If you build it, he will be contained

The fella and I have been slowly been putting our backyard together since when we moved into our home, the space consisted of dirt and a few rocks.  One sprinkler system, lain sod, extended patio, and fence installation later and we are finally ready to add some greenery and life to our little plot of land. 

Jump cut to us getting a dog with a vendetta against all things plant based who seems determined to undo everything we had accomplished. 

This is our maple tree that used to have a lot more than one branch and now requires a protective barrier.

Silk tree that used to be over 4'.  It has since been nicknamed our "Stick Tree" but is now starting to come back to life.

Now, to be fair to Norman, he’s still a puppy.  Little guy hasn’t even hit the year mark yet so I repeat my pup mantra, normally with more colorful language after finding something else that he’s demolished, “He’s still young, he’s still learning.” Despite his puppydom, our yard still needs to happen so the wonderful solution of giving good ol’ Normicron his own space in the yard was visualized and brought to fruition.

Running along the side of the house is a strip of yard that is 6’4” wide and 39’ long that, once we put our fence up, created a pretty nice nook.  Since there was no gate on this side there would be zero foot traffic through this area and it's shaded most of the day making it an ideal spot for a dog run.

Transforming this nook into a dog run really only required fencing it off somehow to keep the bundle of fur contained.  Figuring out what to use for the gate took longer than the actual construction.  Plans were made for chain link fencing only to be tossed aside.  We went as far as buying a rod iron ready-made gate at Lowe’s only to return it after realizing Norman would knock it over in two seconds. After this frustrating defeat, the solution finally came to me.   

Purchase a ready-made 8’ section of picket fencing, make a few strategic cuts, add some hardware, and BAM dog run gate/fence is ready for action.

Having helped build our fence the previous summer, constructing the dog run gate/fence on my own was pretty easy.  So here we go.

Materials list

-       1 4’x8’ premade picket fence panel

-       1 gate latch

-       2 hinges

-       2 4”x4”x8’ wooden posts (cut down to 6’ in store)

-       Gravel

-       2 80 lbs bags of cement

-       3 inch wood screws 

Once my materials were gathered the first step was to dig holes for the posts.  I dug holes 2’2” deep and added two inches of gravel to provide drainage.  

Once the holes are all set, put posts in and add the mixed cement.  Once the cement is in, use a level to check that the posts are level.  Take a stake or other pointy object and jam in into the cement multiple times to eliminate air pockets and improve stability.  Recheck that the posts are still level (things shift during the cement stabbing) and make adjustments as needed.

Once the post were in place, I starting cutting down and reassembling my cedar fence panel to turn into the gate and fencing.  It should be noted, while the gate and fencing were built the same day the posts went in the ground, I waited a full two days before attaching anything to the posts so the cement could fully cure.

Creating the gate/fence required a lot of calculations in the sense that I held the uncut fence panel up in the gap and guessed where everything should be cut.  In order to turn the fence panel into a fence with a gate, four cuts needed to be made.  I needed one section to attach to the left post.  A second section to turn into the gate door.  The third section would attach to the right post and have the gate hinges on it.  The fourth cut would also be made on the third section to cut it to size.  This leftover bit would be trashed.

Also, the cutting portion of this project royally sucked because our buzz saw was broken which meant everything had to be cut by hand.   

First came the gate.  The section on the left is the bit that will be attached to the left post.  The larger section will become the gate door.

Gates require a support beam so I had to figure out how to build one.  Using a technique that any engineer would be proud of, I laid a scrap 2x4 across the gate and drew lines where the cuts needed to happen.

Since hand sawing was required, I didn't trust myself to cut straight lines so I enlisted the help of this kerjigger that I found in the garage.  Line up wood, slide the saw through the metal horseshoe shaped bit, and start cutting.  

Rejoice in the fact that the support beam fits!

Attach support beam to gate using 3" wood screws and glue.

Now that the gate door was done, I could add the latch and hinges.  This was the easiest part of the whole project (or so I thought) since it only required lining things up, drilling a few pilot holes, and then adding screws.  Done and done.  

Once the hardware was attached and cement fully cured, I got down to the business of defeating the Huns.  Oh wait, that was Mulan.  This is what happens when I watch Disney movies while writing.  Anyways,  using 3" wood screws again, I attached the fence panels to the posts.  Boom!  Dog containment time.

Now, some of my more observant readers may have noticed the substantial mistake I made while attaching the gate latch.  I put it on in such a way that the gate could not actually open.  Kind of a problem unless I want to heave my dog over the fence in order to get him in the dog run.  

Luckily for my sanity, this was an easy fix.  I removed the screws, repositioned the latch in the correct manner, and reattached.  Did the whole thing while it was still hanging up and took all of two minutes.

Now that the gate was functional, a few perks were added to the area so Norm could lounge in style.  Threw down some pea gravel for a ground cover, bought him a dog house (that he has yet to go in ungrateful beast) and purchased two LED solar post lights to add a bit of fancy.   

And I dub thee Dog Run.  There's a few more things I have planned for this space but overall, I'm pretty happy with how this looks.  Norm is also a fan because now he's not cooped up inside all day and our plants can breath easy knowing they're safe with him outside.  Also, an extra bonus for Norm, now he has a place to bury all the bones/chew treats that we give him instead of actually chewing them.  Dogs are weird.    

UPDATE: Norman still hasn't used that dog house. Not even once. What a fucking jerk. It's up on Craigslist right now. $80. A lot less than the original price. $5 more than I paid for Norm. He's lucky I love him so much.