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The doghouse

Quick question for people who know about rescues

14 replies

Whippoorwhill · 03/02/2013 08:40

When they say a secure fenced garden, how high does the fence need to be?

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SpicyPear · 03/02/2013 08:59

Depends on the dog. Mine are only 4 ft so not high enough for some dogs but considered okay for my two.

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gymmummy64 · 03/02/2013 09:23

My garden fences were declared suitable by the home checker. Gymdog took one look at them and jumped straight over. 2 hours later after a good romp around the allotments, he came back. I'd only had him 2 days! He's a lot longer than his standing height suggests and an excellent jumper. So, imagine your new doggy stretched out, add a couple of feet and hope your fences are taller than that!

Sadly, replacing all my fences is really not affordable so Gymdog has never been out in the garden without a lead since.

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D0oinMeCleanin · 03/02/2013 10:07

Yup, depends on the dog and the rescue. If, for example, you had no fences, some smaller rescues might still consider you, as long as you agreed to only take the dog out into the garden on a lead.

Rescues all have different rules, the best ones imo, consider all circumstances as long as they have the right dog available.

Generally nothing lower than 6 foot, for any breed, if your planning on having the dog off lead in the garden, although a lot of breeds could easily clear 6 foot.

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Floralnomad · 03/02/2013 10:08

Ours are 6" and Battersea were happy with that . As it is the dog was more interested in going under so is now confined to the patio ( quite large) by an ornamental metal fence. Bloody hell they can dig big holes really fast!

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SpicyPear · 03/02/2013 10:38

Probably worth mentioning that it is to do with temperament as well as physical ability to jump it. SpicyDog could probably clear it but has no desire to leave the garden and no prey drive etc.

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Whippoorwhill · 03/02/2013 11:04

Thanks. That's what I thought.

Ours are only 4 foot on one side. None of the dogs we've had have ever tried to jump them but I'm sure they could have if they'd wanted to. Just too lazy. :)

Hmmmm, now to go and price up fence posts and trellis or something. A house with only one dog already seems too empty.

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Grockle · 03/02/2013 15:56

One of mine was 4ft and were deemed by the rescue to be sufficient.

Grockledog took 1 look & leapt straight over it. We've had to add another 2-3ft to that to keep her in. There were other reasons for doing it too and there was no way we'd have shelled out £400 to keep Grockledog in. It is much nicer now though - we know that she can be outside by herself & not worry about where she is.

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bumpybecky · 03/02/2013 22:27

it depends on what's on the other side of the fence too..

main road = bad
another garden and another 4 foot fence = not so bad!

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Whippoorwhill · 03/02/2013 22:52

Oh, I hadn't thought of that. The other side of the fence is another garden then a 10 foot chain-link fence before the railway. Not sure if next door have a gate to their front garden or if it's open though. Their front gate is only 4 foot and then straight on to the road. I shall have to go and investigate.

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BreconBeBuggered · 03/02/2013 22:58

When we got our first rescue dog we thought he'd be safe enough inside the 12 foot fence at the bottom of the garden. I let him out one night and he dug his way out underneath it. Luckily he only made it as far as the dug-out in the adjoining football field. He'd been used to a daily independent stroll in his old life.

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MikeOxardAndWellard · 07/02/2013 14:47

Ours are only 4ft. Wellard could easily jump it if he wanted to, but he cba. What kind of dog are you thinking of (age/breed)?

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digerd · 07/02/2013 15:54

We had only small dogs, but they can find a small gap and get through, and the terriers/Dachshund are excellent diggers . But depends on your soil type.

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Whippoorwhill · 07/02/2013 17:09

We were thinking of a retriever cross of some kind, probably about 2 years old. Any dog we get needs to be able to cope with the puppy, who although very timid and shy, plays like an absolute demon, body slamming and hard wrestling. So not anything too small or with delicate spindly legs. :)

I think we are going to save up and get the fence either replaced or made higher. I checked with next door and their back garden is open all the way to the front and the gates are pretty low so we would need to be totally sure that any dog couldn't hop over and get killed on the road.

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MikeOxardAndWellard · 07/02/2013 20:51

I think they would expect 6ft fencing for such a young dog of that type and size. x

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