Electric fence question

[DrKym]

will happily give you mine.............. Had to install "real" fencing as the invisible did not work with my fosters or my 2 resident dobes.

[Seravieve]

Well My Mom bought one for her granddogs.. Aka.. our three. Right now she only has two collars ($60 for each additional, from HD).. But Eli sticks around pretty good. And he wouldnt hurt a fly, so he's not the issue. She just bought the Petsafe one from Home depot. Not sure how much the grad total was though. We buried the wire.. by hand. She has a .5 acre of grass area (4 acres of woods.. that we werent about to do!). It took us all day, 11 am until dinner time to install completely. Maybe a couple hours burying. We started out with an electric edger. Ground was too hard so that didnt work. It digs a nice trench, and if you got a bag or two of topsoil, itd probably work good.

So when we realized that wasnt going to work.. my mom got out a square shovel and started making trenches and I scooted around and buried it. Lol.. We ran the wire around the yard first.. to make sure there was enough, spliced it and everything so it was ready. Staples make it easy to hold in place. I have heard of people just laying the cable ontop of the ground and holding it in place with the staples. I dont know how long the cable will hold up though...

As far as how effective... I walked Bunny and Zeke around after it was installed, had the collar around their leash, so theyd hear the beep and then I'd pull them away from the wire. Go back, and continue, all the way around the yard. Bunny figured it out quick, but we have a remote training collar for her so she knows the drill. She's been shocked a couple times, usually once everytime we go over there. Like she has to test it, and then she remembers. Zeke hadnt ran through it or gotten shocked until two weeks ago sunday, when the neighborhood cat strolled by. And since he LOVES the taste of Kitty.. sad I know.. he ran right through it. J caught him on the other side, cat got away, and Zeke walked back in the yard, with both eyes blinking/wincing in sync with the shocks. He didnt test it again that day.. So I guess its not fool-proof.. I dont know that Bunny will run through it to get to whatever on the other side.. She seems to really dislike the shock, because she doesnt stray far once shes 'tested' it. And yes, people can come in the yard and steal the pups... But who would want my crazies?! =) And any other dog that crosses the line, is fair game in my mom's book.. Long story.. and Im winded from just this.. as Im sure youre tired of reading my ramblings.. lol. Hope something in there helps! =)

[mruffruff]

I can't trust an invisible fence. Besides a dog ignoring the little jolt or getting stuck on the wrong side of the wire, there is the good possiblility that the wire will be damaged. One squirrel gnawing and the entire system is down.

Maybe you could put in a chain link fence in part of the yard, as much as you can afford right now, and expand the size as you can find the money for a larger size. If the neighborhood is growing into your area, the problem of other animals (or people) will grow also.

I fenced my back yard of about 40'X80' with treated solid wood for about $2000. Chain link for the same size would be far less. I did the work myself and it has held up for 12 years.