Fence Size

[Sue & Willy Babe]

We are thinking of getting a fence for the backyard  now Wilson is pretty good about staying in the yard but do not want to take any chances    he is 27inches tall.  How tall should then fence be ??? My DH thinks 3 feet would be tall enough  but   I want to go 4  what are your ideas


thanks

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Spud can clear 5ft without effort--done is 2 seconds without anyone even knowing. 3 feet would just be agility practice for him. Good Luck

[F, Calla & Luca]

Does he have areas that he can use to accelerate? Sounds to me even 4 feet is dicey. Luca, who is much shorter often jumps from the garage floor up to the landing of the steps leading into the house and that's around 3 feet. You might be able to go shorter if you had cabling above the top. My deer fence is less than 5 feet in places but there are 2 cables at about 1 and 2 feet above that. The deer seem to be unable to see or, maybe, figure out that they could probably jump this. But then again doodles are smarter than deer : )

[Adina P]

Depends on how badly he wants to get at something on the other side.  Some dogs will never jump a fence ... It has nothing to do with height of the dog though....there are shorter dogs than Wilson that have climbed or jumped taller fences than what you are considering.

[1xar0x2rcx0li]

I have 3 doodles. Two standad adults, and our 4 ft has never been breached by them. We have a 6 month old puppy that scales it like spiderman. She didnt climb the 6 ft at the kennel, so we may be upgrading to that height if she doesnt outgrow this.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

We have 4' and it has never occurred to either of our girls to even try to jump over it. However, the Labradoodle that we recently fostered could jump our 41" dog gate from flat footed stance without even giving it a second thought. If it were me and you think he might try to jump out at all, I would test it at some other locations with fencing and test him with some things on the outside to see how he reacts. All fencing is expensive and it would be a shame to spend the money only to find he can jump out.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I agree that it depends on the dog. Jack never jumps except to catch a ball. Otherwise his front feet never leave the ground. Part of our fence is 4 ft., and part is 5 ft. There are bushes along it, which also help; he could easily clear a 4 ft fence if he wanted, but not if he also has to clear the 6 ft evergreens in front of it. F Parker's comment about having room to accelerate is a good one, too.
Some other factors to consider are the building codes where you live. In my town, you must get a permit before you can put up a fence, and there are many restrictions. One rule is that the maximum height for a residential fence is 5 ft, unless you have certain extenuating circumstances, like living adjacent to a busy main street. So you may want to check that first, because it might limit your options.

[Sue & Willy Babe]

Thanks Karen never even thought about checking with our village will be on the phone tomorrow Our neighbor behind us has a 4foot fence I believe we will check it out later this afternoon. Wilson only does leap to catch balls, but Like Adina said you never know what is on the other side that catches his attention.

thanks for all your help

[F, Calla & Luca]

Yup, that's why my deer fencing was not all that high. Of course, after I had it done they changed the ordinance because the deer had become such a problem. That's why they call them rats with hooves : )

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

We just put in a 4 foot aluminum fence and love it!! Fudge has never tried to jump the fence, but keep in mind, she does not jump the plastic lid I have blocking her from going down the basement.

[April Cliber]

We have 5 feet and it's perfect! I think 3 feet is too short. 4 feet may work...

[BG and Gavin]

How is he with boundaries? Gavin is 27 inches or so at the shoulder and his baby gate at the end of the hall is only 28 inches. He could practically step over it, but he never has - seems to respect the boundary. Of course he is not in an excited state in the house, no temptations passing by. Okay, I would go 5 feet!

[Debbie and Thomas]

3 FEET? That is so low...I would go 6 ft. to be totally secure. Although I was walking Thomas the other day and a German Shepherd on the corner lot where I was walking jumped straight up and I could see his head over the top of this jigh fence. It really startled me! He jumped straight up(he was in his yard) over the top of this fence. Wow...I would be so worried he would get out.