Dog Run Wire

[Kaffy Magee]

I'll be shifting to QLD before schools starts back next year and Im freaking out about all the lovely creatures QLD has I will be building a couple of dog runs at my new house and want to make it as safe as possible, so cane toads and snakes cant get in and preferably bees (due to one of my boys possibly being highly allergic to them). What sort of mesh would be suitable for this?. It needs to be strong as I have entire dogs and bitches and will need to withold crazy boys trying to get to my girls. Would I better off using normal mesh and then covering with shade cloth? Any suggestions would be wonderful as I have well and truly freaked myself out reading up on cane toads snakes and ticks,lol.

[oakway]

Hi Kaffy,

Come now don't get to freaked out as lots of dogs live in Queensland and survive well.

The cane toads...... now there easy, wherever you go to live you do nightly patrols and collect them and freeze them in the freezer and put them out in the bin on rubbish night.

You will find, that over time you will have very few to deal with. I found only one or two a week after the first month.

Snakes....again depends on where you live. Just put fine snake/mouse around the bottom of the kennels.

Shade cloth......now this is good for the shade it gives, but if you enclose your kennel to much with it, you will find it stops the flow of air.

I have never lost a dog to cane toad but I lost one to a snake and the dog was lose in the back yard/dog area not in the kennels, so it means snake proofing around the whole dog area in some way depending what type of existing fencing that you have.

[persephone]

Glass???

Honestly- trying to snake proof/bee proof a dog run will be very tricky!! Snakes will fit thru tiny gaps- as will bees.Snakes can climb, as well .

Cane toads- I guess they just need a barrier they cannot jump..or small mesh .

I guess it will depend on the area to which you move- what gardens/parks/waterways are around ..and what th eclimate's like, as to exactly what beasties will be your neighbours . Contact the council in which you will be resident- ask on here to see if anyone lives in the vicinity ..also maybe contact a vet in the area , and ask them

[darlingdog]

I'll be shifting to QLD before schools starts back next year and Im freaking out about all the lovely creatures QLD has I will be building a couple of dog runs at my new house and want to make it as safe as possible, so cane toads and snakes cant get in and preferably bees (due to one of my boys possibly being highly allergic to them). What sort of mesh would be suitable for this?. It needs to be strong as I have entire dogs and bitches and will need to withold crazy boys trying to get to my girls. Would I better off using normal mesh and then covering with shade cloth? Any suggestions would be wonderful as I have well and truly freaked myself out reading up on cane toads snakes and ticks,lol.

Please don't freak out ! Lots of us have been living in Qld all our lives with dogs and they have been just fine. Sure there are cane toads,snakes etc but there are some kind of nasties wherever you live. Ticks are the worst problem depending on where you are in Qld and you can manage them quite well with the right programme and vigilance on your part. Hope you can relax about it all and enjoy it when you move here. All the best.

[Mystiqview]

Hi Kaffy,

I think you are over-reacting a bit re the snakes and stuff. I have lived on property here and also now in suburbia. It really depends on where you choose to live and how you keep your area/yard.

If you have a lot of junk lying around with long grass, wood stacks etc. You increase the risk of having snakes around. If you have a bushland/scrub area close by, you increase the risk. That is not to say, having a clear yard etc you won't have snakes.

Traditionally they are shy creatures. They don't lurk in the shadows ready to come and get you or the dogs. If you have mice or outdoor averies, you increase the risk as you could be providing their natural food source.

For the most part, if you have dogs running around and you neighbours have dogs/cats, you will not have a huge risk of having snakes around unless you are going to acerage.

As for cane toads. Like what everyone else has said. You do nightly patrols to remove them. Miss one and if you have a water source somewhere, then you will keep them coming. For the most part, most people with dogs I know, the dogs tend to leave them alone anyway. That is not to say yours will. I also do not have my dogs outside at night. More to stop them barking at the possums/bats. Keep your water bowls up off the ground helps. I hang mine on the fence. Where I am since moving here just over 12 months ago, I am yet to see a cane toad and have a healthy population of green tree frogs which is also a good sign there are not many cane toads around. I am in the middle of suburbia.

The shade cloth is good for keeping shade around the runs. My runs are made of weldmesh and chainwire.