Needing Opinions!!!
 

We currently use a 10ft wide kennel outside for our dogs to go potty. It sits about 100ft from the front door. Reason for this?? We sit on about an acre of unfenced yard. Our house sits way in the back corner of the property. So that means, super long driveway, HUGE side yard.....and 100% no back yard....not even a back door.

With the way our house sits, is it possible to fence it?? Would that make it easier for us and the dogs?? The kennel is fine, don't like the placement.....

If we fence the entire yard, it will most likely have to just be the "side" yard.

I will have to take pictures of all of the yard....its very very hard to explain. The driveway is forever long to the road....if you walk halfway down the driveway, and stop....look to both sides and there are our neighbors houses.

In the end, I am asking what the best option is. Keep the kennel and move it? or build a big fence? Or maybe put a tie out in the ground??

I think moving the kennel would be the easiest and quickest. Tie outs offer no protection from predators....

I didn't even think about that with a tie out. My BIL (our neighbor :cool:) uses a tie out....but he has a pitbull/lab. And it really makes sense because I don't want him messing with my babies. He tends to get out often.

:eek:

Yup...I know! My BIL doesn't even seem to care! He thinks it is way too funny! :eek:

Our kennel is 6ft high...so he has not and cannot get in there. My concern with the kennel is that I feel it is small for them. Yes they are small dogs, but is 10x10 big enough??

Having a fenced in yard really rocks in my opinion. If you have the money I would say build a fence. I am not fond of tie outs other things can still get to them and I have heard of dogs being able to get out of there harness or collar when tied out.

Sounds like the kind of person who should not own a pit..........

Is a fence something DH and I could do on our own?? I am thinking a 50x50 square?? If I go that route....you think that would be a decent size??

Like I said, when the sun comes out, I am going to take a few pics so you can see how awkward our yard is! lol!

My thoughts are that if you build a fence, make sure it's high enough so the other dogs can't jump it and get to your babies. Just a thought.

I'm not sure how hard it is honestly. My dad has put a fence up before. I'm sure 50x50 would be great for yorkies :)

pictures
 

Here are a few pics of my yard....excuse the random tree limb and toys.....the last storm blew a lot around! :p

All were taken from my sidewalk and part of my driveway

The first pic is the side yard.....the tree in the very very center of the picture is the end of our property.

Second pic is looking a little left.
Third pic is even further left.

Last pic if our "front yard" / driveway. The big privacy fence divides our yard from BIL's...and as you can see....no yard on that side. The little speck by the light is our mailbox by the road.

They call a land cfg like you describe a "flag lot" here, and, if it is a huge area, fencing would, of course, be really nice if you can afford it. Depending on the 'codes' for fencing, you might be able to fence directly to the house if you are looking to be able to just open a door or install a doggie door and have your babies safely enter a fenced area directly from the house instead of having to cross an open area to get to the kennel.

It you do not feel you can do the work yourself, you could call a fencing contractor...they could give you recommendations, too. Some kinds of fencing are pretty easy to put up...the kind that come in panels, but you did not say what kind (that I remember :p) of fence you would be interested in. A 10x10 offers 100 sq.ft, which is probably sufficient for sunshine and potty, if regularly cleaned. It may not be a great amount of 'run' space; considering that they potty there, they may not want to run in it...not sure if yours are 'squeamish about stepping in potty, or if they are 'neat' and use the fence line like my Yorkie-Poo used to do, etc.

Were you wanting to move the kennel because of the distance to it from your house, or were you thinking of relocating it around the available yard space for cleanliness or the area, or...?

If you do fence, you may want to keep the driveway out of the fenced area to avoid possible accidents. Plus, unless the kennel would be in the way of the fence, would you need to move/remove it to install a fence? What do you use your yard for? Would there be party feet that would make keeping the kennel for the safety of the fur babies desirable?

I agree about tie outs being inappropriate. Yorkies are too small to be on unsafe tie outs in unfenced areas.

:D

SUCH a huge help!!! As for the fence....whatever is the easiest! We just moved in here in October and put the kennel up at the end of the sidewalk, next to the house. I think you can just barely see it in the first pic; closely I can see the gate off to the right. I was standing in front of my door taking this. Ill attach the pic again.

As for a doggie door.....does it need to be placed in a door?? My door leads out to the driveway...where the fence wouldn't be. I dislike walking down the sidewalk to the kennel in the dark. Its very dark, no light reaches out there....not even the flood light above the garage.

We don't have many outdoor things other than bbq's. My son always plays on the driveway because he has a bunch of ride-on toys. Even when we have bbq's, they are done on the driveway/patio area and then we eat inside.

Since we just moved here, my goal (if we do a fence) would be to do my outdoor things around it. Fence first, patio stuff, etc. after.

Yes you can build a fence a on your own. My Husband built a privacy fence (board by board) around an acre of land for our Rottweilers. To be extra safe - he stapled chicken wire around the bottom of the fence when we brought Delilah home.

I dont think doggy doors are good for yorkies in all areas where they could be alone and a preditor like a hawk can get them.

We built a 6 ft cedar privacy fence last year around this time and it was completely worth the effort and we love it! We are very proud of our fence and it really is worth the effort. It gives us a sense of security and makes our yard feel more ours and not the neighborhood's. We used to have dogs run through our front yard, so we built a picket fence, and now it feels so much safer! We live on 1/3 of an acre and it is completely fenced, and we LOVE it.

I say go for the fence... You won't regret it. It really isn't that difficult if you are handy!

Will this be an area where they just go to the bathroom or is this an area where they spend much of the day? I always go out with my dogs even though we have a fence. Having an area you can sit and enjoy the outdoors with them may be the best solution. I just don't think Yorkies should be left outdoors all by themselves.

See I like that idea too. The kids down the road tend to use our yard and play....without asking. which is usually fine, but I don't them messing with my babies.

Now when you say picket fence, you mean the wood ones?? I'm not sure if I am hand enough to do that! lol. I do love the idea of privacy though. But like I mentioned about my weird yard, it would be difficult to fence in all of it. :/

No No....They won't be out by themselves. I am just not too fond of having a kennel way out in our yard. I have absolutely no backyard....just side and a little front. That's why I am asking opinions on a fence and such. I like the fence because of the amount of space it gives them to run and play.

Placement and type are what is killing me. Because of the awkward yard and lack of a back door....I am not sure how to go about this.

Do you have a side door? If not do you have an area you could put a side door in? We put in a backdoor when we moved into our house because of the dogs. Hubby then fenced in that area. I woud build the fence around which ever door I exit to take the dogs out to do their business.

Even with the fence I wouldn't allow the dogs outside without you present. I learned that lesson last year when I was babysitting a pitbull puppy. I was cleaning a grill and not paying attention to what the puppy and my Rottweiler were doing. I heard alot of noise and turned around to see a large bird after the puppy and My Rottweiler trying to herd the bird away from the puppy. Thankfully the bird didn't get the puppy (Good Girl Adria) but from then on - when my dogs are outback they have my total attention.

Do you have a second door? I think I would want the fenced area attached to a area in the house. I'm still a little confused on your layout, but a side fenced yard seems great to me.

Fences are the BEST if you can do it and afford it. Soooo convinenant.

We do not have a fence at my moms house, ours is awkward too. 3 acres, longggg driveway on a hill, and 90 acres of farmland behind us. It's kind of hard to even find a good place FOR a fence. We can't afford it right now so I just have two 50' leads that I use to give Jackson 100ft of space. It's not really a "tie-out" because I hold the end of the leash or let it drag. It kind of sucks. I admit, it's really really nice to just open the door at my dads house and not worry about any dogs running away or getting away.

Nope. No second door. Lol. Whoever designed this house was ridiculous. I'd like to know their reason behind it. We purchased it because of the 4 car garage for DH's older cars he works on.

I'm really leaning toward the fence attached to the side, and kinda hanging off the front. I posted pictures of my yard earlier in the thread. I stood at my front door and took them.

As for a door. Could I maybe just put in a second door? The door would lead right out to the fence. Maybe I can even do a little patio area out there?? I'm pictures this in my head and love it!

I saw your pictures, but I still was confused.:p All I noticed was the gorgeous trees, I'll bet they're even more beautiful with leaves!

I thought most states required a second door for fire reasons? Doors aren't that hard to install, and I think a door leading to little patio area would really increase the value of your home. Half the fun of having multiple dogs is watching them play, so a nice comfortable area for you would be great.

Not too sure about the law. It makes since though. Every house I have ever seen has two doors. We do have a second door, but it leads to the laundry room and garages on the opposite side of the house :p

I wonder how much all this would cost. I would love to let the dogs play outside for awhile and chill out and read and/or watch them play.

I feel lazy saying that I don't like taking them to the kennel, but it just looks weird hanging out in the yard. Having something completely permanent and slightly more convenient would be excellent.

Is your hubby handy? Lowes.com : Install a Patio Door

Id say if you can afford the fence...go for it!! We have built several over the years...not too terribly hard at all!! Have someone dig your post holes with a (i'm blank...tractor that digs holes)...that's the worst part is digging the hole by hand!! Id definitely go with a picket fence or sheet metal for height and security!

As far as the 10X10 area....my furkids have an outdoor play yard that is also about this size (see my albums), but they are potty pad trained so its just to get a breath of fresh air.... We also do have a large fenced yard that they can run around in when we are supervising!! Good luck!!

For our 6 foot cedar privacy fence, we rented an auger that dug 3' holes for us. It's definitely a 2 person job, but it worked and was quick.

Yeah, we built a wood picket fence out front and the privacy fence is in the back. It really is great to be able to sit out and enjoy the yard with the dogs and not have to worry about another dog running up to them or them running into the street.

They make doggie doors that can be installed through the wall of your house even if it's brick.