Has anyone noticed that dogs cost more than kids? They have to be taken to the veterinarian, they need nutritious food and sometimes even need an education. We even have to worry about their safety and keep them from harming others. This post follows one I did on things you need to consider when looking at invisible fences (one’s that are buried in the ground). From that post you probably got the distinct impression that I am not a big fan of invisible fencing, so what do I recommend?
When it comes to the actual fencing itself, you need something that is sturdy enough to handle a dog jumping up against it whether from the inside or the outside. A big mistake some people make is thinking, “Well I only have an 8 pound toy poodle, so I only need a 3 foot high fence.” It is true that will save you a bunch of money on the fence, but it will not protect your dog. Whether you have a big dog or a small one the fencing should be the same in my opinion. Either you are trying to keep your big dog in or other big dogs out ( as well as children ).
So, what do I recommend? Start with a fence that is 5 feet in height. This is sufficient to keep most dogs on or out and little kids can not reach over the top. Also, the spacing between pickets or the diamond size of chain link should be less than 2-1/4 inches. This should keep the heads of most dogs from poking through. If you are concerned about little fingers from children go with a solid type fence, but keep in mind that a solid fence can cause your dog to bark at every little noise that occurs outside of his/her vision.
Most fencing found at home improvement stores present you with another problem. In an effort to give you the lowest price possible a certain, mostly unseen, detail is compromised …. the thickness of the profiles. Chain link fencing should be a minimum of 11-1/2 gauge ( the higher the number the thinner the wire ). If the chain link is vinyl coated you want a gauge of 8 overall ( this includes the metal core wire and the vinyl coating ). Wood fencing should have vertical boards at least 1/2 inch thick ( a standard 1×4 board is 3/4 inch thick ) and horizontal “backers” at least 1-1/2 inches thick and 3-1/2 inches tall ( this is a standard 2 x 4 ). The pickets should be nailed, never stapled. When it comes to Vinyl / PVC fencing I like pickets that are 1/2 inch square or 7/8 inch thick by 3 inches wide. On an ornamental aluminum fence the pickets should be at least 5/8 x 5/8 inch and have a wall thickness no less than .050 .
The final detail is also the most important, the gate hardware. The gate hardware is often times the last thing to go on the fence. Because of this people often try to save money here. Resist this temptation !! The gate is the part of the fence that you will interact with the most, sometimes several times a day. Because of this your dog follows you to and from it constantly and if he / she is going to try and get out, this is the place. For this reason I tell people to use the same type of hardware you would use for pool gate safety. This will consist of a self-closing hinge and a self-latching latch. A good choice for the self-closing hinge is the Tru-Close Hinge. It is tension adjustable and come with a limited lifetime warranty. A good choice for the self-latching latch is the Magna Latch Top Pull or Magna-Latch Vertical Pull. Both of these latches offer no resistance to closure ( little chance of bounce back ) and dogs can not lift/open the latch with their nose ( like they do with traditional fork type latches ). An added benefit is small kids have a hard time opening the latch, so they can’t let the dog out.
Now this was very comical to watch and talk about, but what about if the squirrels start doing real damage that costs you money? We run into this from time to time with our 
