Installation
The steps of installing your dog fence break down as follows:
- Planning the installation
- Mounting the transmitter box
- Laying out the wire
- Burying the wire
- Driveways and Pathways
- Connecting and Testing
You should set aside about ten hours for the whole installation project. The first and second steps will take about an hour. Burying the wire will take about four hours (if you use a trencher or edger. Doing the driveway will take an hour. And if everything goes according to plan the final connection and testing will take another hour. (The extra three hours is for the unexpected challenges and the much needed breaks that accompany any DIY task)
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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
I don’t know if you answer questions or not, but can you tell me how close a dog can get to the buried wire before the warning and subsequent correction will typically go off? I have several areas of my yard where the property line runs at an angle to the house and at the narrow points there are only 6 or 7 feet between the house and the property line (where I would bury the wire) before it widens out. Is this enough space, or would the dog never be able to pass through these areas of the yard? Thanks for your help.
- Mark
ADMIN – Hi Mark,
Mark, the boundary width can be set by the user on most systems. You can vary the boundary width anywhere from 1 foot up to 20 feet. Most people are going to want to set the boundary width at about 5 feet for the training phase, but you can certainly reduce it to 3 feet to work with a narrow side passage between the house and the boundary wire.
I have large property to fence with woods on perimeter. Can I just lay the fence through the woods on top of the ground? What about laying it in a rock ditch and then just on top of grass?
ADMIN – Hi Lynn,
You are fine laying it on top of the ground for the wooded section and in a rock ditch. But on the grassed section, I would rather see you bury it if that area is mowed. You could just staple it down there, but you will inevitably get breaks in the wire where the lawn mower goes over which is a pain … so you are usually better off just burying it.
What is the life expectency of a system buried in the ground in New England? Would the lifetime improve if barried below the frost line.
What is the standard technie emloyed in the installation of the wire and crossing a driveway?
ADMIN – Hi Paul,
The life expectency is approximately 10 years. I don’t believe the expectency changes based on burying the wire below the frost line. The standard technique for crossing a driving is to put the line in an expansion joint and seal over silicon. Alternatively you can use a circular saw and a masonry blade to create a trench in the driveway.
I would like to install underground fencing for my dogs but I share a yard with my neighbor. How can I install it without having to go completely around the whole building but still contain my dogs on my side of the yard.Only the east and south side of the yard is open and I want to stop them from leaving it without putting a big wooden/chain link fence up. Can I dig two trenches about a foot apart and just run it along those two sides in one trench and back in the other, twist the wires where they go into the house to the transmitter?
ADMIN – Hi Glenda,
You can double back on yourself as you suggest, but you will need six feet of separation between the two wire. Perhaps you can run the dog fence wire along the north and west sides as well to complete the loop? If you send us a diagram by email or fax we are happy to take a look and suggest a layout to you.
Hello,
I used your tips and had great success installing the system myself. Thanks a million! The dog was trained in 2 days! My dog is a 120lb great dane/ black lab and is not the smartest dog around but he learned very fast. I put the fence on the side of our house. I had to double back to make it work. We are finding now that our dog tries really hard to sneak out the front door and bolt. We want to put a boundary in the front yard to stop him from doing this. A very small one right by the front door to keep him from running away. I can not figure out how to make this work. Any ideas?
ADMIN – Hi Philip,
You could add a really small loop around the front door, then link it to the main loop with twisted wire. A much easier way would be to use one of the outdoor zones (the rock) if you have the Innotek 4100/5100, then just use it in wireless mode to create a small barrier keep the dogs from bolting from the front door.
Hi there, I’m having the lawn aerated and need to locate the twisted wire that runs to the transmitter. What do you suggest? Thanks
ADMIN – Hi Chuck,
Finding the twisted wire is tricky, since by design the two wires are meant to cancel each other out. The easiest way is to connect up an RF-Choke just like you were trying to find a wire break, but only connect one of the two wire leads.
My property is fenced with metal fencing and my little dogs find their way out. Can I weave the wire through this fence safely or do I need to put it in ground?
ADMIN – Hi Cheryl,
If you have a fence already in place, I would weave it through the existing fence, or use zip-ties, twist ties, or cable ties to hold it in place, there is not need to bury the wire . It is much quicker than burial and you should be ready to train in an hour for a typical yard. One tip, try and mount the wire at least a foot above ground to avoid it being struck by the dreaded weed eater!
We are laying out the wire for our installation (about 2 acres). Where should the flags be placed in reference to the wire …distance from the wire ?
Thanks,
Clint
When I lay out the wire, if I lay a section with triple wire…(forward, back, forward, so I can keep going in the loop, but have created a door) will that have the same effect of the double wire?
ADMIN – Hi Ryan,
Laying out a triple section of wire will act like a single section of wire – it will be active.
We have five dogs, all in the 15 – 20 pound range. We have a fenced property, but the dogs dig under the fence so we are considering electric fencing. How many collars come with the Petsmart 5100 system? Can correction with the remote be directed to only one dog at a time? How about two of five, etc.?
For installation I believe we can staple the wire to the bottom of the fence posts instead of trenching. What do you think? Will that work? Thanks in advance for your advice.
Robert Mickelsen
ADMIN – Hi Robert,
With the 5100, the remote can only work with up to two collars and the system only comes with 1 collar. The remote can only correct one dog at a time. I’d suggest going with the 4100 system as the collar is not as bulky as the 5100. If you’re looking for a great lower cost option, consider the Perimeter Technologies Deluxe Ultra. It was created by two Invisible Fence engineers and the collar is a great size for dogs 15 to 20 pounds. The only downside is that the collar requires a propriety battery, while the Innotek 4100 is rechargeable.
With your existing fence, stapling to the fence or at the base of the fence is a great installation method and our customers experience great success with it.
I’m considering purchasing the Innotek IUC-4100 kit. We have a neighbor across the street from us who we take turns watching each other dogs when we go on vacations. They have a system that was installed 3 years ago by Invisible Fence company. I want to ensure that the IUC 4100 is compatible with their system (i.e., their dog’s collar will work on my system, and my dog’s collar will work with their systerm). My neighbor’s wall unit was labeled “ICT 700″, but couldn’t find any other information on it. Do you know if this would be compatible with a IUC-4100? Thanks
ADMIN – Hi Fred,
Regrettably there is no compatibility between the Invisible Fence system and any of the other systems. There are a couple of solutions:
Can get a Innotek fairly cheap (opened but not used) but does not come with the wire (lost it I guess). Do we have to purchase Innotek wire or can we just go to the hardware store and buy wire? Thanks for help.
ADMIN – Hi Nicole,
Make sure to look for insulated copper wire that’s rated for direct burial and you’ll be fine.
We are moving into a condominium, two grouped together – so we don’t have a complete circle for the fence. Are there any fences that don’t need the circle – or do we have to do the double back of the wire to complete the circle? How far apart does the double back wire have to be? Its not a huge area to begin with – in some spots by the side of the condo its only 10 feet wide. Thanks.
Hi Chris,
All the systems require a complete loop. You have two choices: you can either double back on yourself (the wires need to be six feet apart), or you can run the wire over the roof line and around the front of the condo to complete the loop.