Burying the Wire
There are four ways you can bury the wire:
1. Hire a trencher, that will automatically dig a trench, lay the cable and bury the cable. A trencher is what the pro’s use to lay cable and REALLY speeds up the job, allowing you to lay cable at about 3 yards a minute. You can hire a trencher with a cable laying attachment for a day for around $50 at most tool supply houses, it is money well spent as it will let you halve your installation time. If you are laying less than 300 yards of cable, you can get away with hiring the trencher for half a day. For detailed instructions for using a trencher click here.
2. Use a power edger to dig a shallow trench, then manually lay the cable and bury it. If you don’t already own a power edger, your neighbors probably do, so take a six-pack next door and see if you can borrow it. Alternatively, buy a cheap power edger for around $50 or hire one for even less. For detailed instructions click here.
3. Manually. If you want to punish yourself, this is a really good way to bury the cable. You will need to dig a narrow trench, then manually lay the cable and bury the cable. This is really only a good choice for doing small areas where you cannot use the trencher or power edger. For detailed instructions click here.
4. No Dig Method You can simply lay your cable on the surface of the ground and staple it in place. If you have very light traffic areas, then the cable does not need to be burried. Particularly in wooded areas, over time the vegetation will grow over the wire and bury it for you. For details click here.
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Using the no-dig method: If I wanted to set up this system as a trial run, to make sure it worked for my needs, could I just staple it to my wooden fence, above ground?
My understanding of how this system works indicates that I should be able to.
ADMIN – Yes absolutely. In fact, if you already have a fence you can permanently staple or zip tie the wire to the fence and save a lot of time on installing the underground fence system.
This may be a dumb question, but would it matter how high I fasten the wire to the fence? I like the idea for the ease, but want to place it high so my dog doesn’t mess with it. Thanks!
ADMIN – Hi Steve, you can fasten the wire to the top of the if you want, you will just need to turn up the boundary width so that the signal reaches the bottom of the fence.
I would not worry too much about of the dog messing with the wire. With their collar on, they will not want to be near the wire, certainly not for long enough to say chew on it.
It is going to be fall here soon and I will be done mowing my grass. Can I staple the wire on the surface for training this winter and then pull the wire up again in spring after the dogs are trained or does the wire and collars need to be on forever?
ADMIN – Hi Paul, you will need to keep using the wire and collars. Once the dogs learn the new boundary rules, they would tend to stay inside even if you pulled out the system. But, eventually they would learn that that there is no longer a consequence for leaving the boundary area. It may take several months for them to make this realisation but it would eventually happen.
You could staple it to the ground now for training, and after the winter – pull it up and then bury the wire
I’m also contemplating a sprinkler system for my yard. Could the electric fence cable be laid in the same trench as the sprinkler line? It would be ideal to only have to trench once!
ADMIN – Hi Mark,
The sprinkler and dog fence wire can happily coexist. Perhaps mankind can learn something from this example!
Does it matter how much the terrain goes up and down with in the fenced area. My back yard slopes downhill quiet a bit into the woods.
Also how much wire comes with set if any?
ADMIN – Hi Ken,
You can run the wire along hilly terrain. This is one of the advantages of the underground systems, they cope much better with undulating terrain than the wireless system.
Most of the systems come with 500 feet of wire.
My backyard is approx. 1.5 acres of limestone. Burying the wire is very difficult. I tried leaving the wire lay on top, but rodents chewed thru the wire at least twice a week. Any suggestions.
ADMIN – Hi Jeff,
You live on a sandstone rock with lots of rats, my first suggestion is that you should move
Seriously, try spraying the wire with something unpleasant like bitter apple, to see if that will break them of the habit?
Actually, limestone rock with lots of skunks. ..Also a good reason to move. Can i put the wire inside tubing or hose-pipe? As much rain as we get in TN the bitter apple spray would be a regular chore. thanks for the help!
ADMIN – Sure, old hose pipe is perfect for the job. I was thinking try the bitter apple for a week or two and maybe they will form a bad association and stop doing it permanently.
Hi,
I have 2 Huskies who have dug under my fence and gotten away several times. If I staple the wire on the top of my four foot fence and increase the frequency, will it also deter them from digging?
What system do you recommend for this particular breed, assuming of course that you are familiar with this breed.
ADMIN – Hi John,
Huskies are funny, I think most husky owners would agree they are notorious escape artists and can be very independent (read stubborn). But, they seem to be very sensitive to the correction and despite their reputation for being hard to train, they seem to learn very quickly on a pet containment system (perhaps all they need is a bit of motivation). I would use any regular system (not the stubborn dog). The two premium Innoteks IUC-4100 & IUC-5100 are good choices because they help you get the collar fitted correctly, something that can be tricky with the husky undercoat. But pretty much any good reliable system will do.
Stapling to the top of the fence would work fine, you will just need to adjust the boundary width to make sure it reaches the bottom. That should take care of all digging and fence jumping.
PS – are the dogs over six months, I am guessing that if huskies aren’t jumping over a four foot fence they are puppies? If so, you should try and wait till they are six months old.
Hi, with this system can you place the wire next too metal fencing or hang it on metal fencing and still have it work?
ADMIN – Hi Nick,
You can place the wire on a metal fence and it will still work fine (the wire is insulated). If you have chain link, you can weave it through the fence or zip-tie it in place.
I live oceanfront Hawaii with a Jack Russell Terrier. How will these systems hold
up to salty moist conditions. I would also be unable to bury the wire as we are solid
lava.
ADMIN – Hi Ann,
We see a little faster deterioration in salty conditions especially where you get nicks in the wire. I would conservatively plan on replacing the wire more frequently, say every five years instead of every ten plus years. You may get a lot longer, but that would be a bonus. Be really careful where you splice the wire to make sure all the exposed wire is encased in the waterproof splice.
would shielded phone wire work the same as your buried cable! it has a copper sheath inside! would this cause a problem? also how deep can you bury it without causing a problem?
ADMIN – Hi Jeb,
I have never tried it, but I imagine the shielding may cause some problems and interfere with the signal transmission. You can bury up to a foot deep, you just need to turn the boundary width up to compensate. You usually don’t bury more than an inch or two, all most people really want is for the wire to be kept safe from the mower and the edger.
I have a circle concrete drive way that the wire would have crossed three times (and one area is wide enough for three cars to park side-by-side). Is there a product or recommendation for going over the concrete vice burrowing under (which would be difficult). Thanks
ADMIN – Hi Greg,
Yeah, tunneling under three car wide driveway is not fun! Most people will go across an existing expansion joint. You put the wire in the joint and then caulk over. If you don’t have one convenient you can cut a shallow slot with a circular saw, place the wire in the slot and caulk over. Some people will also lay it over the driveway (sometime protect in say an old hosepipe – sometimes just bare) but I think it looks a little messy and avoid doing it that way.
I have two 6 month old Golden Retrievers, brothers on is 50pds and the other 27pds. I don’t worry to much about them as far as the training they are both very smart, but due to budget issues I find myself smack in the middle of winter ready to purchase my system. I am looking towards the IUC-5100, due to the training aid. I already have training collar but wanting the ease of one system and not having to buy a separate collar for corrections inside the fence I think the system will fit. My big question is I have 5 acres, 3.5 is fenced in for large animals. I will be doing the entire perimeter but only have to bury the front smaller portion. What works in the winter for installation? Or am I better to just lay the wire out right now to start using the system and just staple it (where I can) and then bury in the spring once I thaw? I would really like to start training (using the system) due to living on a busy highway and these guys are replacements for my 5 yr old I lost last summer, to the road. All suggestions would be appreciated.
ADMIN – Hi Ryan,
I would avoid doing a winter installation. What I would do is just lay the wire out on the surface, weighing it down in a couple of spots to stop it moving too much, and stapling where you can. Then lay out the flags and right into the training. As you said, when the weather warms up, you can do the permanent installation.
I would like to put of fencing for my husky and boxer (mostly for the husky) we live in northern ontario and it is feb. Is there anyway to do it right now she has escaped everything I have tried. I hate tying her. I live on 32 acres would like to fence at least 5. Any help would be appreciated
ADMIN – Hi Rachel,
For winter, most people just lay the wire on top of the snow. Maybe weigh it down in a few places with rocks or use staples to stop it moving too far. Then when the spring comes and the snow melts out you can do the final buried installation.
We are getting a standard poodle puppy. We also just had a house built for us.
I would like to install the fencing just around the back yard, its a nice size but not huge I would say around a quarter acre. How do I install this so that it is neutral around the back of the house and patio area. I really do not want to take it around the whole perimeter of the property. Also our back yard goes about 25 feet into a wooded area.
I would like to train the dog to go there to do its business. What is the distance that the dog has to stay away from the fence. That part of the fencing I would not bury.
Thats muchly
Linda
ADMIN – Hi Linda,
You can set the distance that the dog needs to stay away from the wire using the “boundary distance” dial on the control box. You can adjust it from a few inches to ten+ feet, but most people will want it set at between three and five feet. Any less and it becomes hard to train the dog, any more and it wastes too much space.
Generally once trained the dog will not get too close to the correction area, and will keep about three feet away. So if you want to train the dog to go potty in the woods, I would run the wire at least ten feet into the woods, but if you are not burying the wire, it should be easy to just run it the full 25 feet (or more!).
To make sure the back of the house is not active, a couple of options would be to either run the wire tight around the front of the house, or to run the wire up a downspout, across the gutter and down a downspout .. that vertical separation over your back door will let the dog come in and out of the house.
Hi,
Just moved into a new neighborhood with approx. 1/2 acre. Previously didn’t have to worry about our 100lb lab getting out and about, but now the old boy (10 years old) needs to be contained in our yard. 1.) What system would you recommend? 2.) How do you go about getting across a driveway with the wire?
Thanks, Mark
ADMIN – Hi Mark,
The Innotek IUC-4100 would be a great choice for a lab, it is are all round favorite system. To get across the driveway, you would cut a shallow slot in the concrete using a circular saw fitted with a masonry blade (or use a preexisting expansion joint). Place the wire in the slot, then caulk over with an outdoor caulk.