Digging
Good old fashioned digging requires the least equipment, but is also the hardest way to bury your fence.
First dig a very narrow trench about three inches deep with a pick axe or narrow hoe, going about one yard at a time. Place the wire in the trench and then bury the wire with the soil you removed. Tread on the soil to compact it, then move on to burying the next section of trench.
If the wire does not seem to want to stay in place when you place it in the trench, use lawn staples to hold them in place before burying.
The whole thing can be rather slow going, so budget about three minutes for each yard, longer if you have hard clay soils.
If you have soils that are particularly easy to work with, you can try the following shortcut. Cut the earth with a shovel, then push the shovel forward to create a v-shaped gap in the ground. Place the wire in the bottom of the v-shaped gap and then move the shovel and continue the process. Again this only works if you have soil that is very easy to work with, it will only cause frustration in rocky or clay soils.
Our Most Popular Pages
petsafe stubborn dog ~ innotek sd ~ sportdog sdf 100 ~ driveways and pathways ~ innotek sd2000 ~ electric dog fence reviews ~ electric fence underground ~ ef 4000 ~ petsafe wireless dog fence ~ petsafe underground fence ~ best electric dog fence ~ dog fence training diy ~ dog fence trencher ~ wireless dog fence reviews ~ dog fence without digging ~ dog fence wire ~ perimeter dog fence ~ wifi dog fence ~ high tech pet ~ dogtra ef 3000 review ~ petsafe radio fence ~ electric dog fence installation ~ wireless dog containment system ~ innotek sd 3000 ~ innotek pet containment ~ iuc 4100 2 ~ smart dog fence ~ petsafe small dog ~ dog fence jumping
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Hello. My fence has stopped working. I dug up a number of spots and used another length of wire to short the spots together. That got it working. However, now that it has stopped working again I wonder if it is not enough to solder and tape the wire and if ground moisture shorts out the signal. Do splices need to be waterproof? What product do you recommend if splices need to be waterproof? Thank you. We have enjoyed our fence for more than 10 years.
ADMIN – Hi Rusty,
Soldered joints tend to be fragile in dog fence applications. The soldered joint tends to be brittle and cannot deal with much stress, and we find it tends to fracture. Instead I would use a waterproof splice or waterproof wire nut. You can find them in our store, and you will also find them in any Lowes / Home Depot (in the electrical section). While not as elegant as a soldered joint, they tend to be much more resilient to both the elements, and stress being put on the wire.
Another little tip is to knot the two wires together a few inches before you splice them. The knot prevent stress from the wires being transmitted into the splice point.
You mention using lawn staples to hold the wire down. Since lawn staples are metal, won’t they cancel the signal?
ADMIN – Hi Pat,
Using lawn staples is fine. Metal on it’s own will not cancel the signal.
We will be moving to a beach house with sand and a gravel driveway. Are there any special considerations for this installations. Sand here blows around some, shifting as Nature decides.
Admin- Hi Greg,
1)The sand will not be an issues with the boundary wire.
2)With a gravel driveway, we prefer running the wire through PVP pipe 6-8 inches deep across the drive. The pipe helps protect the wire from the sharp and abrasive stones in the driveway that will shift thought the year when driven over. The pipe will not block the signal.
I would like to add this product to my property line. I have T fence posts that hold up wire fencing. How far a way does the wire have to be away from the fence to be effective and not interfered with by the metal T posts.
ADMIN – Hi William,
You can run the dog fence boundary wire right on the T-posts. There will not be any interference from your wire fence.
Will the wire be okay if we bury under the driveway?
Admin- Hi Cari,
Absolutely, the driveway will not pose a problem for the signal. If the driveway happens to be rock, we recommend installing the wire inside of a PVC pipe for added protection from the rocks.
Alternatively, couldn’t you just use a circular saw to quickly make a long cut in the ground and then lay the wire? Same as installing on pavement, but with grass/dirt.
ADMIN – Hi Ryan,
Using a circular saw to cut a trench in the ground sounds like it would work (much like using a garden edger). But, I think it would be a little difficult to do long runs, and it strikes me as a little dangerous. I would rather use an edger, but I can’t see any reason why the circular won’t do the trick too.
Can the invisible fence wire be buried next to metal edging material without affecting the signal?
ADMIN – Hi Jon,
Well, I’d lay above ground beside the metal edging material and plug up the fence and test it before burying it. Technically, any kind of metal is a potential risk for interference. However, it doesn’t mean interference is automatic. The best way is to test it before finishing your installation.
Hi, while I bury the wire if I go deeper than 3 inches the strength of the signal will be reduced in that section only?
ADMIN – Hi Sergio.
That is correct. If you bury the wire deeper in one section of the installation, the signal will be weaker in that section and that section only. This is because the signal will need to travel through more ground to get to the surface in that section and that diminishes the potency of the signal.
Hi; Quick tip for those using the shovel method. If you buy an edging shovel things will go faster and you’ll get straighter lines. Edging shovels have a flat and straight blade on them. As mentioned above, push it into the ground a few inches, pry it back and forth a bit, then move on. Won’t take long to cover 10′. After you lay the wire down, all you have to do is walk on the opened ground to compress it. Kevin
what is the maximum depth the wire can be buried without compromising effectiveness? Thank you
ADMIN – Hi Joao,
If you go deep, you just need to turn up the boundary width to compensate. This is not a problem unless is causes an issue in some other part of the yard where the wire is not buried as deep and the boundary will now be too wide.
In most circumstances you don’t want to go down much more than a foot.
My question is what do you do when you get to a sidewalk ? do you go under and if so how is this done? thanks mary
ADMIN – Hi Mary,
You can dig under. There are a variety of ways, but one of the easiest is to use a piece of PVC pipe to burrow under.
But, most people will cut a shallow slot or use an existing expansion joint. Lay the wire in the slot and then seal over.
There is a lot more detail in the “driveways and pathways” under the installation menu of the dropdown menu.
Regardless of the wire burying method, is the 3 inches mentioned here, at any danger of damage if constantly run over by a heavy ride on mower. If yes, would the 18 gauge wire be letter in the long run?
ADMIN – Hi Gale,
If you go down three inches you will be fine even if running it over with a heavy ride-on. No need to do 18 gauge, but it certainly would not hurt.