Minimum size of a fenced pen for adult dog and cost?
Moderators: Pike Ridge Beagles, Aaron Bartlett
Minimum size of a fenced pen for adult dog and cost?
Just curious what opinions are on the minimum size for an enclosure to run an adult dog on cottontails and the cost to fence it in?
Re: Minimum size of a fenced pen for adult dog and cost?
I don't think the old apron fence can be found much anymore. I know when I was looking for it years ago the price went up so much from when I first priced it and when I was ready to build the fence I forgot about it.
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Aubrey Holcombe
- Posts: 593
- Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2004 5:54 am
- Location: Royston, Georgia
- Contact:
Re: Minimum size of a fenced pen for adult dog and cost?
HELLO:
DADDY RABBIT HERE.
I have two enclosures that I call starting pens. I been using them for many years, and I start lots of pups for my customers, as I sale a good many pups each year and been doing it for over 20 years. I only start the pups that I am the breeder off. some of the pups that come from Atlanta, Ga. pet stores,, will never run a rabbit, as it's about who was their breeding!
Now to to answer, your question about the size of my enclosures? I am sure that I will have many different opinions. and this will be my Honorable Opinion! My first Pen is approx. 5 Acres. Now an Acre is 210 feet x 210 feet square. This will be 4410 feet for 5 you looking at 22050 feet for that size and I use this only for starting my pups. I built this, back when this Beagle Netting was being made at 150 feet in a roll at $ 75.00 a roll.
The second pen is 7 A. and it was built about 5/6 years ago and it is big enough to run a pair of gun dogs inside for a couple hours, but not recommended for lots of running at that size. I keep them full of cover and so thick that I can't walk around inside. I think the cost of the wire was double the cost when I bought and they Do Not Make that wire any longer it had a foot mat that folder out inside, so they could not be any digging in or out. Steel T post has tripled in cost, also.
I love my Starting pens but some folks don't like them, they good to start the pups inside, and once started, I say get them to the outside!!
You might want to ask our good friend, Shady Grove, on this web sight, Mr.Dana Robertson what he thinks about my Starting pen and the pups that I get running at 5/6 months old..
D.R.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>>
DADDY RABBIT HERE.
I have two enclosures that I call starting pens. I been using them for many years, and I start lots of pups for my customers, as I sale a good many pups each year and been doing it for over 20 years. I only start the pups that I am the breeder off. some of the pups that come from Atlanta, Ga. pet stores,, will never run a rabbit, as it's about who was their breeding!
Now to to answer, your question about the size of my enclosures? I am sure that I will have many different opinions. and this will be my Honorable Opinion! My first Pen is approx. 5 Acres. Now an Acre is 210 feet x 210 feet square. This will be 4410 feet for 5 you looking at 22050 feet for that size and I use this only for starting my pups. I built this, back when this Beagle Netting was being made at 150 feet in a roll at $ 75.00 a roll.
The second pen is 7 A. and it was built about 5/6 years ago and it is big enough to run a pair of gun dogs inside for a couple hours, but not recommended for lots of running at that size. I keep them full of cover and so thick that I can't walk around inside. I think the cost of the wire was double the cost when I bought and they Do Not Make that wire any longer it had a foot mat that folder out inside, so they could not be any digging in or out. Steel T post has tripled in cost, also.
I love my Starting pens but some folks don't like them, they good to start the pups inside, and once started, I say get them to the outside!!
You might want to ask our good friend, Shady Grove, on this web sight, Mr.Dana Robertson what he thinks about my Starting pen and the pups that I get running at 5/6 months old..
D.R.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>>
ARHA Hall Of Fame, own "The Daddy Rabbit Kennels", Royston, Georgia
Re: Minimum size of a fenced pen for adult dog and cost?
Thanks for the replies. It doesn't seem, cost wise, it would be practical for me.
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Shady Grove Beagles
- Posts: 1702
- Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2005 6:56 pm
- Location: east,Tn..
Re: Minimum size of a fenced pen for adult dog and cost?
Was down to Daddy Rabbit's place in Georgia a month ago to get my Fly female bred to his Spit dog.Didn't happen but sure enjoyed the visit.
Daddy Rabbit has got a nice pen and we watched several of his young pups and Fly run rabbits in it for a couple hours. Thing i really appreciate about his pen is that he has LOTS of thick cover. That insures that a pen will hold rabbits, that the dogs have to work to jump one and then use their nose to chase one. Not able to get many sight chases.
Problem I see with a lot of folks starting pens is they are way too open and sometimes just too small for an adult dog to run in . Or at least the type I keep.
When I first moved to Tn. 25 years ago I built a 7-8 acre pen. Had real good cover in probably 5 acres with an acre or two being a little swampy and the rest open hard woods.
I keep a pretty footy hound that can roll. Even with some pretty thick cover two grown dogs could pound that rabbit around in that pen pretty hard and steady. I usually would try and catch them off before they could run the rabbit to catch.One dog was okay to run for awhile but they would sometimes catch one.
There are folks that keep a much slower and more conservative type hound and i believe that you could probably run some of them in a pen that size okay.
I came from a Large Pack background and most all the clubs in the northeast have fenced running grounds. Club I used to belong to had three enclosures. One 125 acres, one 90 acres and the starting pen was 25 acres. I believe Vermont Beagle Club in Hardwick,Vt. is 200 acres. I've run at Mel Faust's in Louisiana. He has 200 acres fenced for swampers and can close a gate and divide it into two 100 acre pens for trials.
A running pen can NEVER be too big ! You run in a big pen it's about like running on the outside EXCEPT -- rabbits in a pen get run a lot and they get very,very smart.
A hare in a pen doesn't run anything like a hare in the wild.
Daddy Rabbit has got a nice pen and we watched several of his young pups and Fly run rabbits in it for a couple hours. Thing i really appreciate about his pen is that he has LOTS of thick cover. That insures that a pen will hold rabbits, that the dogs have to work to jump one and then use their nose to chase one. Not able to get many sight chases.
Problem I see with a lot of folks starting pens is they are way too open and sometimes just too small for an adult dog to run in . Or at least the type I keep.
When I first moved to Tn. 25 years ago I built a 7-8 acre pen. Had real good cover in probably 5 acres with an acre or two being a little swampy and the rest open hard woods.
I keep a pretty footy hound that can roll. Even with some pretty thick cover two grown dogs could pound that rabbit around in that pen pretty hard and steady. I usually would try and catch them off before they could run the rabbit to catch.One dog was okay to run for awhile but they would sometimes catch one.
There are folks that keep a much slower and more conservative type hound and i believe that you could probably run some of them in a pen that size okay.
I came from a Large Pack background and most all the clubs in the northeast have fenced running grounds. Club I used to belong to had three enclosures. One 125 acres, one 90 acres and the starting pen was 25 acres. I believe Vermont Beagle Club in Hardwick,Vt. is 200 acres. I've run at Mel Faust's in Louisiana. He has 200 acres fenced for swampers and can close a gate and divide it into two 100 acre pens for trials.
A running pen can NEVER be too big ! You run in a big pen it's about like running on the outside EXCEPT -- rabbits in a pen get run a lot and they get very,very smart.
A hare in a pen doesn't run anything like a hare in the wild.
Home of a true hunting beagle that run to catch
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Hare Chaser
- Posts: 335
- Joined: Wed Oct 02, 2013 8:15 pm
Re: Minimum size of a fenced pen for adult dog and cost?
Running your dogs in a pen with little cover will create habits you don’t want! i.e. when having a check they quickly learn to pick their head up and look for the rabbit/hare as opposed to staying in the check area looking for the line. They also learn to run all over the place helter skelter looking for a start as opposed to working thickets looking for scent of the game, not the game.