Atten: Tanimara; Need Fencing Advice for LGD's

[Good Hope]

We will be moving to a 130+ acre ranch in Nov. The current fencing consists of barb wire with electric at the top and bottom, not child, horse, or dog friendly. I need to go out to get fencing estimates next month. The 8 ft. concrete block/stucco fence at 200k isĀ  cost prohibitive. The standard split 4 rail fence will only hold horses. Chain link is also dangerous for horses, so how about some ideas based upon your experience? We have a Kuvasz, plan to add a second and a Great Pyr within a year. Thanks for your help.

Deena

[mastiffmommy]

Well I am not sure I have any real advice, here we have a privacy fence about 8' tall, but we only have an acre lol so a little less than you are having to fence in. Back in sweden though, where I had both horses and dogs. I had about 30 acres or so, divided into several different pastures, I never tried to fence in both dogs and horses BUT the fences we had well the dogs never went out when they were with me in there and they never went in to the horses when they were on the outside with me either so I guess it worked on both of them 

We had a four rail fence about (hmmmm converting from metrec hehe) between 6' and 7' but since we had both bigger horses that were showjumpers and small shetland ponies for the kids well that fence was okay for the big oned but the little ones are real escape artists, so we added electrical fence inbetween the rails the white electrical fence "bands" the 1" wide, we had them under first rail, between first and second, and between the second and third.

Like I said we didnt try to fence in the dogs there, but it seems to have worked real well, and since we started the electrical bands so low down both the smaller dogs and the big dogs never tried to go through there.

Marit

[Mark Dozier]

How cool is that! With that area I wouldn't put up anymore fence expect right around the yard of the house.
I don't know your first bred but Pyr's they do like to wander but they also respect fences when they know it is the boundary. I would first walk the fence with the dogs and teach they that is the NEVER CROSS ALONE line. Do this from day one and you should never have an to much of an issue. Of course I have only had one Pyr so I am not an expert.
I would also bring the dogs to meet the neighbors so they know who and what they are.

[tanimara]

Deena,

The first thing I would suggest is that you join us at Pyr Talk.  Most of the folks there use LGDs and there are many of them that are great about sharing ideas that work on the farm and ones that are a waste of money and time.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PyrTalk/

Most folks us welded wire combined with a hotwire.  The hotwire keeps the horses off the fence and the dogs in.  However if you want something fancier I would suggest you ask it at Pyr Talk.  Another thing that works is to line the inside of a pipe fence with the welded wire to keep the dogs in.  Due to a recent move, I have mine at the moment in 4 strand hot wire with no permanant fencing and it is working well on all but one female.

When people tell you that Pyrs are roamers or that they are not fence jumpers, bear in mind that Pyrs are very individualisti c.  Some roam, some dont (most do), some jump fences, some dont.  All will do both if they are reliable guardians and the situation calls for it.

Please do join us at Pyr Talk.  We would love to have you there.

Jackie

[Good Hope]

Jackie,

Thanks for the advise. I will join you on Pyrtalk to obtain as much info as possible. I do want to stay away from hot wires if possible because we have 6 children, 4 very young ones, so maybe a tape above the top rail or acroos the top of the other fencing would be good. My Arabians are show horses and have not been exposed to hot wire either. I just would like to get rid of that barb wire before someone or something gets hurt. We are probably 6 -12 months away from purchasing Gr. Pry. for guarding our horses, future Dexters, chickens and ducks, so joining the group now and learning makes sense to minimize mistakes. We have a Kuvasz now. She is my kids guardian. We'll another once we get settled. We have a resident bobcat and coyotes on the other side of the fence which we are told occasionally visit (property has lots of wild turkeys and deer.)

Thanks again! Hope to hear from you on both sites often!

Deena