Pet containment systems such as underground dog fences, provide a great way to contain your pets safely. Likewise pet owners want to do this while allowing maximum freedom for their beloved pets. I researched many of the available options for pet containment systems. I decided that the underground dog fence worked best for us. My wife and I have about 2.5 acres of land that’s partially wooded, and I wanted to cover as much of that as possible.
We explored the options of a wireless system. Ultimately I had areas of my yard and house that I didn’t want the dogs to have access to. Furthermore, we wanted to have the front entrance of the house off limits for them for people making deliveries or for visitors. Our dogs are very friendly, and didn’t want them jumping up on people that go to our front porch. The underground fence gave us the customization that we needed to exclude these types of areas.
Selecting the Right Underground Dog Fence
I was very interested in pet containment and underground fences. After much research, I selected the PetSafe Deluxe underground fence. It came with 500 ft. of wire, flags, a few underground splice connections, and the controller. As a result of the size of the property, I went ahead and ordered two 1,000 foot spools of 16 gauge underground wire. In fact, it was also more heavy duty than the wire that came with the kit, so I didn’t even use that. Additionally, if you have a smaller area you want to cover, I think the wire that comes with the kit should be sufficient. There are a decent amount of flags that come with the kit. For ease of training I ordered additional marker flags in hopes that it would make training my dogs easier. Here is the wire that I used.
Installation of the Underground Dog Fence
The installation of the underground fence was a two part process for me. First, I had to determine the best route and method for installation. This was particularly important for the portion of the wire that was going to be underground. Second, I needed to have a clear path for installing the wire in the wooded area of my property. One of these tasks ended up being a lot more work than the other, and the burial task was rather brutal.
The most difficult task I encountered was the installation of the wire underground. The ground was rather dry, and as a result it was hard to dig. In fact, it was hard enough that I ended up renting a gas sidewalk edger to assist with this effort. It cut a very small trench about 1 1/2″ to 2″ deep, which was the recommended wire depth according to the instructions. I went around my entire perimeter of my yard, and stopped where it would go into the wooded area. Although this worked well, I had no idea what was in store next.
As a result of the very narrow and shallow trench, grass was partially covering it. I found it difficult to just lay the wire in the trench. For this reason, I used a paint stirrer that you get from your local paint store to press the wire down into the trench. This particular task required a lot of time on my hands and knees and was the most difficult part. If you have ran out of the wire splice kits, I have found the waterproof wire connectors at Lowe’s to work very well here.
Pet Containment – Wooded Area Installation
After I finally got the wire buried, work started in the wooded area. I simply laid the wire on the ground in the outer perimeter of this area. The wire got hung in some areas on branches and underbrush. This prevented the wire from laying directly on the ground like I wanted to. I took some time to press the wire down and fish it around the areas of underbrush. Over time, leaves and pine straw will eventually cover the wire laying on the ground in a wooded area. This will make it difficult to trace out and troubleshoot if you have a problem later. I highly recommend getting something like a cinder block and running the wire through if possible. Additionally, it will be much easier to find a broken piece of wire in this area if you do this.
Hopefully connecting your wires to the controller will result in the loop light lighting up. If you don’t, you need to double check your splices. Additionally, I recommend not burying any of the wire just yet until you verify you have continuity. Tracing out a problem will be much easier if you have easy access to all of the components. While it is fresh on your mind, it will also be helpful to draw your perimeter out and take pictures. A splice underground is much easier to find and repair if you have documentation on where it is located. In addition, make sure that you use landmarks and even measure the distances if possible.
Training Your Dogs for the Underground Fence
I purchased additional flags from Amazon to ensure that I had plenty available. I wanted to make sure that the boundaries set were obvious to my dogs. After setting them out, I started working with them. I put the correction collars in alert only mode, and started walking them around on a leash. We would approach the flags, hear the beep, and back off. I then gave them a treat. I did this for about a week and a half and they did well. Then I set the correction setting to the lowest level, and did the same thing. Once they got corrected, it didn’t seem to bother them much at all. It scared them more than anything.
I noticed I did have to put the longer probes in the correction collar for one of my dogs because she has an abundance of fur. This worked well for us. After doing this for a total of two weeks, I felt very comfortable that they were ready to venture out by themselves. I did adjust the sensitivity range on the controller to give them a little more notice before the correction would occur. We had a great experience from my perspective, and my dogs have so much freedom to run around. I hope this provides you information on pet containment systems and underground dog fences.
Please be sure to check out my other blog posts for something that may be helpful for you.