Wire fencing for dogs is one of the lowest cost and easiest to install options there is. In this article we’ll cover a few of the common types of wire fencing you can build and how to build them.
Chicken Fence Wire for Dogs
Chicken wire is a classic for quick, easy, and cheap woven fence for small animals. You can use it for dogs and we have an entire article on how to build a chicken wire fence for dogs.
Benefits include:
- Cheap materials
- Easy to cut the wire with smaller pliers
- Easy to install wire either using metal t posts
- You can staple chicken wire onto wood frames for a better look
- Great for small animals
Cons for chicken wire:
- Not so pretty
- Thin gauge wire
- Rusts (if not galvanized)
- You need to find or build the wood frames
- Doesn’t look as good as welded wire
The first video below highlights how to stretch chicken wire over 1″x1″ framing and staple it down. You need to measure and build the framing on your own.
This second video uses welded wire; however it offers a better looking framing system you can use with chicken wire as well. Framing is build of 2x4s and 2x6s with a nice x-style hinged gate.
Welded Fence Wire With Wooden Posts
Now we’re starting to move up in the world with style. This type of fence is easy to build but it takes a fair amount of work to dig the holes and set the posts.
You can do that slow and cheap using a post hole digger:
Or you can spend a little more and use a powered post hole digger:
Welded Wire with Fast Metal Posts
This is the standard super cheap and super fast welded wire and metal t-post setup. Installation is significantly easier than with wooden posts.
To install metal t-posts all you need is a simple post driver.
Then you’ll roll out the welded wire and attach it to the metal t-posts with bailing wire.
In the video above you’ll notice they also dig a trench along the bottom. You’ll need to do that to prevent your dog from digging under the fence.
Digging the trench is a bit of a pain but it’s necessary.
Hog Fence Wire for Dogs
Hog fence wire is another style of wire fence that groups the horizontal lines closer together near the bottom and farther apart at the top at the top. They also use a thicker gauge wire.
Hog fence is heavy duty and was designed for hogs and cattle though of course it works great with dogs.
It both looks better than classic welded wire fencing, it also helps keep small dogs and small animals in.
Barbed Wire Warning – A lot of hog wire built for hogs has barbed wire woven into the lower lines. This is to keep hogs from pushing through. You may or may not want that for your smaller dogs. Check for this before you buy.
It’s also great as a trellis as it will make it easier for young vines to climb up as they grow and get stronger.
Install this type of fence as you would any other welded wire fence.
Yes, you could use metal t-posts but we recommend using at least wood frame posts or preferably one of the wood frame methods shown above and below.
The video above demonstrates framing that uses quality materials that compliment the hog wire.
If you’re going to pay extra for hog wire fence you may as well make it look good!
Wood Frame Wire Fence
We cover this type of fence in depth and how to build it, including all materials, in our DIY Dog Fence article. See the video below for an overview then head over to the article for a step-by-step rundown on how to do it.
We like this style of wire fence because of the following:
- Looks better than a plain wire fence
- Still easy to build and fairly cheap
- Much cheaper than a full wood fence
- Stands up to dogs leaning on the top of the fence better than plain wire fences
Electric Wire Fence for Dogs
Electric dog fences are most commonly used to prevent your dog from jumping over the top of a low fence.
They aren’t typically used as a style of fence alone. Instead install the electric wire on top of your existing fence.
We created an full article on how to install electric wires to prevent jumping. You can read it here.
We also have a full article going over how to train your dog with either an electric, wireless, or underground fence.
Welded Wire Dog Fence Kits
To build a welded wire fence you need the following parts. We were hoping to find a dog fence system that includes them all but sadly such a thing isn’t easily found.
Instead, you can order all these parts together through Amazon and make a kit of your own.
At a minimum to build a welded wire fence you’ll need the following:
- Roll of Welded Wire
- Metal T-Posts
- Post Driver
- Bailing Wire or Metal Ties
- Line Level
- Chalk line to keep your fence line straight
- Heavy Duty Wire Cutters to cut the thickest wire
- Pliers
