Vince and I had thought about and discussed what we could put at the bottom of the fence to keep Oscar from digging out. He will probably never be left alone outside but he’s also pretty fast at doing most anything he sets his mind to doing and I could see him figuring out how to dig under the fence.
Dachshunds are diggers so even though I’d like to hope he’ll outgrow the digging phase, I doubt he does.
Even once the fence is finished, it will still be a while before Oscar is off the leash in the back yard. We’re going to put some raised beds near the fence – not right up against it but I think the plan is to put them end to end so that we can’t walk between them, and neither can Oscar. Most of the raised beds will have a wire trellis going up and this is where I’ll grow climbing beans, cucumbers, loofah and things that need to climb. The wire will keep Oscar from getting behind those and we’ll block off the ends when we’re not working between the fence and the raised beds.
One little dog can surely make things difficult but we are glad to have him (maybe one of us is more glad than the other!) We’re probably those people others are saying “I can’t believe they’re going to so much trouble for a dog!” 🙂
Rosalie says
Judy, I’ve seen some no dig fence panels you can put in low spots or if he starts to dig somewhere. Just search no signs fence on Amazon
judy.blog@gmail.com says
These are the no dig panels.
DarW says
As Rosalee said, they make puppy panels for fencing where the slat/rod distances are narrower to also prevent them from squeezing in between. I would suggest getting something without the spiked decorative tops however. I always worried about a collar catching. While he’s unlikely to be out without supervision, things can happen in the blink of an eye. He certainly is a cutie!
judy.blog@gmail.com says
The vertical strips are 2.25″ apart. Oscar can’t start to fit through those.
Deb E says
We’ve always dug down and put 12 x 12 blocks underneath the gates so our dogs couldn’t dig out (or something else dig in). When finished they are level with the dirt so the dogs couldn’t pull them up. Since we bought this house last summer we’ve been retrieving larger rocks all over the property (6×6, 8×8, etc). We’ve been putting these along the bottom of the fence mainly to prevent our granddog from digging out when he visits (he did one time, into the neighbors yard and we called him back in and fixed it). If you dig those into the ground the right way (halfway buried) they can’t get out and other critters can’t get in, either (skunks, possums, etc).
judy.blog@gmail.com says
That’s a good idea. I’ll mention that to Vince . . when it gets cooler.
Kathleen -Robin says
Jo at Jo’s Country Junction seems to have some sort of invisible fence to keep Rosie in her yard and it seems to be working well for her. Have you thought of something like that for Oscar?
judy.blog@gmail.com says
As much as we want to keep Oscar in, we want to keep other animals out. There are other dogs in the neighborhood that we’d like to keep out also and we want to leave our pizza oven and smoker out and having the fence block them from sight will hopefully mean they remain in our possession a while longer. I think what we’re doing will be sufficient but time will tell.
Nelle Coursey says
I think there is a wire you can place in or on the ground to deter them from digging around the fence.
Kris in Naperville says
We lined the bottom of our neighbors fence with railroad ties… that stopped our dog, Bruce, from creating alot of mischief and I could place a long planter with flowers on it to dress it up a bit….
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Vince may use landscape timbers but he’s pretty much against using railroad ties anywhere on our property due to potential toxicity.
Cilla says
I use landscape timbers and 3′ fencing. Yes some still dig but no one has dug out yet. 2 of the 7 Dachshunds are professional diggers. I think they actually have a Union Rep.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Oscar appears to be training for the digging Olympics!