You may remember a couple of weeks ago I asked for ideas about portable dog enclosures. I’ve had a couple of helpful suggestions which I thought I’d share with you.
Frank organises an annual greyhound get-together in May and he sent photos of what he uses. Obviously the fencing isn’t high enough to stop a galgo jumping over to chase any hare/rabbit stupid enough to appear in the field! But useful for keeping the dogs tethered in their own space. Instead of the metal poles, I suggested the white plastic electric fencing poles like I use for my horses.
Kate thought the panels I found looked great; she suggested an idea for pegs.
‘Those panels look great – expensive, but if they’re good quality and you use them a lot, probably worth it. The thing to remember is not to bother with silly little camping pegs, but to get someone to cut you some 40cm lengths of reinforcement bars, not more than 1cm diameter, and bend them over at the top into almost a hook (more than camping pegs ever are.) Then knock them in at quite an angle (the end in the ground near the pen, the top further away.) You can even use one of those tension belts right over the top if you want to be sure, the kind they have on lorries. The re-bo pegs can also be used as tethering pegs if necessary – bashed in well, there’s no chance of getting entangled. Also, you’ll need some shade netting and something waterproof. These camping mats are excellent an are as waterproof as you’re likely to need – can be used as groundsheets or covers. I have two and they’re excellent value, though of course not ecological, but hardly anything is and also ground sheet.
Comments
5 responses to “Portable dog enclosures – suggestions”
its a brilliant idea
Hallo again Beryl. I don’t want to seem to be criticising just for the sake of it, but I honestly don’t think the netting is a good idea for your purposes.
1. You know it’s really meant for putting round road works, building sites and open manholes; that’s partly why it’s such a garish colour – so that people can’t fail to notice it. However, on campsites, perhaps out in the country, you don’t want things that are garishly noticeable and I think you’d find that the site manager and/or the other campers would complain – they might not, but it’s quite likely. For a one-ay meet, it’s different.
2. It’s very stretchy and if a dog or a child leans against it, it won’t resist. Again, that doesn’t matter at the meets, because the owners are there all the time and it’s not for long, but you’ll want to leave the dogs safe and go to the showers or shopping, as well as being able to sleep tranquilly at night!
3. If you want it higher, you can it 2 metres high at least; also you can buy it in black, I think, though it’s not as commonly available (but i wouldn’t use it anyway.)
4. A dog can easily get a paw entangled and then the whole lot can come down and serious harm may result.
5. You can’t padlock it or put an alarm on it. Your dogs can be stolen – it can anywhere.
6. The plastic fence posts aren’t strong enough. They work for your horses because they’re elderly, sensible, used to electric fencing and have plenty of space and everything, so no need to escape, but I’ve seen them snap just from a strong wind, literally, let alone an excited dog.
7.On a campsite, you don’t know what the other dogs will be like; yours could be attacked by another camper’s dog(s) or by a stray, or a child might just want to pet them but cause panic.
The problem with my suggestions is the weight of the rebar pegs and of the matting. You can buy extra-long, angle-section pegs, which aren’t nearly as good but are better than the silly little ones. There are more lightweight alternatives to the matting – hessian or canvas are good for shade and as windbreaks; for sudden downpours you’d need something, or else take them into the awning if you have one.
Your input is always valuable, Kate. What I’m looking for is something just to put around for the dogs to stay in, with us next to them, not for overnight or to leave them. Just so they know they have their own space. The above idea must work well or they wouldn’t use it at the greyhound event.
Oh I seee! That’s quite different then – I agree that lightweight netting and plastc poles would be best in that case, only you might think about getting a more discreet colour!
There’s also the green shade netting, the kind that’s used for shade over a terrace or on campsites, or along the bars of a fence or gate for privacy. I don’t know what it’s called.. That’s light and easy to roll or fold, but would give the dogs a bit of privacy (they can see out, but they won’t be stared at or barked at so much)and shade and it’s quite attractive and discreet and can be used for other purposes as well. You couldn’t thread the posts through it as with the other, but it’s easy to fix them with wire or clips. I think that’s what I’d use.
Thanks, Kate, that’s another useful suggestion, will have a think about how to fix. Would certainly be less risk than the orange square netting insofar as paws couldn’t get caught.