Fencing in our Pooches

When Sara was visiting recently she made an observation that every year when she has been to visit us, we have more fences....  It got me thinking and wondering about that statement but it is surely true.  When we first moved here the plot was ful of gates and fences which really was a pain because it meant that if we wanted to walk from one side to the other we were walking along fencelines and opening and closing gates.  For the previous owners who had horses, it was more than likely their way of grazing the horses in one area at a time, moving them around as and when the grazing became in short supply.

I have been trying to remember back to when and why we decided to remove all the interior fences and I believe it may have been the Sunday that we were on our way to church and before we even reached our front gate, Neo - our Great Dane who is no longer with us, went running past us and proceeded to jump fence for fence behind a buck, before trapping and catching it on the boundary between us and our neighbours.  It was then that we realized the fences were an obstacle for us.  We could not follow through with our bakkie and Johan ended up running behind at a much slower pace than either Neo or the buck...only to arrive too late to save the poor buck from the jaws of a dog that was bigger than itself.

Down came the fences, out came the fencing posts and after all of this we were left with one big plot where all were free to roam at will.  No longer did the buck or rabbits or any other wild life have a disadvantage over the Great Danes as they were able to manoevre their way with one long dash, often making their way through the front fence and over the road long before the dogs who were following behind in the long grass and who then wondered where they could have gone to.

The majority of the property is still open and the horses have one huge area to roam and eat at will, but we have put up many fences, and most of them are closer to the back and around the house.  We fenced in two adjacent areas that housed the pigs with the back section of the shed as a common area.  Then we closed off an area behind the pigs and part of the vegetable garden which was initially used for both the pea fowl and the chickens.  A fence was added later from the back of the one pigs pen to the back boundary fence, which gave an enclosure for the sheep.  It was at the time we had the sheep that we then opened up where the chickens and pea fowl were and let them roam free so the sheep could use that area to shelter from the hot beating sun and the pouring rain.  Nowadays, the chickens are back in the coop for their own protection against wild dogs and the mongooses who love to steal their eggs and chicks.  The pea fowl still roam free.... Then we fenced across the front of the second pigs pen and the front of the vegetable garden in line with the free standing aviaries, to give our rabbits freedom and make them feel more like they are 'back to nature.'  After the episode of having a friends cows destroy all our fruit trees, we fenced around them, giving ourselves a proper orchard.  Next came the fence beyond the Jacaranda trees in front of the house and in line with  the front gate, all the way across to past the citrus trees...this, to not only keep the horses away from the garden and house, but also to put an obstacle in the path of those who feel our property and ultimately our home is open to the public at any given time.  Together with building a crusher for the horses close to the other side of the aviaries and shed, we completed fencing off the back so that horses couldn't come through the back and into the garden area.  Finally...and this is the reason Sara said what she did - we have recently fenced an area even closer to the house at the back and one side.  This not only keeps the dogs inside at all times, but it also gives a greater sense of security for us, knowing that if anyone tried to break in through the back door - which has been the chosen route of entry in the past - they would have to make their way through 6 dogs before they could get close enough.

I must say that having the dogs so close to us, not only keeps the mess that puppies tend to churn up, contained, but I also know for sure that they are here and at home at all times.  Johan completed this last piece of fencing just before he went down to KZN in July and whereas I don't forsee any more fencing being done in the near future, who knows.....maybe when Sara comes next year there may just be more done....