# fence height



## pets4life (Feb 22, 2011)

what is a good fence hieght for a dog good at jumping? 

What age will a dog be able to clear a five foot fence?


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## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

My female can clear a 6ft privacy fence like i was a joke


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## pets4life (Feb 22, 2011)

Hunter may i ask what kind of fence you have now?


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## Lora (Jan 7, 2011)

Brewski is 15 months now and he can clear a 5 ft no problem. We have a 6ft fence at the back and he knows exactly how far away he needs to be for his run to clear it....


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## pets4life (Feb 22, 2011)

anyway to prevent this? what if we are out there playing with them they see something on the otherside of the fence they want and go after it. Mine has not jumped yet but i bet she can.


any sort of extension? like a 2 foot extenstion? add height maybe curve inwards.


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## Lora (Jan 7, 2011)

My husband has placed a lattice topper on the top of our 6ft fence bringing it close to 8ft now so far Brewski has not cleared it though he has tried a few times in hopes of catching that nasty squirrel....

You could try the same if it is a wooden fence that you are working with.....


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## pets4life (Feb 22, 2011)

it is chainlink


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## AgileGSD (Jan 17, 2006)

I have never had an issue with our 4' chainlink fence. Have had GSDs, Belgians, an Irish Setter, a Collie and various boarders (although they were not left unattended).


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## Lora (Jan 7, 2011)

What about planting cedars or something along that line in front of the fence in order to prevent seeing things on the other side.... could get expensive though..... You used to be able to purchase a plastic weave for chain links fencing to create some privacy....just thinking if you could perhaps block her/him from viewing what is on the other side might take the need to jump it away


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## BlackthornGSD (Feb 25, 2010)

I had a 50 pound female who could jump a 7 foot fence. I have a male who will jump 6 feet easily--usually just to get closer to me. He has to be in a covered run if I want him to stay in a kennel. The yard he jumps in and out of at will--a 4-foot fence--so he doesn't get put in the yard with any expectation he'll stay.

Fence jumping is more a matter of belief than size. If the dog thinks he can, he will probably figure out a way.

If your dog is already jumping, you'd be better served by putting a strand of electric along the top (and bottom, maybe) along the inside of the fence. It's also a lot cheaper than trying to build higher. 

But if you have a 4 foot fence and your dog never has, she may never do so--and may never try.


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## pets4life (Feb 22, 2011)

i have a huge yard


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## Lora (Jan 7, 2011)

A Kennel as suggested is a good idea or what about the invisible fence you can purchase I have a neighbour that used that with great success....


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## JanaeUlva (Feb 5, 2011)

Lora said:


> A Kennel as suggested is a good idea or what about the invisible fence you can purchase I have a neighbour that used that with great success....


Invisible fences ummm not so good in my opinion. In the winter the snow insulates the wire, other dogs can come into your yard so your dog is not safe, tough dogs will learn to run thru it to get out but won't run thru to get back in, just a few cons I can think of.

However, I had a male who could scale a 6 ft fence within seconds. When i moved, I put in a 4 ft fence (it was privacy panels and chain link) then i strung electric cattle tape above the fence using T-posts pounded inside the fence. 

Perfect solution! Easy to tell if the wire is hot, nobody gets out and nobody gets in!


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## BlackthornGSD (Feb 25, 2010)

JanaeUlva said:


> Invisible fences ummm not so good in my opinion. In the winter the snow insulates the wire, other dogs can come into your yard so your dog is not safe, tough dogs will learn to run thru it to get out but won't run thru to get back in, just a few cons I can think of.
> 
> However, I had a male who could scale a 6 ft fence within seconds. When i moved, I put in a 4 ft fence (it was privacy panels and chain link) then i strung electric cattle tape above the fence using T-posts pounded inside the fence.
> 
> Perfect solution! Easy to tell if the wire is hot, nobody gets out and nobody gets in!


A underground fence just inside/outside of the existing fence doesn't have those issues, but the dog still has to be wearing the collar. 

I'd prefer to hotwire, personally, works on any dog--collar or no collar--and doesn't require training for the dog to understand.


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## Davey Benson (Nov 10, 2010)

JanaeUlva said:


> Invisible fences ummm not so good in my opinion. In the winter the snow insulates the wire, other dogs can come into your yard so your dog is not safe, tough dogs will learn to run thru it to get out but won't run thru to get back in, just a few cons I can think of.
> 
> However, I had a male who could scale a 6 ft fence within seconds. When i moved, I put in a 4 ft fence (it was privacy panels and chain link) then i strung electric cattle tape above the fence using T-posts pounded inside the fence.
> 
> Perfect solution! Easy to tell if the wire is hot, nobody gets out and nobody gets in!


That's my solution. It keeps everyone in really well. I just have a simple 4 foot woven wire, with a hot wire strung around the top another 8 inches up. I only had it charged for about a week, and that was all it needed to be on to train the dogs to not challange the fence. That's been 8 months ago, and have had no excapes yet.


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## Cassidy's Mom (Mar 30, 2003)

BlackthornGSD said:


> Fence jumping is more a matter of belief than size. If the dog thinks he can, he will probably figure out a way.


I agree. My dogs could easily jump the gate into the cat room (I don't know exactly how high it is, but I can step over it), but they don't. Halo will stick her nose between the bars and and has figured out how to jiggle the gate enough to pop it open, however. I've heard her do it a few times from the office across the hall and caught her in there chowing down their food. She seems to know that it's not okay to jump over it though. 

I'm pretty sure if she put her mind to it she could scramble over pretty much any fence she wanted to - she's strong agile and athletic, but for some reason she's never tried, nor has Keefer. He can pop open a chain link gate, but I don't know that it would occur to him to climb over it.


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## pets4life (Feb 22, 2011)

is hotwire expensive? what if the dog does a deer jump over the fence? not sure if they are capable of that though even by deer jump i mean jumping over a fence w/o touching it


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

Mine never even tried the 4 ft chainlink and we moved to a house fully fenced with 5 ft chainlink. They've never even thought about testing it.


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## hunterisgreat (Jan 30, 2011)

pets4life said:


> Hunter may i ask what kind of fence you have now?


Wooden, vertical boards close together?


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## pets4life (Feb 22, 2011)

Rerun said:


> Mine never even tried the 4 ft chainlink and we moved to a house fully fenced with 5 ft chainlink. They've never even thought about testing it.


wait till a squirrel teases them by eating a nut on the other side or some creepy drunk man trys to use the fence as urinal


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## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

pets4life said:


> wait till a squirrel teases them by eating a nut on the other side or some creepy drunk man trys to use the fence as urinal


 
That would be fun to see with a hot wire fence.


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## pets4life (Feb 22, 2011)

my house backs up on a commerical property and there is a beer store next door so u get a lot of wierd drunks in the area i have caught people trying to peee on my fence a bunch of times as nasty as it is lol


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## Lora (Jan 7, 2011)

I am not sure what your by laws are, but where I am we can't "hotwire" our fence as we are not a farm protecting our cattle.... you may want to check the laws in regards to that where you are


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## JanaeUlva (Feb 5, 2011)

pets4life said:


> is hotwire expensive? what if the dog does a deer jump over the fence? not sure if they are capable of that though even by deer jump i mean jumping over a fence w/o touching it


No the wire (I like the tape), posts and fencer (the electric box) are fairly inexpensive. I like the box that shows a constant light pulse letting you know it's functioning, at a glance. It's especially cheap compared to putting in a 6 ft versus a 4 ft fence.

Most dogs will probably touch the tape (it's thick and bright yellow so very obvious) before they attempt to get out. And that's where it will end. 

Now my male could tell if the wire was on or not so I never could turn it off. Imagine my surprise when I came home from a long day of work to see my male Rummel lounging in the middle of the front yard. Yep, I had one gate that went into a breezeway that was between my front door and the unattached garage. That section was not hot. He figured it out. I had to put a new door on the breezeway exit that locked. Then I just left the gate open. He was going to get into the breezeway might as well not risk him injuring himself going over the fence.


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## JanaeUlva (Feb 5, 2011)

Lora said:


> I am not sure what your by laws are, but where I am we can't "hotwire" our fence as we are not a farm protecting our cattle.... you may want to check the laws in regards to that where you are


True, very true.


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## pets4life (Feb 22, 2011)

i know the business next door put tall fences with barb wire that curved inwards but for a dog i think that would just be evil what if the dog jumped and his leg got cut or worse

i will find out about the tape even if it is not legal what kind of trouble could i get in for putting it up? I dont want gross drunks around my fence either and i am sure it is better to zap them then shoot them LOL


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## Davey Benson (Nov 10, 2010)

Lora said:


> I am not sure what your by laws are, but where I am we can't "hotwire" our fence as we are not a farm protecting our cattle.... you may want to check the laws in regards to that where you are


Oh ya, I have heard that electric fences aren't allowed in town. (at least the one that's by me) 

I'm so glad I live way out there....


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## JanaeUlva (Feb 5, 2011)

pets4life said:


> i will find out about the tape even if it is not legal what kind of trouble could i get in for putting it up? I dont want gross drunks around my fence either and i am sure it is better to zap them then shoot them LOL


Yeah, I have to admit that two places I lived at were in small rural towns. I put up the electric tape anyhow. With the posts inside the fence the tape is also not hanging outside the fence. Nobody complained so i had that setup for a combined 8 years, until I sold the homes.


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