If you have a dog, a cat, or both, the fence around your yard isn’t just a boundary, it’s the thing standing between your pet and a busy street, a neighbor’s yard, or a very expensive trip to the vet. We’ve been building pet fences across St. Louis for over 45 years, and the one thing we can tell you is that every dog finds the weakness in a fence eventually. The goal is to make sure there isn’t one.
St. Louis County requires that dogs be confined to their owner’s property or kept on a leash in public areas. Missouri’s adequate control statute (§578.005) ⬈ requires animal owners to reasonably restrain their pets so they don’t injure themselves, other animals, people, or property. St. Louis County and the City of St. Louis both enforce local leash laws on top of that — dogs must be confined to their owner’s property or leashed in public. A properly built fence is the simplest way to stay compliant and give your pet the freedom to be outside safely. A properly built fence is the simplest way to stay compliant and give your pet the freedom to be outside safely.
But not every fence works for every pet. Here’s what we’ve learned from building fences for dog owners across Kirkwood, Webster Groves, Chesterfield, Ballwin, and the rest of the metro.
Height: The First Thing to Get Right
The single most common mistake we see is a fence that’s too short for the dog. A motivated Labrador or German Shepherd can clear a 4-foot fence without much effort. Huskies, Australian Shepherds, and other athletic breeds regularly jump 5-foot fences.
For most dogs, we recommend a 6-foot fence as the minimum. This is tall enough to prevent jumping for the vast majority of breeds and provides solid privacy at the same time. If you have a known jumper — and you’ll know if you do — talk to us about options for adding height or an inward-angled top extension that discourages climbing.
The American Kennel Club’s guide to keeping dogs in the yard ⬈ covers several practical solutions for dogs that jump, climb, or otherwise outsmart standard fences.
For smaller dogs, cats, and rabbits, height matters less than gap size. A 4-foot picket fence may be plenty tall, but if the gaps between pickets are wider than 3 inches, a small pet can squeeze right through. That’s where material choice becomes critical.
Which Fence Material Is Best for Pets?
There’s no single “best” material — it depends on your pet’s behavior and your priorities. Here’s how the main options perform for pet containment in the St. Louis area:
Vinyl: Best Overall for Most Dog Owners
Vinyl fencing is our most common recommendation for pet owners. A 6-foot solid vinyl privacy fence gives you complete containment with no gaps, no splinters, and no footholds for climbing. Dogs can’t see through it, which dramatically reduces barking at passing dogs, people, and squirrels.
Vinyl also handles St. Louis weather well — it won’t rot from our humid summers or warp from freeze-thaw cycles — which means no gaps developing over time that a determined pet can exploit. It requires virtually no maintenance, so you’re not worrying about exposed nails or splintering boards that could injure your pet.
The main tradeoff is cost. Vinyl runs 30 to 50 percent more upfront than wood. But for pet owners who want a set-it-and-forget-it solution, it’s often worth it. For a full cost and durability comparison, see our guide on vinyl vs. wood fencing in St. Louis.
Wood: Great With the Right Design
Wood fencing is the most popular option overall in St. Louis, and it works well for pets when built correctly. A 6-foot privacy fence in cedar or pressure-treated pine provides solid containment at a lower upfront cost than vinyl.
The things to watch for with wood and pets: boards can shrink over time as they dry, creating gaps. Dogs are remarkably good at finding gaps — even a 2-inch gap at the bottom of a panel is an invitation for a terrier or dachshund. Make sure the fence is built with tight board spacing and that the bottom rail sits close to grade. We typically recommend running boards to within an inch of the ground or adding a kickboard at the base for homes with small dogs.
Wood also needs regular maintenance — staining every 2 to 3 years — to prevent rot and warping. A sagging, deteriorating fence is a fence your dog will eventually find a way through.
Chain Link: Budget-Friendly but Not Always Ideal
Chain link is the most affordable fencing option and provides strong physical containment. The mesh is difficult for dogs to break through, and it’s easy to install a bottom rail or bury the mesh slightly underground to prevent digging under.
The downsides for pet owners: dogs can see through chain link, which means more barking at every person, dog, and squirrel that passes by. And chain link provides footholds for climbing — athletic dogs and most cats can scale a standard chain link fence without much difficulty. If you go with chain link, consider adding vinyl privacy slats to block sightlines, and look into an inward-angled top extension if you have a climber.
Chain link is a solid choice for homeowners who need to fence a large area on a budget and have dogs that aren’t aggressive climbers or barkers.
Aluminum and Ornamental: Beautiful but Not for Every Pet
Aluminum fencing adds elegance and curb appeal, but it has gaps between the pickets by design. Standard ornamental fencing has 3.5 to 4-inch spacing between pickets, which means small dogs and cats can walk right through.
If you want the look of ornamental fencing and have a larger dog that isn’t a jumper, aluminum can work. We also use aluminum for pool enclosures, where Missouri code requires a fence around any pool deeper than 26 inches, with a self-closing, self-latching gate.
For pet owners who love the ornamental look but need full containment, one option is to pair an aluminum fence in the front yard with a solid vinyl or wood privacy fence in the back.
Diggers: The Underground Escape Artists
If you have a dog that digs — and terriers, hounds, huskies, and dachshunds are all notorious for it — your fence needs to address what happens below the ground line, not just above it.
The most effective solution we install is extending the fence material 6 to 12 inches below grade. For wood and vinyl fences, this means burying the bottom of the panels. For chain link, it means angling the mesh outward along the base of the fence, creating an L-shaped footer underground that the dog hits when it digs.
Another approach is installing a gravel trench along the inside of the fence line. Dogs don’t like digging through gravel, and it also improves drainage — which helps prevent the post rot that’s common with Missouri’s clay soil.
For persistent diggers, pouring a narrow concrete footer along the fence line is the most permanent solution. It adds cost, but for homeowners who’ve already replaced a section of fence after a Great Escape, the investment makes sense.
Gates: The Weakest Link
More pet escapes happen through gates than over or under fences. A gate that doesn’t latch securely, swings open in the wind, or has a gap at the bottom is an open invitation.
For pet owners, we always recommend self-closing, self-latching gates — the same hardware that’s required on pool fences. This means the gate closes and latches automatically every time someone walks through, even if they forget.
Check your gates regularly. Hinges sag over time, especially on heavy wood gates, which can create a gap at the bottom or prevent the latch from catching. A gate that worked perfectly when it was installed three years ago may have half an inch of sag today — which is all a dachshund needs.
If you have a custom gate — particularly a driveway gate — make sure it’s configured for pet safety from the start. We build custom gates at our Fenton fabrication shop and can design them with pet containment in mind.
What We See Most Often in St. Louis
The most common pet fence we install across the metro is a 6-foot vinyl or wood privacy fence with a self-closing gate. This combination solves the three main issues pet owners face: it’s tall enough to prevent jumping, it’s solid enough to prevent squeezing through, and the self-closing gate eliminates human error.
For homeowners with aggressive diggers, we add a below-grade extension or gravel trench. For front yards where full privacy fencing doesn’t fit the neighborhood aesthetic, we’ll often install a shorter ornamental fence as a visual boundary while the backyard gets the heavy-duty containment fence.
Every yard is different — slope, trees, existing structures, and your specific pet’s behavior all factor into the best design. That’s exactly what our free design consultation covers. We’ll walk the property with you, discuss your pet’s habits, and recommend a solution that keeps them safe without compromising the look of your home.
For a broader look at how to choose the right fence for your property overall — not just for pets — our guide to choosing the right fence for your St. Louis home walks through materials, styles, HOA considerations, and more. And if you’re weighing the long-term cost of different materials, see which fence materials last longest in St. Louis.
We serve pet owners across Kirkwood, Webster Groves, Chesterfield, Ladue, Ballwin, Des Peres, Town and Country, Manchester, Wildwood, Fenton, and surrounding communities.
📞 (314) 966-3333
