Sorry to hear about your neighbor situation. I have very invasive, thick, thorny vines that are remarkably invasive, but I'm afraid I have no idea what they are called, altough I have names for them. There's nothing like having to wear long sleeves and sweatpants in July heat just to clear a section of yard!! Maybe look into getting the township involved. I'm pretty sure there's something on the books that says that dogs have to be contained. Wouldn't want to wait until it's too late. You're already not on speaking terms with your neighbors, so how much worse can it get, right?

How about hollies? They're not generally vines, but they ARE thorny, and will grow into a hedge a BULL can't/won't push through.

Also not a vine, but super fast-growing and pretty red leaves as well-- Barberry.

How about raspberries? We have black (wildish) raspberry canes growing over the compost pile--they are 5' high easily, or you could probably tie them to the fence to get them higher. Ours are on the north side of a wooden fence, so mostly get sun only in the late afternoon. Once they get established, almost impossible to get rid of! Watch for seedlings in other parts of the garden from the birds...
And they taste good.

I'd go for the berries - raspberries, black berries, marion berries, dunno if they'll grow in your zone... raspberries should for sure. Also if it doesn't have to be a vine you could plant the most evil thing in the world - pyrocantha...

All great ideas! It irritates me to have to do this - I love to go barefoot and have long hated hollies despite their beauty because I've got enough painful garden leavings (gum trees and their vile pods being wrenchingly painful) but better that than the invasion of monster albino dogs. I think I'll look into blackberries - I've seen them in massive, hugely thorned hedges in my area, so I know they grow well here.

Roses can grow in partial shade. Some of the climbers can go 20' and more. Climbers grow nicely on horizontal surfaces. Others, like rugosa and gallicas are "no care" roses and will send up many new plants from runners which can be removed and transplanted or left to increase density.

You might want to query the antique rose forum.

Here's what I was referring to. It is rather unpleasant to look at, but much MORE unpleasant to touch:

{{gwi:1338522}}

This stuff grows like the dickens. I have no idea what it is, but I tried to include some leaves if someone else knows???

gshann,

Looks like something from the Raspberry/Blackberry clan...

Mike

I realize that I'm only six weeks behind on this response, but as a Great Dane owner myself, I'm concerned about your particular situation. If there's any chance that the danes are interested in going after your dog, I just don't think that any thorny vine, short of a solid wall, will be enough to stop them. A 150 - 200lb. charging dog is not going to blink an eye at a few razor sharp thorns. At least, not on his way into your yard. On his way back to his own yard is a different story.

While I love the vines themselves, and would encourage you to continue to grow them along your fence, I strongly urge you to find some kind of solution to the decaying fence.

Best of luck to you.

I'm running into a similar problem trying to discourage neighborhood kids from climbing my fence. I've chosen a combination of barberry, roses and smilax vines. I felt a bit like Morticia Addams when I went looking for plants with the biggest thorns.

The Flying Dragon is attractive and the thorns are like mini spears. It's a hardy type of citrus but doesn't produce edible fruit. I agree with the person who said that a spikey bush or vine isn't going to keep a dog the size of a Great Dane out of your yard. Why don't you call animal control? I don't know about where you live but it's illegal to have a dog run loose here. They either have to be on a leash, a lead or in a fenced yard. Good luck.

Call your Prosecuting Attorney and speak to him - he will handle it without involving you at all. This is an accident waiting to happen, with no good outcome. As Barney Fife used to say: Nip it in the bud!

Hawthorn can stop a charging bull, it will certainly stop a great dane, so long as its large enought that is, I fear at this point you won't find anything thats going to become established soon enought for you.