized paws.

I just think the brick work looks sharp. Did you mom do it herself? Just use a hand shovel to dig? Did she dig it all out a few inches deep, lay the brick, then roll the dirt over it again??

Yes, the dogs go potty on the grass. Usually only the grass.

My mom did it all by herself. She dug with a little hand shovel a couple inches down into the dirt to place the bricks there. Then she dug between the bricks and placed bits of grass/roots in the dirt the covered the pieces of grass/roots with dirt....when she was all done she swept the excess dirt away into the grass in the corner and along the fence....until it was all off the stones. Hope this helps... :D

Thanks for the info and pics!! :)

I went to Home Depot and found some bricks like that...they start at about $1 each here. :( I'm going to see if I can find them any cheaper. His dog run is 10x14.

I think those flat bricks would be easier to do then cement!

The guy said he had a small power backup system so it would give him enough time to get the dog inside (the dog was never left outside when no one is home)

I don't think I would *ever* let my dog outside in a wire fence unsupervised. My fear is that there is no block against other dogs. So if another dog decides that MY dog looks like lunch, my dog can't run away. :(

However, my brother & sister in laws have a shepherd mix that is trained BEAUTIFULLY!! The system works flawlessly for them. She was older when they started training her as well. So we are thinking of trying it as it is so we can fence in our entire yard. But like I said, I would never leave him unsupervised for any lenght of time.

Amy, my friend with the 2 huskies has the underground fencing. With Zac (male) she has no problem, but Niki (female) on the other hand will cross out of their yard every once in a while if she sees something she really wants (small animals mainly). She doesn't care about the shock. So I personally am against getting a underground fence, you just never know.
And as for something to put on the ground so it's not all muddy; we have 2 8x8 truck mats in ours. No work to put them in, they are just very heavy, but there are diffent weights (thicker-thinner) of mats. And there is still a little grass for them to lay or potty in. We also put wire fencing under the kennel, so roxey couldn't dig underneath! I know you've seen these pics but here they are again.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...a/fcbd9c06.jpg
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/...1/fcbd9c0f.jpg

Wow! What a great idea with the brick pavers! Your mom did a really good job. When Bella was a puppy she had this one flowerbed that she loved to dig in (usually just after a rain! :( ) I had some slate pieces that I had been using in another area of the yard and I placed them in the flowerbed temporarily. Presto! It worked beautifully! I have since removed the slate pieces and put them back where they were and replaced them with bricks, at least temporarily. I am hoping at some point to be able to remove the bricks and I am thinking of doing that a little at a time. If she starts digging again I'll put them back. They don't look too bad and they serve their purpose!

Lauren I agree that the dog run your mother made is very attractive. She did an excellent job.

As far as underground fences goes, Invisible Fence is a company that does a lot of them around here. In fact, my neighbors on both side of me use it for their labs. It works very well for them, but I tried it for Hannah and I didn't like it. It completely spooked her and she didn't want to go outside at all. When forced to go out, she would go out one door and cling to the side of the house and try to get in the other door. The other thing I didn't like was that the shock would kick in quite a ways from the boundry where the wire was buried, hence the amount of space that could be used for running and playing (if she would have used it) was reduced considerably.

My boss has the Invisible Fence too only he has little dogs. They very frequently *go through* it. There is upkeep, with purchasing the batteries for the collars and if the wire ever gets broken by someone digging that has to be repaired.

Thanks you Pam & Rachel. So far the whole paved area is holding up just fine. The grass between the bricks is growing is wonderfully. Cleatus has kinda killed the grass in the back because of his potent urine, but oh well. The grass plugs or flats of grass aren't too expensive to replace. I am going to try that tomato juice tidbit someone had mentioned (sorry I can't rememeber the person's name).

Pam - I think by removing the pavers one by one that Bella may not relize it. That would be nice. :D