Fenced In

This little guy ended up having a big impact on our housing search. We each had our own lists of must haves, but we also had a few must haves for Sky pup. Sky's top must have was a big yard. He's a Siberian husky and needs room to run. He isn't the kind of dog you can go for a walk off the leash, so running usually only happens in the back yard.
Since he loves to run so much and we can't catch up with him (without bribes of treats), we also knew a fenced in yard was a must. The house also needed a door with easy access to the yard.  He has a habit of waking us up at 3 a.m. to go outside. Easy access was a top priority for all of us.

When we were looking at our current home it had all three criteria- big yard, fenced in and easy access. We just forgot to add that fence should be in good condition. When we moved in, the fence was falling down. J found a plaque on the fence with the makers name and number. He called them up and found out they had moved to a new location and changed names. They had done this over 20 years ago, so the fence had definitely seen better days.

Getting a new fence moved to the top of our priority list because we couldn't have Sky pup with us with the current one. Since our yard is fairly big, it wasn't a cheap task, but luckily for our family and friends, it was definitely do-able.

We purchased new fence sections and posts from a local company. It was a bit more expensive than going to a big home improvement store, but the quality was much better. We splurged there, but after getting a quote on installation, we decided to go the diy route. J, my dad and a few friends took on the project of tearing down the old one and putting up the new one. It wasn't easy, there was a lot of fence (a year later, we are still getting rid of the debris).

Because our land isn't completely level, they had to get a little creative with the construction. As you go across the yard some sections are higher than others. In some areas, there are gaps between the fence and the ground. This was definitely going to be an issue with sky, so my dad ended up getting wood slabs and securing them in the gaps, so Sky stays fenced in.

If we didn't have sky, this project wouldn't have been a huge priority, but it definitely makes our yard look better. We have a very happy dog , too. He's become a yard snob though and hates visits to his grandma's because he doesn't have a big yard to play in. She now has to babysit at our house to keep the pup happy. Good thing his grandma loves him just as much as us, so she doesn't mind.

Did your pets have any impact on your home search?