I know you said you’re looking at metal, but do you think if you got a wood privacy fence instead, the dog would be less likely to jump because it won’t be able to see past it (not a dog owner, but just a thought).
We have a standard poodle. I think she could jump it but she has never tried. Neither has any golden we've ever had.
But growing up there was a golden a block away who would regularly jump the 5-6 foot tall privacy fence and go on adventures.
Personally I'd go 4 foot since that's sufficient for 95% of dogs.
ETA: digging under is more of a risk from what I've seen. Most outgrow digging pretty quick.
When do they outgrow digging? Ours is three and he still digs massive ankle-breaking holes randomly throughout the yard. He’s not stressed or anything - he loves it out there and it appears as if he’s actually trying to get at something.
I think dogs are also either diggers or not (like they are jumpers/runners or not). My 7 year old mixed breed will dig (always in the mulch beds, not the grass at least), either to get at animals that went under our deck or to expose roots of plants she wants to chew. She has killed several plants by chewing their roots, so luckily when we moved we did our invisible fence in a way that only gave her access to areas we didn't care if she destroyed. My other dog doesn't dig at all, ever.
Post by pinkplasticdoll on Jul 3, 2024 7:30:39 GMT -5
We have 6' all around. We have a husky and given the right circumstances I think she could clear the fence but on a day to day she is fine and instead just jumps up and down like she is performing in a circus act.
Post by lavenderblue on Jul 3, 2024 7:42:10 GMT -5
I really think this is dog dependent. I currently have 3 dogs and an electric fence, but even if I did have a regular fence, I'm pretty sure that none of them would ever try to jump it, it's not them. That said, my sisters dog is absolutely insane and jumped their 6ft fence so many times, even after they added an electric dog fence, that they eventually had to put in an electrified cattle fence to keep her in the yard, they didn't really have a choice, their house is on a busy road. I think she only had to get shocked once on that fence and hasn't jumped it since.
Post by Doggy Mommy on Jul 7, 2024 21:37:40 GMT -5
Our dog is on a long lead in the backyard because a 4 foot fence is nothing to a whippet. So I say 6 foot at least, and wood because being able to see the fun things happening on the other side is what made ours want to jump it. (Thankfully she isn't one to run *away*, but once she knew she could jump it, she wanted to visit her favorite neighbors, people who walked by, etc, and once she took off after a fox).
I had a large husky who first dug out of her fenced in yard to the point my dad had to line the fenced area with concrete so she stopped. Then she discovered that our 4' fence was nothing to her, so she jumped out daily and took herself on walks.
She would be out and about roaming the road and see our car on it, run along side the car to the house and then jump back into her fenced area with her tail wagging to "greet us" when we arrived like she was the goodest girl ever, lol.
Post by definitelyO on Jul 8, 2024 10:23:34 GMT -5
Our backyard fence is anywhere from 6' to 12'.
but - that's just the height of the fence. We didn't even think about what height for dogs (we have a lab and a rescue). None of our dogs have ever been jumpers/escape artists though. I guess I'd defer to what is common in your neighborhood and what looks good.