Let me start by giving you some background information. Our backyard backs up to a farm and we have a chain link fence around our backyard. Along the backside of our yard our fence runs parallel to the farm’s barbed wire fence. There is about a foot and a half of space between the two.

Hank (our biggest dog) has been trying to figure out how to get the chickens since the day we got them. Once they moved outside to the coop we had to take various steps to keep him out, such as using chain link around the chicken run area and burying chicken wire in the ground around it.

Yesterday Hank and Scout (our Bloodhound puppy) were out in the backyard. When I looked out the window to check on them I realized Hank was out in the field behind our house, beyond the barbed wire fence. I immediately ran outside and found that he had dug under the chain link fence and had gone under or through the barbed wire fence.

I have no idea whether he went out there because there was a cat in the field (there often is) or if it was some new attempt at getting the chickens. I’m guessing the latter. Either way I had to get him back in our yard. He weighs 125 pounds so just picking him up and putting him back in our yard was not a possibility.

He is as tall as me.

I knew I would need to climb over the fence to get him back in our yard. I had on shorts and Crocs, but I was worried that if I went back inside to change Hank would panic and run off (he didn’t have a collar on). So I climbed over the chain link fence and into the space between our fence and the barbed wire fence. Getting Hank back into that space wasn’t difficult. I stepped on the bottom strand and pulled the next one up with my hands and he came through without any problem. But then the two of us were both in that small space. He pressed himself up against the barbed wire and started to panic. This is when I got thrown up against the barbed wire. I was yelling at Hank to calm down and he finally stopped thrashing. I was able to climb back over the chain link and then pull the bottom up for him to crawl under. Hank came away from it with just one scratch, but I was left with this (Warning: mildly graphic picture):

The cut on the upper part of my calf is pretty deep. I also ended up with two other cuts on the outside of my thigh.

Lesson of the day: Don’t mess with barbed wire, it bites back. Or if you do have to mess with it, wear something other than shorts!

What lesson of the day do you have to share?

Share a piece of wisdom with me you have gathered over the years.
If you get deodorant on your clothes, you can rub it off with a balled up sock.