Tom's idea about using an eight foot high fence and burying two feet is sound, but it requires a trencher to install the fence, which increases the installation cost by a significant amount ( I know this from first hand experience )

Hi Will: Your 100 per cent right. We rented a Ditch Witch and It wasn't so bad but if You have to hire someone ???? Plus we do not know how big of a area that needs to be fenced. Since it was my way of making a living I went thru quite a bit of time and expense to keep the Dogs in and outsiders from attempting to steal or ( believe it or not ) try and pet the Dogs. Tom

 Quote: tom lasko

( believe it or not ) try and pet the Dogs. Tom

I never underestimate the power of stupid or uneducated people. I have been working with dogs that were handler aggressive and had people approach to pet the dog without even asking. To make it worse, I have asked them not to and explained the dog was in training for aggression related issues or just simply say the dog was in training I've gotten a response back about how I'm being cruel to the dog by not letting them "just sniff me and they will know I'm ok" or "just let the dogs PLAY! It won't kill them!" Lol. If only they knew...

 Quote: al curbow

If you train your dog to stop barking when you tell it to, not leave the gate unless you tell it to etc.... it's just training. If someone can't train something as simple as staying in the yard when the gate is open or to shut up when told, then they should get a trainer to help them or get a cat, lol. It's basic obedience.............

Well, I'm not sure where that came from but my dog does stop barking when I tell him "quiet" but that doesn't stop him from barking an hour later if he hears something. I also WANT my dog to bark if he hears (or sees) something. I live in that kind of neighborhood, much to my disgust. I've had peeping toms in the backyard AND the frontyard. Had to jump my gate in order to get into my backyard. That's why I got the GSD I got and am training him in personal protection.

The gate is padlocked - as I said I rarely use it, no need to. So there's no danger of anyone opening it, family member or not. If the improbable did happen however, my dog won't just take off like a shot. He'd stay if I told him to. But that's with me there, giving the command.

The gate is the only way to get from the backyard to the frontyard, and as I mentioned before, but no one commented on, how does anyone know that a well trained intact male dog will not jump a gate/wall/whatever in order to get to a female dog in heat, that as I also mentioned, are wandering loose in the streets where I live. So...do you trust your male dogs not to jump that wall to get to her, assuming he is able to scale a 6' wall?

 Quote: Mike Schoonbrood

Yet, there are people hiding the fact that they have a gate from their dog...

I'm sure my dog is not stupid, and knows the gate leads to the frontyard - we've walked up to the gate from the frontyard often (and it's not like he doesn't know it's there, from the front or the back!). I just don't see any reason to keep calling his attention to it from the backyard, since he DOES know the gate leads to OUR frontyard, for the reason I wrote, namely loose female dogs in heat.

I like my dogs to be able to hang out in the yard while I am doing stuff. Either a dog likes to dig or he doesn't. It doesn't suddenly become an issue because he saw you do it. I am probably the most lax person you will ever meet when it comes to what I will tollerate from my dogs, but at the same time, if my adult dogs can't deal with being told not to do something in case it'll hurt their working abilities then they weren't cut out for the work anyway.

Puppies -- OK, avoid the behavior. But adults?????????

 Quote: RobbinMann

.... When my husband or I work out in the yard we make it a point to put the dogs inside and close the blinds so that the dogs won't see us digging. .... To remove certain possible future issues from the equation strikes me as just getting ahead of the game.

I'm sorry, and I don't mean to be picking on anyone, but hiding a gate and never using it in view of the dog, and doing undercover stealth yard work with the blinds closed .... is just an extremely funny picture to me.

C'mon. Isn't it funny to you too?

To each their own when it comes to chainlink or a privacy fence. I had a 5' black vinyl coated fence with a 7'x 11' cement slab with a roofed kennel on it. My dog barked when people came too close to the fence but I also taught him to shut up and not bark at every little thing.

Just a thing to remember with a privacy fence. Burglars love them because it conceals them while trying to get into a house. Yes even ones with dogs in them . If it looks like you got good stuff in your house a professional burglar will go for it.

Oh yeah! The gate thing cracked me up too.

Mike, I never meant to imply that a dogs working ability would be an issue if he was made to be obedient, that obviously either came out wrong or was understood incorrectly.

No doubt my adult dogs have very little issue when it comes to digging. However, when lizards run under the bushes in my garden my female will chase them and dig so that she can catch them, thus tearing up the drip, etc. Levi, being more of a puppy will and has come out when we are digging in the garden and joined in the fray. Maybe he thinks it's a game or something. Maybe he's just so intelligent he thinks he's helping, lol. Whatever the case may be, we will continue to 'garden under stealh' and yes, I think it's flipping hilarious. and humor is my specialty.