P.S. I’ve learned a lot from reading all of your informative webpage.

ADMIN – Hi Dennis,

Yes, you can (and should) try and get the wire domestically – the wire is very heavy and shipping it is ridiculously expensive. You can use any insulated single copper wire. If possible, get wire that is ‘direct burial’ approved. That kind of wire is going to hold up better in your soil than standard PVC wire.

With those two dogs being such different sizes, a system that lets you set the correction level of each dog separately at the collar (instead of jointly at the base station) would be a better bet. Instead of the Innotek consider the PetSafe Stubborn or the SportDog. They are similar system, both will let you set the correction level for each dog independently. The SportDog is a little more expensive but has a better base station and a better warranty.

ADMIN – Hi Lambert,

Afraid the SD-2000 transmitter will not work with any other collars (except the SD-3000 collars which also lack a battery indicator). If you want to upgrade the collar you will also need to switch out the transmitter. However you can keep the existing wire in the ground.

Admin- Hi Dries,

We recommend the PeSafe Stubborn/Large dog system for larger breads like a German Shepherd. You will be more flexible with the correction levels on the PetSafe stubborn dog. The 3 levels of correction on the Innotek are very similar to levels 2-4 on the PetSafe stubborn. Level 1 on the stubborn is warning tone/vibrate only and level 5 is five times stronger than level 4.

ADMIN – Hi Marissa,

You are on the right track.

As long as the beep is going off somewhere near the flags all is well.

With a Shiba, no reaction is typical in Step 1. I find them generally a pretty hard headed dog. They are still observing and learning, they just won’t react because at the moment he sees no reason to do anything. Keep on with the training. You will notice when you get to step 2, that he will be a completely different dog. Once you apply the correction, a light will go off in his head and he will realize why you were telling him No and asking him to retreat.

ADMIN – Hi Cory,

We use the EZ Trench small cable installers. Here’s what we’ve used and recommend for our customers:

http://www.dogfencediy.com/installation/burying-the-wire/trencher/

ADMIN – Hi Louis,

There are two types of splices. The newer 3M splices, are clear have three holes and a button on top. With these splices you strip a bit of insulation off the end of both wires you are splicing together, you insert the two wires in any two holes in the splice, then push down hard on the button to lock the wires in place.

The older splices are a wire nut plus a gel-filled capsule. You strip a little insulation off the end of the two wires you are splicing together, twist them together in the wire nut, then plunge the wire and wire nut into the gel filled capsule and close the capsule door to lock them in place.

ADMIN – Hi Michael,

If you are doing a small area, less than 50 feet then you can use the Paws Away Rock Set. The set is much cheaper than a full system and is easier to put in, but can only use a maximum of 150 feet of boundary wire – so isn’t much use where the area you need to block is greater than 50 feet. But, that should work fine for you. What kind of dog are we containing.

ADMIN – Hi Kip,

Afraid, for the Mini Weiner, the PetSafe Little Dog is the only good choice and this of course comes with the $10 proprietary battery. Everything else is too big and has the correction levels set too high. For the bigger dog, you could use a PetSafe Deluxe collar, it is a little bigger and also uses a proprietary battery but it is much cheaper costs around $4.

We share your distaste for expensive proprietary batteries. You can squeeze out about 3 months out of the batteries if you turn the collar off when not in use.

ADMIN – Hi Mann,

The best way to create gaps in the boundary is to raise the wire high enough above the ground so that the signal does not reach the dog at ground level. You can also be devious about the kind of loop you make, doubling back on yourself (with six feet of separation between opposite sections of wire) and doing other such trickery to get your desired layout while still meeting the loop requirement. If you email us a diagram, we are happy to lend a hand in designing the layout.

Inserting the boundary wire into PVC or metal tubing will not block the signal, nor will burying the wire (unless you go 2+ feet down).

ADMIN – Hi Krystal,

Flag only containment works with trained dogs but is of course not as reliable because eventually the dogs figure out there is no correction associated with these flags. I would only use it when the dogs are under supervision and would not use it where there is a serious safety hazard nearby, because the consequences of a slip-up are too great. All that said, lots of people use the flags when they are say camping to keep the dogs nearby. So when you finish training your dogs and pull up the flags be sure to save a few.

You can get more dog fence boundary flags in our store here: http://dogfencediy.com/store/wire/boundary-flags.html.

You can also pop down to your local hardware store and get boundary flags in the gardening of plumbing section. They use similar flags to mark pesticide application or to mark utility lines respectively. These flags look very similar to the ones used for dog fence training.