GOING CLEAR
This DIY acrylic barrier will stop canine escape artists without stopping the eye.
DO IT YOURSELF | We love our Scottie-pug dog child, Dudley (pictured here), but he does have one annoying, potentially life-threatening habit. When we accidentally leave an outside door open, he bolts. While this is never a good thing, it is particularly troublesome at my husband’s garden design office where Dudley earns his kibble working as a greeter.
To foil this behaviour, senior landscape designer Kim Stuart came up with an inexpensive all-but-invisible system that eliminates the need to install those supremely unattractive but highly effective baby (a.k.a. dog) gates.
How To Make An Acrylic Dog Gate
Kim outfitted four of the five outside doors in the office with easy–to-make-and-install Plexiglas dog barriers consisting of 3/16-inch-thick acrylic and two pieces of 3/4-inch-square white polyurethane trim.
Each sheet of acrylic is 24 inches high and cut to the width of the doorframe minus 1/4 inch (see photo left). To create a channel on either side of the door, Kim made a cardboard template the same thickness as the depth of the channel she wanted to make. Then she used the cardboard-like ruler to draw a line indicating where the trim would be placed.
This kind of system would not work anywhere the ground level is not the same on both sides of the barrier (which would make it awkward to step over) or in high-traffic areas. But it is perfect for lesser-used doors—and the best part is that it’s almost invisible. Oh, and the price for the four? Around $150 all in.—Carolann Rule
We have a green space at the back of our yard. I wanted to keep my puppy in, but not block my view. I got some green plastic stuff that looks like chicken wire, but not as intrusive, strung it between thin posts (garden centre sticks). Worked perfectly til the wild rabbits ate through it. I had to really search for the plastic because I didn’t want the thick stuff that you see on construction sites that comes in orange or green. What I found is much thinner. Surprisingly she no longer even thinks of going out of the yard, even though the fence has holes in it, she seems to realize that is the boundary. BONUS
Thanks for sharing your story. Don’t you just love the way dog minds work!!!—Carolann
Love this idea as right now i have an unsightly baby gate that also makes marks on my door frames and walls
Applaud you on the new look and looking forward to more great posts.