· Michael Blair
People choose fence height for dogs and then lose the dog underneath it. Digging is the more common escape route, and Middle Tennessee clay is soft enough when wet to make it easy.
Height by dog, honestly
Four feet contains many dogs and almost no determined ones. Six feet handles most breeds. A committed climber will manage six, and for those the answer is an inward-angled top or a roller bar.
Height also matters for what the dog can see. A dog that can see the street through a picket fence is more motivated than one behind privacy boards.
Stopping the digging
Burying the fence fabric or adding an L-footer — mesh turned outward at ground level and buried a few inches — defeats digging, because dogs dig at the fence line rather than a foot out from it.
Concrete or paver strips along the base work too and are easier to mow around.
- Six feet for most breeds, more for climbers
- L-footer or buried mesh at the base
- No gaps larger than the dog can push through
- Self-closing, self-latching gate with a latch out of reach
- Nothing climbable within reach of the fence
Gates and the things beside fences
Gates are the weak point — left open, or with a latch a clever dog can lift. A self-closing hinge and a latch mounted high on the outside solve most of it.
And check what is near the fence. A wood pile, an air conditioner or a raised bed against a six-foot fence turns it into a four-foot fence.
Invisible fences
They can work for some dogs and fail badly for others, since a sufficiently motivated dog accepts the correction and leaves — then will not come back through it.
They also do nothing to keep other animals or people out, which for a Nashville front yard is often the more important function.