Barbed wire deter dogs?

[Uzuri]

I've got a dog problem (actually I have 4 separate dog problems. @#$%& incompetent owners). Two were a pair of large dogs, running loose. They were in my renters' garage univnited (immediately next door), they don't respond to any sort of commands or threats. They have no collars. Thankfully, they aren't human-agressive (yet; it's not obvious if they're locals or if they've been dumped recently). The other two were a large dog and a medium dog, seen at a distance, obviously dumped quite a long time ago. They seem to be targeting the subdivision about 1/4 mile across the creek, probably looking for trash, but obviously close enough to be in view, so they're a concern.

My current setup is a 20' x 10' welded wire (2" x 4" holes) enclosure with 18" hardware cloth aprons (18" buried, 18" up the sides of the run), and welded-wire "roof" (which thanks to the ice this year is mostly just another thing to bang my head on). Pretty darn tight, and I expect it to hold up to just about anything -- except for something heavy enough and desperate enough to start pulling the welded wire apart.

The dumped dogs definitely qualify as desperate and large; the others... well, we don't know yet.

Anyway, my initial thought was a fence charger, ideally solar because I don't really have a power source that far out from the house. Then I started pricing these things... aheh... not happening this year.

Trying to be creative (which, as we've seen here, doesn't always work), I wondered if barbed wire threaded through the welded wire at two different heights might be enough to at least slow down something trying to tear down the wire. Properly located it should do a number on ripping paws or thrown shoulders. Thoughts?

 

[Ridgerunner]

I think I'd trust the welded wire, but be sure to lock them in the coop at night. From what I've seen my dogs do, I really don't think barbed wire would help at all.

Good luck dealing with this one.

 

[patandchickens]

I wouldn't. Barbwire is a "deterrent" but not really a BARRIER, you know? If they want to try to get over/thru it, they may well succeed. (Which is why it is so hard to successfully fence out dogs and coyotes from sheep flocks)

I would suggest a plug-in fence charger attached to an appropriately set up and CHECKED DAILY set of hotwires around the coop. I know you said you don't have electric out at the coop, but you can plug the charger in at the house and run wire out to the coop. The best arrangement is to run it along an existing fence; if that's not possible, safest/easiest (but less aesthetically inconspicuous) is to put in some temporary posts and run the wire about 3' above the ground from post to post til you get to the run. Ideally you'd use insulated wire so as not to be zapping anyone who touches it; single-insulated wire (which is cheaper than double-insulated burial wire) is generally adequate; it needs to be INSULATED FENCE WIRE though not household insulated wire which is not insulated to that high a voltage. Alternatively you can run insulated wire through conduit or some such and run it on the ground, or shallowly bury it, but aboveground is a tripping hazard and buried is a lot of work, and both are very very apt to develop breaks in the wire's insulation that will ground out your fence and render it dead.

Check the fence every day, preferably with a DIGITAL (not five-neon-lights) fence tester because you need to know it has 4-5,000 volts of charge, not just 'yeah it zapped me'.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[ARose4Heaven]

Yup...electric fence. I have found that once my dogs found out that the wire bites, they no longer go near the henhouse. I can then unplug it for weeks at a time before they start coming round again. They do sell smaller units that don't cost so much that work just as well as the big ones for doggy pests.

 

[perchie.girl]

Quote:
First... Call Animal control, let them know there are stray dogs in the area. Nothing is worse than feral dogs. I personally have owned a dog that could climb a six foot chainlink fence. The best protection is to make a shelf or angled top on that fence. This works for cats as well including bobcat. The barbed wire will do nothing but snag your clothes. So if you can make an overhang of about a foot or a foot and a half a climbing animal will see that as an unsurmountable barrer.

good luck

 

[elmo]

I agree with the part about contacting Animal Control. They might be able to lend you a trap big enough to catch the dogs, and then you could hand them over. In my opinion, a quick, painless death at Animal Control is much better than starving to death in the "wild," being hit by a car, etc.

We live near an urban lake and park, and a lot of people apparently think it's a great idea to dump unwanted pets out at the lake. We've rescued some that were tame enough to approach and were lucky enough to be able to rehome them. We also have a feral cat problem, and we've been able to catch some kittens and rehome them, but the adults have been too savy to catch (we did get a possum once, though). That's how I learned about "loaner traps" from our local Animal Control.

Once we even spotted a white rabbit that obviously had just been released. We had nothing with us in the car to lure it to us, and when we approached it hopped away. I'm sure the poor thing didn't even last the night. All white? Might as well wear a sign that says "eat me."

Sometimes I really am not proud of the species that I belong to. The people who released these dogs didn't deal with their problem, and now they've created a problem for you.

 

[Uzuri]

Animal control here is useless -- I paraphrase, but they once told my friend, when she was having problems with escaped--and obviously fight-experienced--pit bulls that if she caught them, they'd pick them up.

Riiiiiight.

I'm not too concerned about climbing (remember, my run's covered with the same stuff the sides are made of). If no one thinks they'll go through the welded wire, I'm not really too worried at all.

 

[OkChickens]

I would use a fence charger and probably Mr Rifle would take care or the rest... I had a few dogs running around and between my neighbor and I the 4 of them are no longer around. Worked great for me.

-Nate

 

[foxinachickenhouse]

I would be concerned about a big determined dog getting through welded wire. I had a dog that ripped open household exterior metal doors. She did it twice, working the skin off from the bottom and ripping the metal like an opened can. Took her about 2 hours to do it while we were out on errands. She was trying to get inside the house terrified of lightning as she was. Well, she got in, and not a scratch on her. That dog could have gotten into any coop or hutch and did if given the chance. Love the electric fence and solar fence charger. Works great. Peace of mind.

 

[Uzuri]

Quote:
Quoting myself because all too often people don't actually look at the question being asked (and I've noticed this in plenty of other threads, so it's not like this is just about me. Read everything before you post, folks, it'll save time in the end run

). I'm aware that electric fence is the ideal option. I'm also painfully aware that 6 months from now I'm going to be in some serious financial trouble if I don't *make* some extra money. *Spending* huge amounts of money isn't an option at the moment. Plug in isn't an option due to distance. Solar chargers aren't cheap. This is what happens when you make promises to family members that result in large cash expenditures (learned my lesson there, but the money's already tied up).

Summing up, no one thinks barbed wire will help. Good, won't bother using it. But I also can't afford an electric charger and all that goes with it, so it's no good suggesting it.