Rescuing - "secure garden"

Hello everyone! I just wanted to get some opinions on what I'm considering for my garden.
Basically, I'm hoping to rescue my first dog this year, but I've hit a snag - the garden. Naturally, pretty much all the rescues I've looked at state applicants must have secure gardens. I was planning this whether rescues required it or not.

But, it's not as easy as I'd hoped. Basically, one side of the garden "ends" with hedging - which is scraggly, and varies between 3-5ft tall. Not really suitable for a large dog. (I'm hoping to rescue a German Shepherd).
However, they are a minimum of 25 years old, we think. So the problem is, removing them will not be an easy task - we've been told the roots will have been spread out very far. We can't afford to hire professionals; for the hedging and the fencing, this would be in the £1000s. Frankly, I'd be ripping them out myself if I had the knowledge!

If we just stick up the fencing next the hedging, we will be losing at least 2ft of garden, and we're not sure if it's suitable anyway, due to needing to dig for cementing the poles, with the old hedge roots. Secondly, in places there's not room for a thick wooden fence due to other things in the garden.

So my current idea I'm playing with is just placing a sheet of 6ft wire next to the hedge? Like chicken wire, just to give the hedge height where it is scraggly. It'd be thinner, so it could just go next to the hedge...
We lose the bit of garden width, and we still have the pole digging issue, but it would be vastly cheaper, and easier. But I'm not sure if that would be adequate for the rescues. The dog will not be thrown out in the garden alone all night, or anything like that, so personally I'm comfortable it would be adequate, but compared to the original plan, I worry the rescues may be critical?

So, I have 3 questions for you guys: would you say that the wire idea is adequate?
Anyone who has rescued a large dog, without the "perfect" 6ft wooden fencing, what do you have and did you face any problems with the rescues?
And finally, does anyone have any ideas for me?

Sorry this is longer than I intended, I'm just so jumbled up and confused about what to do.
And also very gutted I won't be able to get my dog for goodness-knows-how-long just due to something as silly as old hedges.

Thank you for any input, I really appreciate it.

the best thing to do would have a home check with a resuce maybe? they will tell you what you need to do to make changes so they can accept you..

and if you want a german sheperd have you looked here:

[link removed]

I am a home check for a number of rescues. I would accept a reasonable height of wire mesh fencing secured against the hedging. I would check that the bottom was secured to the ground and couldn't be easily snuffled or burrowed under and that the poles were dug to a reasonable depth to prevent the fence giving too much is run into or against.

x-clo-x That's a good idea, but I wouldn't want to waste their time until we are actually able to rescue a dog, when the garden has been modified? Also yes, that is one of the rescues I am looking at. (:

Thank you magpye, that's very helpful! I was so focused on height alone, I will pay careful attention to the bottom of it. And I'm very happy to hear that other things than simple fencing can be accepted.

Would the people the other side of your hedge let you work from that side, to hammer in poles for mesh fencing? (Then it can run along that side of the hedge.) I`m sure they don`t want your dog getting in their garden after all.

Do you mean so that the wire's on the "outside" rather than the "inside" of the hedge?
I did think about that, but we're not sure simply because they've only very recently moved in and we don't know them very well. But, a close member of their family has been often bring dogs round so happily it would be something helpful to them too, so will definitely think about approaching them with the idea.

We have a hedge the perimeter of our garden - taller on one side than the other and it has mesh the whole way round - not that you can see as the hedge has swallowed it over the years. It works for us and I have a gundog x that would happily follow a scent through to the field next door to us if he could. It also stopped (after we patched up the missing escape places) OH's Aunt's BC escaping - she was a real Houdini too. I don't have a rescue (yet) though so my ramblings may not help you.

I like C&D's idea - your dog can fully enjoy the hedge yet cannot get out and I'm sure the neighbours won't object.. all you have to do is ask.. the worst they can say is no - then you just put it on the inside..