ADMIN – Hi Eddie,

You will need to use insulated copper wire for the boundary wire in a dog containment fence. The farm style wiring used for electric livestock fence does not get you a consistent boundary signal.

ADMIN – Hi Chris,

The easiest way to create a temporary barrier around the pond would be to use one of the outdoor pods. You can run wire form the pods, up to 150 feet to circle the pond, and at the flick of a switch could switch it off in summer. You would also need to do a little training, and maybe put the flags up a the start of winter to teach the dogs that the pond was off limits, then again do some training in summer to show them that they were now allowed to access the area.

If the pond circumference is more than 150 feet, you will need to create a loop around it with wire, and then connect it to your main loop with the twisted wire. You would need to disconnect and reconnect this subsidiary loop ever winter / summer to activate / deactivate the pond fence.

What are the weight and temperament of the Lab and Aussie? If they are similar, something like the Innotek IUC-4100 would be ideal because it would work with your outdoor pods.

ADMIN – Hi Todd,

There is no avoiding having a complete loop – you cannot use the twisted wire as part of the loop to make one side of the boundary non-active. To make one side of the boundary non-active, you can either run the fourth side of the boundary tight around the front of the house, or run the wire up and over the house (through the guttering) so the dogs can pass under without getting the correction. Check out the Layouts page in the Installation section for some diagrams of how you can do a backyard only layout.

TODD – We do have a complete loop. However, I have a 15 foot section that has a twisted wire. Doesn’t the twisted wire provide a section that is not broadcasting the signal?

ADMIN – The problem isn’t the twisting, it is the way you are using the twisted wire. The twisted wire cannot be used as part of the main loop, only to get you from the transmitter to the start of the loop (i.e. it cannot be part of the rectangle, only get you from the transmitter to the start of the rectangle). If you use the wire as part of the loop as I am guessing you have, the twisted wire will act like regular single wire.

Another way of diagnosing it is that you probably have the two twisted wires connect to a single straight wire on either end. Any time you have anything other than 1-1 connections or wires that are not connected to anything the twisted wire is not going to work.

To get you past the rear sliding door, twisted wire is not going to help. Your best option is to run the regular wire up and over the door or to run the wire around the front of the house. For more information, check out the diagrams on the Installation –> Layouts page and in particular the “backyard only” layouts.

Hi Rick,

For a lab/hound mix, an Innotek IUC-4100 or a Petsafe Stubborn would be a good choice. The Innotek has a smaller and lighter collar which is rechargeable. The Stubborn has a bigger bulkier collar and uses a disposable 9v battery but is a little cheaper.

If you are just enclosing the back yard, to give the dogs access to the rear door you can either run the loop tight around the front of the house, or run the wire up and over the back of the house (we usually go up a downspout on one side of the house, across the gutter and down a downspout on the other side of the house) so that the vertical height of the wire over the head of the door stops the signal reaching the dog down at ground level. See our Installation–> Layouts pages for more details and diagrams.

ADMIN – Hi Gail,

I would use one of the stronger collars if you are particularly concerned that the Newfoundland will require a stronger correction, although training these dogs I have never found that to be an issue. Something with independent correction would also be useful since with these three dogs, it is likely they will require different correction levels. Something like the PetSafe Stubborn, or the SportDog SDF-100A would be a good choice.

ADMIN – Hi Gail,
If you have the space to set a 4 or 5 foot radius on the wire, you probably will be able to run the wire along the ground and still prevent your lab/husky from jumping or climbing over the fence. It is okay to weave the wire through the chain link. When running the wire along the pavement in the case of the driveway gate, you can protect the wire buy running it through a hose or you can purchase floor strip to lay over the wire. If you plan to attach the wire to the concrete wall, I recommend using plastic anchors so you can screw in I-bolts. I-bolts have a looped head much like a needle. This way you can thread the wire through the I-bolts.

ADMIN – Jason,

Yes, find out where his wire is buried and what fence model he has. You’ll need to keep a distance of 10 to 15 feet to avoid interference. If you do not have the room, the next best option is purchase a fence that allows you two operating frequencies in order to avoid interference. The Perimeter Technologies Ultra fence is the only fence available that can accomplish this successfully. You can locate the review on our site by clicking on “Dog Fence Reviews” on the menu bar, then click on “Perimeter Technologies” title on the second table.

ADMIN – Hi Annabel,

There’s only a possible chance of interference. 2 meters may be sufficient. If you do receive interference, you’ll either need to try one of two things or both, move the wire further away or adjust the boundary width down. Interference will amply the signal only along the area where the wire interacts with the electrical. However, it can cause all the electrical lines to pick up the boundary signal and transmit along the electrical cables.

You can place the wire several feet above or below ground. We recommend burying the wire 3 to 4 inches in the ground for protection. You can splice the wire to extend it by first tying a knot in the two wires you are splicing. Then splice it with a wire nut and then sink it into a waterproofing capsule.

ADMIN – Hi John,

Yes, you will experience interference along that shared boundary. You’ll need a dog fence with two operating frequencies. The only current dog fence model available that will successfully achieve this is the Perimeter Technologies Ultra. The Ultra will operate properly either on the 7K or 10K frequency. This will allow you to lay the wire within inches of your neighbor’s fence. Here’s the link to the review page: http://www.dogfencediy.com/reviews/perimeter-technologies/

ADMIN – Hi Adam,

No, you will not be able to do that. The back yard only layouts are designed mainly because you cannot run twisted wire as part of the boundary loop. What happens when you splice twisted wire into the loop, the twisted wire section transmits the signal. The other options you have is to run the wire up into the gutters to elevate the wire high up so that the signal is out of range along the back of the home. The other option is to wrap the wire around the front of the home to include your house inside the loop. Here is a video that explains the limitations on twisted wire: http://www.dogfencediy.com/installation/plan/twisted-wire/. Here is the back yard only layouts illustrated: http://www.dogfencediy.com/installation/plan/#backyard