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I plan on building a wooden fence out of pressure treated lumber this spring. I like the idea of 4x4's as posts and 2x2's for spindles. My wife and I do not like privacy fences. The function of this fence will be to contain my dog while allowing him to enjoy the sights of the neighborhood. Does anyone one have some links for design options? I am having a hard time combing the web for decent suggestions.

Something like this:

enter image description here

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    Heads up that the pressure treated stuff will likely warp and twist like crazy. I really regret using PT posts for my fence. – DA01 Feb 27 '12 at 15:16
  • @DA01 My privacy fence has a couple of posts and rails that are SEVERELY buckled. I hadn't realized that was a characteristic of pressure treated wood. – Doresoom Feb 27 '12 at 15:46
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    Treated wood nowadays seems to come SUPER WET from the big box stores. Try not to take the soakers - look for dryer stuff that is straight. – dbracey Feb 27 '12 at 16:48
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    How high can the dog jump? That fence is fine for a small dog, but a large dog will use it to get a good angle on the jugular. – BMitch♦ Feb 28 '12 at 15:26
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    I would also point out the issue of a dog digging under the fence. A dog who is bored will find something interesting to do, but if there is something attractive on the other side of the fence, nothing will stop them from their goal. – user558 May 17 '12 at 14:12
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Home Depot has a pretty good guide for building wire fences. If you prefer a post and rail look, you could always add a few rails to the design. It would make it look a little better and add some strength as well.

The result might look something like this:

enter image description here

(image source)

I recently built my own garden fence from chicken wire and cedar. It managed deflect a 'direct hit' from my 80 lb. dog running full tilt. (I made the mistake of letting her in the backyard right after I finished it. It was dark out and she couldn't see the wires.) She's not a jumper, so we only had to make the fence 3' tall.

  • For the posts, I ripped down cedar 2x4s that I got from Home Depot for $6.50 each. I made four 4' 2x2s from each one, and mitered one end to a point. Then I hammered them into the ground so a full foot was buried.
  • Next, I stretched and stapled the chicken wire between posts.
  • The gates are just a 2x2 frame, braced at 45° at each corner.
  • I'm still in the process of adding a top and bottom rail. I'm ripping 2x4s into 1/2x4s and screwing them to the posts. So I get 24 ft of boards for $6.50, rather than 8 ft.

Here's the fence in progress, with 80 lb dog for size reference: enter image description here

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