How to Build a Fence for a Dog Who Digs

Dogs dig for a variety of reasons, but if they dig a lot around a fence line, it often means they are trying to escape. If successful, they might run away, at least for a while, so its important to find a way to keep the dog in the yard. Although special solutions exist, such as setting up an electric boundary wire with a shock collar to warn the dog to stay in the yard, you can also either build a fence or modify your existing one to ensure your pet stays safely at home.

Instructions

- 1
  Build the fence you want and modify it after the fact. It's just as easy to perform a modification after the fence is built to prevent the dog from digging as it is to build a dogproof fence from scratch. If there's not a fence in place now, just build your wire, plank or picket fence as you normally would, or modify the current fence.
- 2
  Dig a trench along the boundary of your fence several inches deep. Look at how deep your dog usually digs to give you an idea of how deep to dig.
- 3
  Attach some chicken wire to the base of the fence and bury it in the trench. Curl the chicken wire so that the cut-off edge points away from your dog so he doesn't poke himself if he digs and encounters the wire. Once it's firmly attached to the fence, refill the trench.
- 4
  Create a border around the fence with large rocks or bricks. This should further dissuade the dog from trying to dig along the fence line. You can also fill the trench with rocks instead of chicken wire to stop the digging.

How to Lay Out a Log Stairway

How to Build a Simple Swinging Side Gate

Fences & Walls