The thing is, as others have said, there are many predators here in Florida...... the biggest problem for your dogs, because of their size, is coyotes. They are crafty, and will watch until they know your routine, and if your dogs are out alone, they will snatch one. The only way I would let a small dog out alone is if I had a walled courtyard villa. No fenced yard, anywhere in Florida, would be 100% safe.

You may want info for part of your situation and work with your sales person - also why would you take info of this importance from people on this site - time to make a decision in your own- just saying.

There is 1 house on Nash Loop in the Village of Hemingway. It has a totally 6ft. high fence around the whole backyard. We are the only street with this. This is
not a villa. It is a ranch home. It also has the golf cart garage

Speaking of predators, there was a panther passing through a yard in the middle of the night caught on a home security camera over in the Del Webb community off 441 about a month ago.

Look to locate in a veranda style home. Hawkins, St Catherines, Citrus Grove and more..

I was in exactly the same situation two years ago. You have two options. First option is either a courtyard villa or a bungalow villa. Courtyard villas are typically two bedroom two bath, bungalow villas are typically three bedroom two baths, both have fenced in backyards. The next option is what I chose which is a veranda. All of the verandas are south of US 44 in the newer section of the villages. Veranda homes are designer homes with fenced in backyards.

We had the VERY same concerns. We bought a veranda home on a golf course and they do just fine. But... we also started walking them, which we had never done before, and they absolutely love it and it's great exercise for us all!! Some people complain about dogs peeing and pooping in their yard, I respect that. Mine go in our yard but we walk for the exercise..

We have two hawks and an eagle that sit frequently near the lake in our backyard. Our yard is fenced, and a bobcat jumped the fence one evening, We have a very large dog, so it didn’t scare us. However, most definitely your dogs would have been in danger. We have photos of a black bear, and a Florida panther in our neighborhood prowling. There are a lot of cameras on people houses in the area, so people do get photos of the wildlife.

Just remember when walking your dogs. Don’t walk near water. You can’t out run a gator. They are faster than you think. Also, put on a fur coat and walk barefoot, to see how your dogs are feeling. Most likely will need to walk early mornings. You can fry an egg on the concrete at times and it will burn your dogs paws.

An electric fence is the answer. My son has two very active Australian Shepards and an electric fence keeps them “contained” perfectly. I don’t know of an instance when they didn’t stay “in their yard”.

To be truthful, but blunt, and not trying to sound rude, but if you let your animals out without a leash and allow them to do "their thing", you are asking for trouble.

We first purchased a courtyard villa which is enclosed so our dog could run around the property. Now we live in Hemmingway on Nash Loop where houses on inner circle have fences. There are new homes that have fences now.

We live in a courtyard villa. We have a doggy door so Max can go out anytime he wants. It is awesome. We have rock and turf in the backyard which works great for him. We can close off the opening if we are going to be gone more than a short time.

Another option is to buy or build a house with a yard big enough for a large bird cage. Add a garden area or two with some dog friendly plants. One of my neighbors has grass that seems to be working. I have found that my dogs, both under 15 lbs, find pine straw as an acceptable option to do their business.
This option protects your pets from critters and bugs and gives you the added benefit on additional space to relax when the weather gets cooler.

Courtyard Villas and The Verandas are the only home that have completely fenced in back yards.

We felt the same way and bought a courtyard villa but have since sold it and bought a designer. We thought we would let the dog out back the way he was used to just wandering around. But with the number of hawks circling the yard every day we never felt comfortable doing so (he’s 8lbs). We walk him 3x a day and take him to the dog park almost every afternoon to run around with all of his friends. He hangs on the lanai during the day instead of in the yard. In addition to hawks there are lots of other dangerous wildlife to a small dog left alone especially in the southern areas with more preserve land, not to mention the gators in every pond. Our winter nighttime walks in the dark are with a flashlight and a bat because of the heavily preserved area where we live - he does smell something lurking in that brush and I have seen bobcats.