The Zim Family Cocker Spaniel Forum

We are thinking of doing a Pickett fence around our yard for the dogs . Most Pickett fences are only 4ft. . Are Cockers known to be great jumpers as adults ? Should I be concerned that this height is too low? Any advice appreciated! Thanks Denise

Personally I don't think a 4 ft fence is high enough to secure a cocker. It would be cute but I would not use it as a barrier for your dogs. My cockers can jump a four ft fence.

We did a five-foot chain link. We then went to Home Depot and got white fence lathing that is "woven" into the chain link. It will not be mistaken for a picket fence but it looks like a while panel fence and I know it is high enough and secure enough (we got top and bottom rails) to not only secure my dogs from getting out to but keep anything else from getting in.

I don't remember off-hand where you live but I can tell you in New York there HAS been two and a half feet of snow against that fence. If it had been 4 feet tall the dogs would have stepped right over it.

I think it depends on the dog. I wouldn't hesitate to use a 4 foot fence with Gromit. As it is, I put up a baby gate to keep her out of the bedroom during the day, and she never tries to jump over it even if we're on one side and she's on the other.

I've had one cocker whose biggest joy was easily clearing jumps set up for shepherds and other large breed dogs. The neighbors cat lost the tip of its tail while sitting on a six foot fence post thanks to our cocker. Four foot fence is not enough. I have five foot chain link which is backed by arborvitae that is over six feet tall.

I would say 4 feet is not high enough, but then my Karlie was Jumping a 3 1/2 foot babygate by the time she was 8 months old. She has only ever jumped the one in the bathroom where whe was gated when I went to work, the other gates throughout the house she never jumps or even tries to. The bathroom one we had to take another gate and put it on top of the first one so now there is a 7 foot double gate in my master bathroom. She now does agility where her jumping ability is put to good use. I would agree it would depend on the dog and how badly they wanted whatever was on the other side.

Hi Denise

Just checked your profile and noticed you were from Mass! Last winter my dogs walked right over our fence and bolted up the driveway following my son, nearly gave me heart failure, but we live at the end of a dead end road and got them. When it snows we now shovel the perimeter around the inside of the fence so we do not have a repeat. I also would think twice about pickets on top-yes they look nice but if they jumped you would not want one to get impaled by a picket. At our camp the fence is 3 1/2 ft high and 2 of my dogs can jump it, I always supervise my crew when they are outside because it is pickets. They just jump it when they see the kids next door! But camp is also on a dead end, so no traffic. My neighbor did a very nice job on his fence-he did round posts vertical and horizontal and nailed wire fencing into the posts, it is very secure for his 90 lb lab, kinda like you see on farms. They do have nice fencing that has a smooth top, more expensive but probably worth it. I cannot tell you how nice it is to have a fenced in area with more than one dog-just open the door and let them out, and stay in and watch.

They should be coming home soon now!

Picket fences are nice - but - I had a neighbor who had 3 cockers and a picket fence. One jumped it
and ripped his stomach open - he was saved but just barely !!! For this reason - I would never
put one up.

Yes I'm rethinking the Pickett ! Don't want any Cocker shish kabobs!!!

They come home Thursday!!!

I don't know if this counts, but I have a 4 foot cedar picket style (no pointed tops) in my front yard to keep the boys in. They are not jumpers and don't even try, so I think alot of it depends upon your dogs. I have one dog that can jump 3.5 feet standing still onto a bed, but that is the only thing of any height that he trys to jump. I am always out in the front yard with them as the fence was installed so I could enjoy having the boys with me while I work in the yard.

We have 4 foot chain link, and though Max can jump his baby-gate like a deer, he has no desire to try to clear the backyard fence. I might go with the dog-eared boards instead of pickets because of the pointy-ness if it were me.

Kelly and Kasey won't jump the babygate we use in the house and don't jump or climb the xpen we're using to block off part of the backyard. But when we used the xpen in the house, Kasey climbed right up and over to get out of it! Point being, I wouldn't use fencing with anything pointy on top and would definitely go at least 5' high to keep your doggies in their yard and other doggies/critters out. We got our fencing at Lowes and love it----it's vinyl and has the latticework top on the panels. But we're in So.Cal and don't have freezing temps---don't know how it would hold up in the snow.

I know they may be pricey, but the newest here in SC are the beautiful wrought iron fences with brick around the bottom of the posts. I don't think a dog could climb the iron, and there are many smooth finish top rails to choose.

Sounds beautiful but would clash with my house that is a light yellow with white trim farmhouse with front porch ,so definitely country style. Thinking of going with a 5 ft dog eared Pickett.

My cocker girls can be held back behind a 30 inch baby gate, as well as my previous cocker boy. 4 ft sounds sufficient to me, if you are training them from a young age, which you are.

Can we say "pictures pictures pictures". And in case you didnt know, we love pictures of baby faces.

I think 5' is a good answer. I know Sadie can hop 4' if she chooses to.

We have a 6' Dog eared cedar stockade fence around our yard and my little darlings have figured out how to get out, in the past. We have fixed the escape sources as they are created.... ie The gate latches that they figured out how to unlatch have been replaced with automatically locking latches, the fence near the steps has been replaced with a higher fence and a spring on the gate to close it tight and a new latch. They still sit and look at escape routes.... You can see the little wheels turning in their heads... They work as a team! I think I have made our yard safe and secure.... much to the disdain of the boys! They love to go for walks especially by themselves! I watched them escape one day last year, Buddy jumped up and hit the gate latch making the gate come open in the process, Leo caught the gate with his paw to keep it from closing and off they went to explore the side yard and the neighborhood with me right behind them..... boy were they mad at me when I made them go back home..... so much fun to explore with no Mom or Dad in tow! A 4' fence would be a joke in our yard.... they can both clear a baby gate at 36" and not miss a beat!

fwiw: The cocker in my avatar could scale a 5' chain link fence faster than you could imagine when he was younger. I prefer 6'-8' privacy fencing to keep pets contained but again it will depend heavily on the dog.

I also always make sure we have a second latch on each gate in case one fails. I go so far as to have a smaller fence around the gate so if one blows open the other one will still keep the dogs in. May be a bit of overkill for cockers but I also have ex-racing greyhounds and if they get out they are not easy to catch so prevention is key.

Geez, you guys must have some kind of cockers. I can't imagine any dog I have ever had jumping a 48 inch fence. I have had them dig under them in the past (one dog). Training is a big key and with a pup, you should have no problem training the the fence is the limit. It was natural for my girls.

Debbie - technically we "know" each other. You know I crate train, puppy class train, novice train, therapy dog train and reinforce. My first cocker spaniel, my Coriander, could clear TWO baby gates placed one above the other to get out of a room and go where he wanted. Currently my Annie - again - trained and certified and all - was standing in a friend's yard. There was a five foot tall stone wall and I watched as she jumped straight up onto the wall from a stand with almost NO prep (such as a long run). I don't know how they do but they can. To this day my friend talks about Annie's leap.

I wouldn't trust anything less then 5 feet. I wouldn't take the chance. Even if not for mine jumping out but for something jumping in.