New Dog Containment System

When we bought our house, it came complete with one very rusty chainlink fence, surrounding the entire property. Chainlink fences are (1) ugly, and (2) flexible, and therefore not entirely dog-proof. Particularly not dog-proof when said dog can tell that your neighbor has a newly fertilized garden, and uses every opportunity to go roll in that garden and come back smelling like manure. Mmmm.

So, for a while, we used the redneck way of securing the fence -- piling up rocks wherever the dog escaped.

But then summer came, and we started seeing our neighbors again after the long, rainy winter. Seriously, you never see your neighbors over the winter. It's too wet, too cold.

Our neighbors to the north decided to organize a joint fence venture. We wanted a new fence, they wanted a fence to keep their kids in the yard, and the neighbors next to them wanted a bit of privacy, since their windows are approximately 1 foot apart.

So, after soliciting many bids, we settled on Alki Fence -- since they were ridiculous amounts cheaper than any other fence company, and they could get to work right away.

However, we had to take down the old fence before the new one could be built. Doing that required cutting the chainlink off the poles, and then sawing (with a Saws-All and a metal blade) down the metal fence posts.


One roll of rusted chainlink, and Evan contemplating the best way to remove the fence posts.


Sawing down a fence post.


Pile of fence posts and poles at the end of the day.

So, one morning, the fence crew shows up, and quickly, with a power fence-post hole digger, digs all the fence post holes in approximately 5 minutes. A couple of guys follow them, dumping bags of concrete in the holes. Another guy follows them, filling the holes with water and mixing up the concrete. Finally, two guys stick the new fence posts in the holes and make sure they're nice and straight.

Then they go away for a few days.

Our backyard looks like a crucifixion scene for a while, what with all the very tall wooden poles.

Once the concrete set, the fence crew came back. And within a couple of hours - and this amazed me - we had a fence. It took absolutely no time at all to install a fence around 2 quite large yards.



Fence on the north side of the yard.


Fence on the south side of the yard.


Front gate (with my car in the background!)


Front gate, from the front yard.

As you can see, we decided not to fence in the entire yard. I have a strongly held conviction that fencing in the entire yard really cuts you off from your neighborhood, and did not want that again. Also, I didn't want Copper to be able to stand by the sidewalk and harass passers-by.

P.S. - we still have some of the chainlink up in the front yard. We haven't figured out the best way to remove it, since an evergreen bush has grown up around it. A task for this summer!