Building up a fence 2' or hotwiring the top of a fence

15 years ago

So I'm interested in adopting a rather large rescue dog. I've been told by the rescue group that a 6' fence is a must. I've got 2 sides of 6' privacy fence and two sides of 4' chain link. The rescuer suggested that I either build up the chain link fencing by 2' or hot wiring the top of the chain link fence.

Questions - how easy is it to build up the fence height, and how would I do this?

How expensive would it be for me to hot wire the top of the two sides, estimating about 100-150' of fencing.

Any input wold be appreciated.

Featured Answer

thistle5

12 years ago

I know this is an old post,but it's what I'm dealing with-when we moved into our house 6 years ago, the backyard had a 6' stockade on one neighbors' side, a 5' board fence on the back (adjoining a park), & a 4' split rail on the other neighbors' side. We had an older dog & small children, so we asked our neighbor if we could add wire to the back of the split rail, added wire to the park fence & put in 4' board fencing w/ wire on the front sides w/ a double gate. Problems solved-we could see the park, if the kids were there (although we back to the basketball court which occasionally gets a little loud) & our neighbors still got some sun to their flowerbeds (n side of our yard, s side of theirs).
Our older dog passed away & last summer, we brought home 2 black lab puppies. They are jumpers & escape artists, & we have added an additional 3' of wire to the existing board & split fences, (after asking our neighbor's permission),but they still get out-they just claw or bite down the wire & scramble over, & when they're free, they run like greyhounds-they're 11 months old.
We are going to put up a 6' board fence on the park & north side of the yard. I hope my neighbors won't be too upset, they said when we moved in, they hoped we wouldn't put up an 'ugly' privacy fence, but I can't stand the stress of the dogs escaping anymore, we live near a busy highway.

Comments (8)

lucy
15 years ago
Build it up... would you want to run into a hotwired fence?
User
15 years ago
I extended the posts on a 42" chain link fence to 48" by using top rail butt connectors---or cutting 6" long pieces of top rail, inserting the piece into the post 3" and drilling three screw holes around the outside through the post and the piece of top rail. I then screwed 3/4" long metal screws in the holes(about a #8 screw). Then cut post sections to the required height and repeated the process. The fence on which I did that was 6 years old(the new height part) and sturdy as when first done.
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shadetree_bob
15 years ago
Hot wiring the top may be the cheaper way to go, however if you or you wife or kids or neighbors ever accidently touch it, it will definitely get your attention. kinda like sticking your finger in a lamp socket so I'v been told. One thing about the hot fence once the dog gets to respecting it you don't have to leave it on all the time, just enough to keep his respect fresh. Seriously an electric fence is NOT a good idea for your back yard. These things are designed to keep LARGE animals like cows penned in. Also anyone with a weak heart can have serious problems contacting it. It can stop a pace maker also.
davidandkasie
15 years ago
home use electric fences are different from ag use electric fences. they still sting, but won't seriously injure you. heck, even teh fences for horses won't injure you but they will make you injure yourself.

personally i would extend the fence first. if the animal still gets out, then add in the electric wire along the top and/or bottom. i had a black lab that would climb a 6 ft fence in no time. i could shut the gate on him, turn to go to the house, and he would beat me to the door! when i fixed it so he could not go over, he dug under, after i fixed THAT he went thru the fence. only had 1 other dog that could do that, chew thru a chain link fence, but it does happen. another lab we had would jump any fence under 5ft. funny to see a 95+ pound dog clear a 48" fence, i mean he would never even touch it.
housenewbie
15 years ago
Why not try the invisible fence, where the wire is buried and the shock comes from the collar? It works on my neighbor's dog, who always liked to come into our yard and run all over town. (Golden lab)
brickeyee
12 years ago
A large dog may be capable of simply jumping over the shorter fence.

Even if they touched an electric section top they would not feel anything since they would not be touching the earth to complete the circuit.

Even a Lab can easily top a 4 foot fence with just a little desire to go over.
sierraeast
12 years ago
I had a neighbor who hot wired a 4' fence....for her daughter. I'm not naming names, but someone turned her ass in!