# Question on Fence Height..Four Foot high enough?



## ponyfarm (Apr 11, 2010)

I have a one acre pony pasture with 4- board fence. The dogs can almost get under the lower board.

I am thinking of putting up a wire-mesh fence on the inside of the board fence, so the dogs can play. We want to invite friends too! (The ponies will be put up, of course!)

The dogs will only be out in this area while under supervision. Do you think 4-foot is tall enough, or are they likely to go sailing over the fence? The pasture is surrounded by trees, so there is really nothing they would see in the distance to attract them. I am hoping that if we make it fun enough in the pasture, then they would not jump out.

I would also like to add a sand pit for digging and a pond for swimming..dreams are good, right? (and some agility obstacles too!)


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## sjones5254 (Dec 16, 2011)

If you have jumpers 4 ft will not keep them in. I have a 6 ft vinyl fence and if my girl really wanted to she could jump it too.


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

4 feet is fine if the dogs aren't jumpers and respect it as a boundary. I have a similar fence to what you're describing. The dogs could absolutely go over my fence if they wanted to, but they don't. The only time they've come close is when they were trying to go after a coyote. I don't leave my dogs unattended of course. I have had a foster dog go over in the time it took me to fill the water dish with my back turned, though.


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## hoplite6 (Jun 18, 2012)

I had to put a hot cattle wire at the top of a six-foot privacy fence for about a month to keep my three from jumping it. After a few weeks, I left the wire up, but no power to it. A four foot fence wouldn't even make them pause and think.


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## Twyla (Sep 18, 2011)

I have 5 ft. fence. Woolf isn't a jumper.... BUT when he sees a squirrel, he just about climbs the fence. So far he respects that top pole, but he has come close enough, we don't trust him to not one day go on over for a squirrel so we are extending the height of the fence.


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## cshepherd9 (Feb 11, 2010)

I have a 4 ft fence and I have never had a dog go over it. Willow could totally jump it if she wanted to but she never has.


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## TaZoR (Jan 26, 2012)

We have a 5 ft chain link..be sure to get the bar on the bottom or your dog will push right through.


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## wildo (Jul 27, 2006)

I'm curious what it is you're looking for here, ponyfarm. Are you asking if a 4' fence is tall enough for Max? Or are you asking about a 4' fence for your friends' dogs? Until recently when I threw a kegger and fenced in my yard so that my friends could bring their dogs, Pimg has never been in an entirely fenced yard. While every dog is certainly different, I've not found it hard to train property boundaries. I suspect with your training style and the value you've built for yourself with Max, that it will also be quite easy to train him boundaries as well.

For other people's dogs though- I'd hope their owners don't give them the opportunity to jump the fence if the owner knows the potential is there. Myself, I wouldn't turn my pretty wood fence into an ugly chain fence just for my friends' dogs.


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

wildo said:


> Myself, I wouldn't turn my pretty wood fence into an ugly chain fence just for my friends' dogs.


I think Ponyfarm is talking about wire mesh, not chain. I've got a pretty stained wood fence and you don't even notice the wire is there until you're right on top of it.


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## ponyfarm (Apr 11, 2010)

I am thinking about this so we could have other friends dogs over to play! Max has made some puppy friends. 

Both Max and Tim are very good at staying with me when out, and they never go out unattended! They have learned boundries and dont even chase the squirrels past the edge. I dont know how I accomplished that one, maybe I seemed annoyed dragging them back thru the briars and they got the hint!

Yea, I was thinking about a mesh fence that really would not be that noticeable, but now just thinking 4 foot is too low. Ok, need to save for that 6 foot wrought iron fence!


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## zyppi (Jun 2, 2006)

Will it contain them _under supervision_, probably, but I would not trust it to contain dogs left on their own.


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## TaZoR (Jan 26, 2012)

Where we live..a 6 ft requires a permit.


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## ponyfarm (Apr 11, 2010)

zyppi said:


> Will it contain them _under supervision_, probably, but I would not trust it to contain dogs left on their own.


Only under supervision..I am just wondering if dogs that have some value for their handlers will stay in, or leave the area?

Might be just too low to slow them down. hmmm


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

Depends on the dogs. 4' was fine for my dogs, but like Willy said my shepherds didn't leave even before we had a fence. When I replaced the fence I used 6' so that people couldn't reach over, but I never had a dog try to jump out over 4'. Coke used to try to escape but he's a digger not a jumper.


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## rooandtree (May 13, 2012)

my 5 month old just started jumping my 4 foot fence..but only if i walk outside of it


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## chelle (Feb 1, 2009)

wildo said:


> I'm curious what it is you're looking for here, ponyfarm. Are you asking if a 4' fence is tall enough for Max? Or are you asking about a 4' fence for your friends' dogs? Until recently when I threw a kegger and fenced in my yard so that my friends could bring their dogs, Pimg has never been in an entirely fenced yard. While every dog is certainly different, I've not found it hard to train property boundaries. I suspect with your training style and the value you've built for yourself with Max, that it will also be quite easy to train him boundaries as well.
> 
> For other people's dogs though- I'd hope their owners don't give them the opportunity to jump the fence if the owner knows the potential is there. Myself, I wouldn't turn my pretty wood fence into an ugly chain fence just for my friends' dogs.


I have a wonderful five foot ugly chain link and I couldn't love having it more!  My blind girl cannot get "lost" anywhere and my two adolescent boys can't decide to be adolescent boys and go chase something. 

I think any bigger dog could get over a 4 foot in a nanosecond if they wanted to. It's just whether they want to or not. To be on the safe side, since you don't maybe know the tendencies of the friends' dogs, you may want to go higher.


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

My Akbash Dog laughs at four foot fences, but my GSD respects a fence of any height; she's so good that she won't go past even a suggestion of a boundary. I've found that most GSDs are respectful of boundaries if they are bonded to you and have everything they need inside the boundary. Despite this, I built our perimeter fence at 6 feet, just to be safe, and to keep OTHER dogs OUT! I wouldn't want to go with anything lower.


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

Emoore said:


> 4 feet is fine *if the dogs aren't jumpers and respect it as a boundary*.


:thumbup: The baby gate to the cat room isn't even that high, but my dogs don't jump it. They could do it easily, but they don't. Halo will actually stick her nose between the bars and try to wiggle it open (she's unfortunately been successful at this a few times, so now she knows it might work!), but although she probably jump at least 4 or 5 feet high even without a running start, I don't think she's ever even tried to jump the gate.


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

ponyfarm said:


> Only under supervision..I am just wondering if dogs that have some *value for their handlers will stay in, or leave the area*?


You could have a dog who hasn't even attempted to jump a fence for it's entire life..then one day a certain stray dog walks by a certain way at a certain distance from the fence and casts it's eye in a certain way and your dog happens to be in a certain mood and value won't make any difference to your dog.


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## jprice103 (Feb 16, 2011)

We recently replaced our 4 ft fence with a 6 ft fence. Although Cheyenne never even thought about jumping it, I wasn't going to tempt fate! I would say that 6 ft is your best bet!


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## Freestep (May 1, 2011)

Lilie said:


> You could have a dog who hasn't even attempted to jump a fence for it's entire life..then one day a certain stray dog walks by a certain way at a certain distance from the fence and casts it's eye in a certain way and your dog happens to be in a certain mood and value won't make any difference to your dog.


Yeah, that's pretty much it, which is why I always recommend at least 6 feet. You just never know. My Luka, who values me more than life itself and is obedient almost to a fault, suddenly goes deaf if she sees a jackrabbit out in the orchard. 

I wouldn't put it past her to go over a 4 foot fence in that scenario.


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## KentuckyGSDLover (Nov 17, 2011)

Depends on the dog. They can easily jump it but sometimes they don't know they can. My vet has a small area of board fenced that is lined with mesh and her personal dog stays in it, but it's also while supervised play. My older dog respects boundaries and wouldn't jump it, but my younger one gets excited and leaps as high as my head in the air, so . . .


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## Discoetheque (Nov 2, 2011)

I recommend the 6'. I have a 4' fence, and though none of my dogs have ever TRIED to jump it, I did have an incident one day where my older girl was jumping after a squirrel in a tree right up against the fence. She got herself hung up on the bar and flipped over to the other side while trying to get herself down. So even if you feel in your heart of hearts that they would never jump it, accidents can and do apparently happen.


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