The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

The title pretty much describes my backyard situation. I recently had a four-rail ranch style fence installed to corral my three dogs.

THE GOOD thing about the fence is that I no longer have to use the leash when any of the dogs need to tend to business. That means no more traipsing around the yard in the dark hoping to avoid tripping on a fallen branch or stumbling into one of Reacher's holes. And on those cold, rainy or snowy days I get to stay warm and dry inside while I let the dogs outside all by themselves. Just being able to open the door is a real time-saver. I do my thing in the house while Vega, Reacher and Panzer do their thing in the yard.

THE BAD part about the fence really is about my dogs' behavior while they're confined by it. While I had visions of them running happily around outside thus saving wear and tear indoors, sadly that's not the case. Panzer has appointed himself "yard boss." That is to say, he's prone to attack Reacher and even Vega if they're not behaving the way he would like--whatever way that is. That means the dogs mostly have to enjoy the yard one by one in order to avoid any fights. And that means outside time is more of a relay than a romp.

THE UGLY thing about having a fenced yard is the mud and the dirt that goes along

The number of towels it takes to clean 12 muddy paws.

with it. I like to describe my yard as park-like which is just a nice way of saying that instead of grass there is pine straw, fallen leaves and mulch covering the ground. That's in addition to several dirt paths worn down by the dogs. And you know what happens when dirt gets wet. It turns to mud. When it's raining outside, 12 clean paws wait to go out then 12 muddy paws want to come in. That's not a pretty picture.