Thank you all very much for bringing out some of the same points I have brought to my husbands attention. I'll be fencing in my whole back yard. I've asked him for the past 4 years,always the same answer. At least I'll be able to keep all the other animals out of our yard ( except for the chicken hawks ) that wonder through the neighborhood. We have a leash law that some just refuse to obey. We love our girls and would never do anything to hurt them. So a fence seems like the safest way to do that