You could put three foot tall chicken wire up against the chain link. That would prevent the dog from being able to bite somebody through the openings in the chain link wire. There are bags of small J clips and an inexpensive tool, which can be purchased to fasten chicken wire to other wire fences. HD does not carry them, but independent hardware stores do. If your dog is determined to bite, I would go the extra mile to protect the dog as well as anybody stupid enough to poke fingers through fences.

Eva's Humming Bird Mint agastache is not a mint at all, not invasive. Hummers love the flowers. The plants get about two and a half feet tall by 15" wide. I've never seen agastache at my local Home Depot, but it can be purchased via the Internet from High Country Gardens. It should be a perennial in California. Spanish Lavender might be another option. It is a larger plant, a sturdy shrub, probably available at HD.

Lorna

Thanks Lorna,

I completely forgot about Lavender as a choice. I have one against the wall of my home and it is a nice big sturdy plant. I will give that great consideration, as well as your suggestions for keeping my dog from the fence. The few kids in the neighborhood already know that he is a 'look but don't attempt to touch' type of dog.

Roses need more water than lavenders. I don't mix them.

Shrub, or bedding, roses, will do beautifully and offer much more bloom than traditional roses. They come in a variety of colors, both single and double bloom, some are even scented. Instead of buying them at HDepot, consider ordering them by mail.

Or other plants that don't grow too tall but do well in coastal CA, all available at HD:
Penta
Pelargonium (called geraniums incorrectly - you want the true pelargonium)
Dwarf Indian hawthorn, or Rhaphiolepsis indica - 'Ballerina' is a good one
Artemisia 'Powis Castle', although it grows a bit wide for an undershrub.
Leucanthum or osteospermum

HD sells something called Hog rings, which also need a tool for affixing. The rings come in three different sizes. They can be used for binding two types of wire fencing together. I don't like them as much as the other type, because the Hog rings have sharp points on them and the J clips do not. Even adults can be thoughtless enough to poke fingers through fences, or try to pet dogs through fences. Especially, if the dog is a cutie.

I have a beautiful Samoyed who is not friendly to strangers. He bares his teeth and barks, which looks extremely fierce and threatening to me. Yet people coo at him and try to get him to come to the fence hoping to pet him. They cannot believe such a pretty dog might not want to be petted by a stranger.

How large are your small dogs? What size plants do you need? I agree with Jkom that shrub roses might be a good choice. I have an old-fashioned type which is five feet tall and almost as wide. It needs very little pruning, just a bit of thinning. Shrub roses should not be pruned/thinned for the first three years. Mine grew to full size within two years.
Lorna

You've gotten some good ideas, and I agree with Lorna about adding chicken wire to the existing fence.

I also like the dwarf India hawthorn "Ballerina", and agapanthus and/or evergreen daylilies are good with roses.

Becky

jkom is right - lavender and roses have different water needs. If you can give your roses more water than the lavender then you might be ok mixing them. You could do this with a drip system or bubblers via an auto sprinkler system to each rose, or even from the garden hose but this could get to be a bit of work if you have a lot of roses.

How much space have you left between the roses and the fence, and what kind of roses are you growing? Knowing this would help with other suggestions.

I have dwarf agapanthus growing with my roses but they are along the front of my beds, in front of my roses, not along the picket fence. The larger variety may work for you if you have room for them and your pooches won't step on them to get to the fence. Agapanthus are a quintessential California Cottage plant. : )

I think I would put some chicken wire too and a sign that said "small dogs, big bite." : )

Diana