Rocky's stuck at home again at last!

Mark, Buddy and Lisa spent most of today redoing the wiring along the bottom of the dog yard fence to keep the dogs from digging out.  When we originally set up the dog yard, Mark did put wire down there, but the wire used turned out to be too lightweight to be effective for a Catahoula.  (We should have known, I guess, after having had Pete!)    So Rocky had been getting out lately whenever he took a mind to - more and more often.  So I've been having to go out WITH him every time he's out to keep him from escaping.  NOT fun when it's raining.  

Or freezing.  

Or the middle of the night.   

But it's good now!  They pulled off all that lightweight wire and put down wire fencing that's about as heavy as the commercial chain link fence itself!  Excellent!  What happened is a roll of 5-foot high heavy wire fencing was cut in half, making two 2-1/2-foot strips with wires sticking out on the cut side.  They placed that cut edge up against the bottom of the existing fence and wrapped those wires that were sticking out on the cut edge around that wire on the bottom edge of the upright fence. 

I guess it's hard to see how it's attached, but the cut wires are wrapped around that bottom wire on the main chain link fence, then twisted so they can't be pulled away.

So Lisa would bend the strip wires around the fence bottom wire, and Buddy would come along behind her then and twist those wires tight so they can't be pulled away.  Then, once the wire strip was secured to the bottom of the fence, they put those concrete stepping stones on top of that wire strip to hold it against the ground so the grass will grow up through it and the wire on the ground will eventually disappear.  A really challenging project.  I'm sure all three of them are stiff as boards and their backs are killing them from having to bend down there to the ground ALL afternoon to deal with that!

Buddy's twisting those wires to secure them while Lisa takes a break.
Poor Lisa wasn't feeling good today -- again.  

Mark and Buddy are just finishing with the long side as the sun begins to set!

But now that the fence is completely secure and I just have to open the door and the dogs can race out through that dog door on the porch and come back whenever they feel like it.  And I don't have to decide each time whether to go out with Rocky or wonder continually whether he's out there relieving himself or visiting the neighbors' dogs!  Boy do I appreciate all that work everyone did  today!  That sure simplifies my life!   Thanks!