Brandon Handsaker of Colo, Iowa, built a gymnasium-sized fenced-in yard for his four dogs: a German shepherd, a Labrador retriever, and two French bulldogs. It measures just under 5 ft. tall and is made from cattle panels and treated posts. “This was all my wife’s idea,” Handsaker says. “We wanted a way to keep the dogs safe and not have to worry about them when out in the yard. Plus, I wanted to keep the rattlers away from them.”

   Originally, Handsaker contacted a local fencing company for a black chain link fence. “That quote came back at $20,000,” he says. “I knew I could do it cheaper.”

   Handsaker started building each panel in the winter and stacked the finished ones in a shed until assembling them in the spring. He used a Kreg jig and dado saw blades on a table saw to cut the cattle panels and get thickness off so they would rest on wood on the bottom and sides. Each panel was framed with wood, both to make it safe on top for dogs and humans to come in contact with, and to prevent the dogs from digging their way out.

   Then in the spring, he hired a contractor to dig the holes and pour in cement for the posts that he attached each panel to. The fence is built with two gates, one that’s human-sized and one large enough for a pickup truck to fit through. “Here in Iowa, we can get crazy windstorms like a derecho,” Handsaker said. “I wanted to have easy access for cleanup purposes.”

   He estimates the project cost about $2,500 for an 84-ft. by 60-ft. fence made with 33 posts. Handsaker is pleased with how everything turned out and wouldn’t change much if he had to do it again. “It takes some time to do this right,” he says. “You definitely need basic carpentry skills. But wood is forgiving. If you mess up, it’s usually possible to redo things.”