Dear Neighbor, Friend, Stranger,

I am sharing this with you because I am concerned about your dog.  I notice that your dog lives on a chain in your yard and this of great concern to me.  I hope that you take this information and know that I am offering to help you find a better way to care for your dog.

Dogs are naturally social beings who thrive on interaction with human beings and other animals. In the wild, dogs and wolves live, eat, sleep, and hunt with a family of other canines. Dogs are genetically determined to live in a group.  A dog kept chained alone in one spot for hours, days, months, or even years suffers immense psychological damage. An otherwise friendly and docile dog, when kept continuously chained, becomes neurotic, unhappy, anxious, and often aggressive.  Chaining ENCOURAGES aggression not protection.  A chained dog becomes bored, socially isolated, and overall NOT what you want for your family’s pet.

Building a fence doesn’t  have to cost much if you do some work yourself. You can attach mesh fencing to wooden or metal posts for the cheapest fence. Chain link is easy to install, too. This website has great instructions for building a mesh fence. http://www.unchainyourdog.org/FenceMesh.htm.

If your dog can escape your fence:

• Extend height of the fence with mesh fencing.
• Attach inexpensive bamboo or reed fencing, which comes in 6-foot rolls, to the fence. It is hard for dogs to climb this slick fencing.
• Install an electric fence. At Petsmart and other pet supply stores you can buy electric fence kits for fenced and unfenced yards. Some attach to fences and others are buried underground.
• Install a “hot wire” to the top of your fence for $40-$50. Call a farm supply store for advice. Hotwires are commonly used to contain cows and horses. They keep burglars away, too!
• To stop diggers, bury chicken wire one foot below where the fence meets the ground (bend-in the sharp edges) or place concrete blocks around the bottom of the fence. You can dig a trough under the fence and fill it with concrete (along the full length of the fence or only in “trouble spots”).

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