dog fence

[meanjean]

1 of my dogs was hit by a car Wednesday am. Dog is fine which is amazing considering the damage to the car.
I purchased an electric dog fence, the one where you bury wire. I will be renting the machine which digs, lays cable, and back fills in one fell swoop.
Has anyone got advise for installation?
Seems pretty straight forward sometimes there are nuances which help with the install.
If anyone is looking to buy one of these systems and you need additional cable, I recommend you hit up an electrical store instead of the place you buy your unit.
I was able to save 50% by going thru an electrical warehouse.

 

[stuart]

I have had one of these fences for a number or years. I shouldn't say 'one' because it has gone through a number of stages.

First, it works really well, After about a year I didn't really need it, as long as the dogs had their collars on. Had some problems with it, and after a few months one of them started experimenting, so I had to repair it. I ran the wire close to the house at the driveway, to keep them away from visitors cars.They know that when i take the collars off it is safe to get into the truck.

First time i carefully buried it about 1" down, which was easy to do with an edging tool. Then I had the driveway paved and some landscaping done so had to start over. This time I just left it on the surface for the winter. Dogs could see it and avoid it. In the summer I supported it with farm electric fence posts so I could mow easily. So much easier to fix, compared to finding where the moles and gophers had chewed the wires.

I found that standard wire works as well as the stuff they supply, but I suppose the impedance may not be correct.

You can leave the wire out for visual effect, then they will learn by the trees and such where the limits are, then bury it later. If you bury it right away, make sure there is a good visual barrier for them to learn from. Put the barrier a foot or so inside the wire perimeter. Our dogs will charge out a full speed, but stop instantly at the same spot every time. Skid marks on the grass from stopping so quickly.

 

[meanjean]

I'm consideringl laying the wire inside the edge of the ground I've recentley tilled, I figure its a pretty good visual barrier.
Will keep their paws clean as well!

I do like the idea of supporting with fence posts, you make some good points regarding the benefits
I am installing over 1800 feet of wire, don't want to spend too much $ per post as I will need almost 180 of them.
I could always make 3 foot pickets, I may even have enough wood. Flag tape the wire as well.

I need to cross a gravel driveway which calls for pvc as shielding.
Not looking forward to trenching that span.

I'm hoping the dogs will scare off any critters hungry for wire.

Did your dogs learn quickly?
Did your dogs ever run thru the zone after getting zapped?

 

[DsBota]

I had installed the invisible fence for our dog that passed away about three years ago. The kit I bought came with if I remember correctly 200 or so feet of 18 gauge wire which wasn't enough so I purchased a 600 foot reel of 16 gauge wire from Home Depot. I buried the line about 6 inches in the ground and even crossed a gravel driveway with no issues in three years of use. The fenced worked good but I found if the dog really wanted to cross he would just take the zap. Also make sure you use fresh batteries and have a spare one handy.

 

[Paul J]

I had a cheap one about 10 years ago that I installed just with a flat spade. Mine came with visual training flags that you left up for about a month. I was suprised at how well it kept a 90 lb rotty in but once he learned he could take the zap, I could no longer trust it. (He never hurt anybody in 10 years but the neighbors were scared of him and used to taunt him)

 

[meanjean]

I was wondering what would happen if the dog built up a tolerance to the zap.
Our one dog is a big wuss and won't test the fence line, I hope.
Not sure what the other dog will do.

I would prefer burying the line but won't be able to get my paws on the trenching machine for atleast a week.
I really want to get this set up sooner than later.
I made about 150 wooden stakes and managed to prep almost 1300 feet of the collective 1800 feet.

Your neighbors are jerks for taunting your rotty. Play with the bull and you get the horns.

 

[meanjean]

update

I decided to install the perimeter wire in the ground.
Against my better judgement I borrower a gas powered edger thru a friend.
Worked fine for roughly 5 minutes then crapped out on me.
Fart.

Bound and determined to get this installed I began scrounging in the garage for a fix it.
After some R & D my fix is as follows:
-Drilled a hole thru the side of my bucket.
-Bolted an old mower blade on to the bucket.

I would get the machine moving then drop the loader.
I can now set the depth with my loader. Was a little bit difficult to keep the machine moving but eventually figured it out.
It makes a "trench" maybe an inch and a half wide and 2 inches deep. Perfect for the wire.

Now to fix a broken edger...

 

[DsBota]

I learned some tricks from my brother in law ( who works for a cable company) in burying cable with just a spade. I did 500 feet 6 inches deep in about 2 and a half hours. It was tiring and I didn't have a tractor at the time so I couldn't be creative like you. Hope the fence works for you.

 

[stuart]

That is cool - I have a few old mower blades.
I don't have a 'float' on my loader, so I think I'll make something for the scraper blade. Perhaps a vertical piece with the mower blade on one side, and a small wheel on the other for depth control. The weight of the scraper assembly will ensure good ground contact and the wheel will prevent scalping the grass.

Thanks for sharing your idea.

 

[meanjean]

Scalp the grass?
Are you tweaking a golf course?

The box scraper will be a better route than attaching to the bucket.
I have found it hard to steer as the blade digs in and pulls the front end to the right.
I think mounting on the back end would facilitate the process.
I mounted to the front part of the bucket.
Hindsight, I should have mounted on the pack part of the bucket, would be easier to see from the seat.

My "fix it" was fine on flat ground. I have now moved on to a wavy part of the ground and am struggling.
Here's the new fix:
-Attach 4 lag bolts into a rail way tie with 3 inches of the bolt ends sticking out of the tie.
-Drag tie behind my tractor.

I'm hoping this will dig a sufficient trench. Will know tonorrow am when I try it out.
Will advise,

Mean Jean

 

[meanjean]

I picked up a cable layer today and finished 95% of the job. I only have another 30 feet to go.
I've laid down almost 2000 feet.
Things were going alright then the wheels fell off. Machine jammed up with mud, ran out of wire, dogs freaked out.
I was also battling sundown.
If you decide to install dog fence I recommend the following:
-Rent a cable layer.
-keep the macines blades very clean.
-Buy 200 feet too much (wire)
-Get a good helper.
-if you think you can install in 4 hours, plan for five and a half.

 

[brokersdad]

Had one of these fences for abut 17 years now and I would never go without one. We've had a 3 dogs trained on it, a small mix breed and two dobermans, now we have a french bull that will soon be trained on it. Some people say they're cruel, I say it's more cruel to see your dog laying in the road yelping after it got hit by a car, if it lives that is

 

[meanjean]

Both dogs are now trained on the fence.
The one dog got zapped and ran straight to the back door, perfect.

Was plowing today when both crossed the line and got zapped.
I removed their collars to put them back within the boundary.
Held the collars wrong and zapped myself!

 

[stuart]

Both dogs are now trained on the fence.
The one dog got zapped and ran straight to the back door, perfect.

Was plowing today when both crossed the line and got zapped.
I removed their collars to put them back within the boundary.
Held the collars wrong and zapped myself!

I have done that a few times - enough of a jolt to wake you up.
Seems the dogs learn quicker than I do.