Fencing
 

Hi,

We've just moved to Toronto and we've signed up to rent our first home here. I didn't think I'd be posting something about garden fencing, so I apologise for the dullness of this question but the subject is one of those differences we've spotted already when viewing houses, particularly newer homes.

The house we've chosen is fenced in the back but theres no dividing fence at the side of the house to block us from the neighbour next door or the (quiet) road at the front. We have a 20 month old toddler who will look instantly at both with glee as he runs to exactly the places he shouldn't. We may only have the house for a year, so I don't want to invest too many $ on a permanent fence, even if we got the landlords permission. The realtor suggested a temporary snow fence, which now I've Googled and looks like something that belongs at the side of a road or a pop concert.

Any suggestions for something tasteful, toddler proof but temporary-ish that won't ruin the lawn by digging up in 12 months. I'm happy to pay but not to ruin the lawn to install something too permanent.

(before I get any tuts and raised eyebrows, yes a gaping route to the road is important and yes it was a consideration when we agreed the lease..but the house is perfect in location, trails and schools and will be a lovely home for our son once we sort this)

Thanks,

Paul

Re: Fencing
 

Hi


You might want to check the municipal bylaws first. In our neighbour hood, no front fences allowed.

Re: Fencing
 

I have become a bit of a bore on the subject of fencing. Mine is a small, but nosey and busy, dog problem. If I don't fence him in properly he will be gone for good. I have found chain link fence to be horribly expensive, and it looks not so great too - there don't seem to be so many options available in our neck of the woods. We are now going for 4ft high picket fencing, that comes in an 8 ft panel (why oh why can't we have it in metres and cms?) and we are getting it from Kent, and it's treated (because I'll paint it next spring, but not before), and they will deliver. There are lots of size and options for wood picket (child's head and dog's nose size are easily accommodated)...as you would expect perhaps, but also bloody great variants in pricing and quality, so check all the different shops, you'll have all different ones to me. Ask for deals and free delivery, my OH would like to die of embarrassment with me because I ask for a better deal...but I also frequently get one. We can't fence our front, so we are doing it all round the back and half way down the side walls, so the dog is free to run in the back. My neighbours where I last lived were only there for two years, with a young child, so they fenced the garden beautifully and then took it with the when they left? Best of luck.

Re: Fencing
 

Because it wouldn't fit the ground. Or, it would but only if you ordered it, in fractions of millimetres. Imperial's simpler because it allows the use of round numbers, 40' not 748.8 centilitres, 1lb not 455g. In France metric works because the earth's metric and so are the fence lines, road spacing and so on. Here they're not.

Re: Fencing
 

your talking total bollox!!

anyway i would never rent a house or buy for that fact that wasn't fenced at the back and sides not sure why you would have a fence at the front?..unless you were on a busy main road toddler or not.

Re: Fencing
 

Invisible fence perhaps? Seems to work pretty well if you get the type with a central transmitter so the collar will continue to operate once the dog is beyond its range, rather then the burried wire type where once the dogs over the wire the collar stops doing its thing?


Cant really use that on kids though, so cant help the OP...

Re: Fencing
 

Its not really bollox (despite appearances), most lot sizes here were defined in feet and yards, so a fence in ft units is an easier fit. Land concessions are based on 100 "chains" per side (66ft in a chain) and enclose 1000 acres, as they get subdivided into lots its all in feet.

Metric in canada is a mishmash because all that happened is imperial units like ft and lbs were just converted to metric amounts, so you get 455g of butter, not a more logical 500g etc. Every hardware store Ive ever been in sells stuff by the ft, sheets of plywood are 4'x8', drywall too, fenceposts are 4', cedar rails are 12', chain and rope are sold by the foot etc etc etc.

You get used to it. At work I deal in a mixture of metric and imperial, it used to do my head in!

Re: Fencing
 

They're subdivisions of 400 acre lots. Someone with a bad case of metrification might express that as 161.8744 heptathletes but that'd quickly get bizarre. The typical division would first be to 80.9372 heptagons, soon your backyard is 5.058575 heptolitres; turn up at the yard wanting enough posts to fence that and they'll look at you like you're a Belgian.

Re: Fencing
 

Kudos for "heptathletes".

Re: Fencing
 

Iank...I have wondered about these invisible fences...but I've gone for 'proper' because I'm not sure that I could trust the little sod he's very determined and loves the squirrels, also the park is at the bottom of our garden and we've had a couple of unleashed dogs come in to play with our dog.

I only want metric, because it took my poor befuddled brain ages to get used to it, and now that it finally has, it's all change again! Yes it's a mishmash here, Chicken was on special offer at the weekend...$1.67 a pound..but all of the weights on the chickens were in kilos and grams and priced accordingly.

Dogs are easy for fencing but kids a bloody nightmare, they quickly learn to open gates and toddle off. OP Have you spoken to your landlord, because he might be happy to help with the cost of fencing as it's going to improve his home and make it easier for future letting?

Re: Fencing
 

Invisible fencing wont do anything to stop other dogs visiting I guess, but its certainly been effective in keeping our neighbours big dumb fellow dog in their yard and our friends australian cattle dog close to home.

Re: Fencing
 

We have the invisible fence, central transmitter type for our dog and it works like a charm. He is approx 65lb and we have it set for an 8lb dog and still he will not cross that boundary. Having said that it depends a little on the type of dog, ours is a Springer and is an utter wimp, our neighbours had a husky and their receiver was set at maximum power and the dog would just ignore it if she wanted to escape badly enough.
The only issue we have is that our dog knows when he has his receiver collar on and when he doesn't - took him a while to figure it out but he absolutely has now. At first he wouldn't cross his boundary even without the collar but now if it isn't on he will venture off the property. He is an explorer not an escapee though, so he ambles back eventually.

Re: Fencing
 

Thank you for that simple and revealing explanation. I now understand.

Re: Fencing
 

What about a giant play pen??

We have no fences here at all. One set of neighbours puts planks along the front edge of their property. Seems to stop their kids running onto the road, maybe it just trips 'em up so giving the adults time to catch them.

Re: Fencing
 

There is also chainlink fence that can be removed and taken with you to the next place, or sold

Re: Fencing
 

So in summary, check that you are permitted to erect a fence at the front, and if so, check with the landlord if he will contribute to the (reasonable) cost of erecting one, either directly or by rent reduction,...if it is to be a permanent one, or if he won't contribute, and you don't want it to be permanent, take it with you when you leave. Simples!

Re: Fencing
 

I fear there's a hint of sarcasm there. If you'd like I could elucidate at some length.

I don't think invisible fences are a good idea. The snag is that the dog will ignore the pain if it's excited enough about something across the barrier, it's exactly when there's something exciting outside the fence that you don't what the dog running out.

I suppose people don't often use invisible fence for children. It may be very British of me to say so but if I can't use it on my children I certainly wouldn't use it on my dogs.

Re: Fencing
 

Ignoring the pain is very dependent on the dog, ours won't even ignore the beep which comes first to warn the dog that he is somewhere he shouldn't be. Even when one of his buddies is walking just past his boundary he won't cross it, and will chase a ball, squirrel, rabbit up to the boundary and then stop. Actually I tested the fence on both of my kids (they volunteered) and myself before I tried it on the dog, at the level ours is set it is a very mild tingle - one of the kids quite liked it, but he is weird :)

Having this fence has allowed our dog to have a lot more freedom than he would have had in a traditionally fenced backyard. He loves to sit in the driveway and watch the world go by, he would not have been able to do that with a traditional fence. Another plus is that it is portable, so if someone else looks after him or you take a vacation rental then the dog can be similarly contained on those properties too.

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Our neighbours dog is the most excitable dumb yellow dog, and yet it never leaves the property even under severe provocation.

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Where does he get that from? :D

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His father - obviously

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Actually I was quoting your comments on metric and imperial, but I like that you sensed sarcasm.

I get the whole electric fences thing, the dog is over excited and ignores the pain. Then when they want to come home again they are calmer and remember the pain so don't cross.

Invisible fencing for children sounds a good idea. Could also try the anti-bark collars too, especially when in public places.

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Takes two to tango as they say mind you ;)

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Love the kiddy trial! Sounds exactly like the kind of thing mine would do! I have a weird one too :rofl:

Re: Fencing
 

Me too! Maybe not such a good idea for the OP though!