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.
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| 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.
Turkey Runner 
When you realize that all seasons of The Closer have become available for free for Amazon Prime members, your productivity for the day will decrease DRAMATICALLY.When the mid-summer zucchini monster hits, you can shred the stuff into tuna or egg salad. It keeps the salad super moist, you get extra veggies, and you don’t taste A THING.
Both excellent lessons! Thanks for sharing your wisdom 🙂
Ouch!! Hope you’ve had a tetanus shot lately; if not, get one! Glad you caught your crazy pup. I still have a scary on my leg from a barbed wire/pony incident. Random fact: modern barbed wire was invented by someone from DeKalb, Illinois, about an hour from me. My claim to fame! LOL
Cool fact! I just got a little better at 6 degrees of separation thanks to you 🙂
Oh no, that cut looks nasty. I’m happy for you that the barbed wire fence wasn’t electric! That would have been awful! Do you think Hank will be able to dig under the fence to get to the chickens even though you buried it? Is he just curious about the chickens or do you think he would hurt them? Good luck!
I’m really glad it wasn’t an electric fence and that they don’t have a hot wire! That definitely would have complicated the situation. He shouldn’t be able to dig under where we buried the chicken wire, but we didn’t bury it on the backside. I doubt he could get in back there because he would have to dig while being in that foot and a half space between our fence and the barbed wire. He was really freaked out being in that space (I could see the whites in his eyes) so I doubt he’d spend much time in there- even for chickens. And yes, I wholeheartedly believe he would eat them if he did get to them.
Yikes! The things we’ll do for our dogs! I’m glad you didn’t need stitches. Right now I’m not feeling terribly wise at all.
I’m glad I didn’t need stitches, too. It’s healing up now and it looks like it’s going to leave a lovely raised scar
no good.