Electronic Dog Fences
Equipment
I'm sorry this is not technically bowhunting related, but we all have furry friends, and this is the forum where I feel most comfortable :) If the Mods think it's too off topic, do what you will :)
I had an electronic underground dog fence that I put in at an old residence and covered over an acre. But it was back in 2006.
I'm wanting any information anyone has about new fence styles, etc. We're building a new house, with a walk out basement. I'm wanting to allow the dogs access to the basement, but then have a large 2 to 3 acre underground fenced section for them to run. Any one have experience with the new underground fences. Brand recommendations, etc.
I don't really know how big it will be yet. I know I want them to access the walkout, but I want to keep them out of the road and away from landscaping along the front and sides of the house. We'll have plenty of room for them, limited mainly by how hard I want to work burying wire. . .
Thanks!
I put in a petsafe brand and have had no complaints. Fenced in over and acre including some brush for my dog. I didn’t bother to bury it in the thick stuff, just paid it on the ground and it worked perfect.
Craig
We don't have one, but a neighbor "upgraded" to one that works off satellite, no wire. Might only work on property lines, not sure what he did for setup, but it might be worth a google search
I put 1 in recently that covers about 1.5 acres maybe a little larger. My yard is 3 acres. Not sure the technology has changed much in the last few years but I bought the heaviest wire I could find. Its called Extreme Dog Fence and is yellow. The core is a heavier gauge and so is the protective covering. The spool was so big it wouldn't fit in the local rental machine. I ended up using the machine to dig and lay the wire but my wife had to carry the spool of wire on a broom handle and walk out in front of me and feed it through the machine.
I used my old petsafe controller from an existing system and it worked fine.
Depending on your dog size I would recommend 1 of the collars that use a 9 volt battery. I get 9 months or so out of a battery and don't have to worry about charging batteries or proprietary batteries that are expensive.
I’ve had 3, sport dog brand was the most durable. Don’t use the thin wire they send you.12 or 14 gauge is more durable.
We have the extreme dog fence and 2 collars. It's been good but one of the collars took a crap and only beeps, no shock. We put that one on the little dog. He still doesn't go near the boundaries. Batteries are expensive.
We put in a DogWatch fence around our 7 acres and it has worked great. Total cost was around $1500 and included laying the wire, all the equipment, and training our German Shorthair and Blue Heeler. Haven't had any problems and it's been a great way to allow the dogs free-run of the property without worrying. We also fenced off my wife's garden to keep the dogs out of there, too. Now if I could only figure out a way to collar the deer and rabbits, that would make her REALLY happy!!
I've had a Petsafe unit for 15 years on one acre. Ditto on the eXtreme yellow wire suggestion. The original red wire that came with the unit was a complete PIA. Seemed I was always tracking down line breaks. Upgraded the wire after a couple frustrating years and the headaches went away!
Agree yellow wire is the way to go along with the 9 volt collars.
I have a sport dog on an acre and a half, with the extreme 14 gauge wire. Collars take the nine volt battery and last a long time.
Some people use a lawn edger to bury the wire, but I just laid it out on top of the ground, and where I mow I made some stiff wire u-clips and and staked it down every couple of feet. Eventually it disappears in the grass. My labs won't go anywhere near the boundaries.
My buddy has a 40 acre farm and after getting one dog run over, one dog shot and one poisoned because they kept leaving the property he decided to get the invisible fence. As someone else mentioned it goes by satellite and no wire in ground. He loves it ! Invisible Fence's GPS satellite technology
Wireless dog fence here for my Anatollian. GPS collar could be bulky for small dogs. The border is anything you want it to be. Marked on a lap top. Mine covers almost 20 acres. We had wired version in years past but pocket gophers would cause a break and it was tough to find it.
I just installed the petsafe one from TSC. Couldn't get a lawn edger to work from the rental shop so I used my chainsaw to cut the trench then went around and buried the wire. Actually worked pretty good and a new chain was cheaper than the rental cost.
I got some good ideas. Thanks everyone!
My buddy uses the kind that once the dog gets so far away it goes off. No wire. His dog learned that if he ran the shock wouldn't be for long. This on stays on until the dog gets back in his area.
I have a Petsafe Yardmax. It is good. The longer the dog is out of the yard it ramps up the "stimulation" on the dog. It prevents the dog from running through the fence.
Replace the cheap wire that comes with the fence with irrigation wire. It is cheap enough and well worth the extra thickness. I used a paint stirrer to insert the wire into the trench. It was all very simple. There are some good websites on installing.
If your dog has any prey drive, he/she will likely learn to run through the "stimulus" band.
