Tuesday, May 18, 2021

A yard for Mr. Darcy

Mr. Darcy now has a yard!

This was a surprisingly long time in coming. In fact, poor Mr. Darcy hasn't had a fenced yard since last November, when we moved into the temporary rental house. For six months, we've had to leash him out and take him outside every time he needed to do his business, and he could never just go outside to hang around.

One of the reasons fencing a yard for Darcy was at the top of our to-do list in our new home is because we needed the option of leaving him home alone for an entire day at a time. We still need to fetch about one-third of our household goods from a storage unit in our old town, and traveling to and from is a very long day – far longer than Darcy could stay inside without us there.

Fencing the yard is a project that goes back at least a month. Here's what the back of our house looked like in April – too large for a dog yard, and we wanted the option to park here.

We started off by spray-painting spots on the grass, pounding in stakes, and laying string lines.

We augered holes where the orange spray spots were...

...and sank pressure-treated 4x4s.

These corner levels are handy to make sure poles are straight.

Then we pounded in dirt around the poles to keep them in position.

Don used a few of our precious 2x4s to make a rail fence on one side.

For a lot of the yard, however, we used the cattle (hog) panels we bought last December specifically for this purpose.

We installed the cattle panels on flat parts of the lawn.

For sloped parts, we used some field fence.. This particular roll was from our old place and never used because we accidentally bought 42" inches instead of our standard 48". It's not good for cows, but it's fine for a dog yard, especially if the dog doesn't jump.

Meanwhile, our neighbor Bill (who is the heavy equipment operator in the neighborhood) brought us in some gravel to create a parking area outside the fence.

We swiped a tube gate from the pasture to use as a drive-through gate into the yard.

This week, we pushed to get the dog yard finished. While I rolled out and cut the field fence to fit onto the sloped portions of the yard...

...Don built a handrail to block off the edge of the porch steps.

He then built gates.

Now Mr. Darcy cannot get out.

To say Mr. Darcy loves his new yard is an understatement.

He loves being able to roll in the grass whenever he wants. He loves being able to do his business without being on a leash.

And sticks. He can chew sticks.

So that's another project finished – a yard for Mr. Darcy.

13 comments:

  1. Is that lawn grass or field grass? It is so nice and green. Mr Darcy looks very happy!

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  2. I’m happy for Mr. Darcy.

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  3. You folks get so much done and such nice work. So nice to have a place for Mr. Darcy.
    Jo in Wa

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  4. He's a happy pooch and you get to mark something off that list - double yay!

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  5. A dog in their very own yard is in their element. Very nice.

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  6. We've put a fence ladder in nearly every pasture. They're very convenient for climbing in and out of the pastures without having to go around to the gate. We have electric fences so can't simply duck through the fence.
    The dog yard looks great! I'm sure Mr. Darcy is thrilled.
    We fenced our yard when we still lived in town. The first day our dog kept walking back and forth from inside the house to out into the yard. I think she was just marveling at the freedom, lol.

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  7. I am laughing at this:
    "Now Mr. Darcy cannot get out."
    Never underestimate the genius of animals, especially retrievers.

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    1. This. I was raised on a farm/ranch. "Just when you think you think you've seen it all..."

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  8. I'm so happy for Mr. D! Makes me smile. 😊

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  9. Every dog needs its own yard, all his own to roll, poop, and chew sticks. What kind of dog is he?

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  10. The new fence looks wonderful for everyone. Is it possible to do a trial run with Darcy outside in his yard? Then check to see if he tries to dig out or some other type of dog escape? In a new environment, a dog can sometimes panic when it sees the owner leave.

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