Comments on: Laying out the Wire

By: kelly bradley

kelly bradley — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 16:33:06 +0000

We do not want to include our house in the fenced area; we want it to start on the other side of our driveway, where we have a large field. But I have to have a “gate” where I can let the dogs in and out without getting shocked. I can’t figure this one out. – emailed customer for diagram.

By: Lucinda Fields

Lucinda Fields — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 22:36:27 +0000

I read that the wire must be insulated, so can you use the 17 gauge aluminum wire as long as it is insulated? Is it because the wire can not get wet?

ADMIN – Hi Lucinda,

We have trouble using the aluminum wire. Unless you already have it hanging around, I would use insulated copper wire. Without the insulation, the wire does not tend to throw off a consistent signal, particularly when it is in contact with the ground or anything metal.

By: Sam

Sam — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 21:57:08 +0000

Can the unit be installed inside a metal building? My shop is 40X30 and all metal.

ADMIN – Hi Sam,

The base station on a wired dog fence can indeed be installed in a metal building. It is only the wireless systems where the base station will no work inside a metal building.

By: Jesse

Jesse — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 20:34:16 +0000

Hi, I’ll be doing a backyard layout and plan on bringing the wire out of the basement through a window. The wires will exit a side yard window (the side yard will not be accessible to the dog) and then loop close to the house around the front (again no dog access); then follow our rear-yard fence providing a dog-safe zone in our backyard; finally the wire will reenter the same basement window at the side yard. Do I need to use twisted wire where the wire enters/exits the basement at the side yard? Again, the dog will not be in the side yard. Thanks in advance!

ADMIN – Hi Jesse,

If the dog is not going to be using the side yard, you do not need to use the twisted wire. The twisted wire is only necessary when you want the dog to be able to walk over the wire. If the area is off limits anyway, running two regular wires into the basement will work just as well.

By: Hillary

Hillary — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:31:19 +0000

Hello again, I just remembered another question I had about the splices. I bought an extra 500ft. of wire but only the wire. It did not come with anything else and the fence I bought comes with 2 splices. Do I need to buy more to connect the wires or will 2 spices work? Thanks so much! This is a great site!

ADMIN – Hi Hillary,

You may be able to get by with the two splices. If you need more you can get them through our store, or at your local hardware store. Most don’t have these exact splices, but you can make do with waterproof wire nuts.

By: Hillary

Hillary — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:25:35 +0000

Hi! I just bought a fence and have not set it up yet. I wanted to know if it is safe to run the wire on the outside of our garage which is about 2 feet next to our property line. I would like for my dog to be able to come inside the garage when we are home but I don’t know if he would try to squeeze between the garage and the fence which would be pretty close.
Also I’ve read that the wire should not run parallel to electric wires unless they are about 6 feet apart. We have wires that gradually move in closer to our garage to where it goes slightly over the back end of it so the fence and wires would criss-cross but not be perfectly perpendicular. From where the electrical wires start to gradually move in to where I can move the wire out past six feet it’s about 100 ft. long. But once around the garage I can move the fence far enough away from the electrical wires. I was wondering if this would be safe or not or should I just keep them out of the garage altogether?

ADMIN – Hi Hillary,

If you run the wire on the outside of the garage, the dogs would not be able to go in the garage, particularly on the side with the wire running. (Unless you run the wire up high on the outside of the garage .. in that case the vertical separation will keep the dogs protected.

From your description, there should not be a problem with the electric wires, I don’t think there is a long enough parallel section for a signal to get induced. I would still check with the collar to make sure the dog fence signals aren’t getting into your electric wires (i.e. test to see if the collar is triggered near power outlets or along walls where wiring runs). But, I would not expect any problems.

By: Tony

Tony — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 19:00:18 +0000

I am installing a petsafe stubborn dog for my German shepherds to keep them out of my kids playset. The fence will run along my house and the loop will branch out from there to enclose the playset. The lines will then come back together after the playset is enclosed and run back to the transmitter in the garage. I’m not worried about keeping the wire 6 ft apart by the house because the house creates a barrier. My concern is about where the wires will come back together to to enclose the playset…if these wires are 3 feet apart will they cancel the signal and leave a gap for the dogs to get in?

ADMIN – Hi Tony,

In the section where the wires are 3-feet apart you are likely to get some signal cancellation and a gap where the dogs can escape. A way around this would be to leave a bigger gap and curve the wires around the playset so the opposite wires are not parallel.

By: dave

dave — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:55:32 +0000

thank you so much for your help. One more question…how do i set the wire to close the circuit but, allow my dog to gain access through the doggie door? the only outlet I have is by the door. the door is on my deck I will have to run the wire up to the deck and to the outlet. Does raising the wire higher off the ground change the strength? The wire will be close to the door. any ideas? thank you so much again!

ADMIN – Hi Dave,
If you’re running a perimeter loop, you’ll want to use twisted wire coming from the transmitter that runs out to the edge of where the boundary begins. This will allow your dog access to the doggie door. You can locate twisted wire and how to make it by going to the twisted wire page located under the “Dog Fence Installation heading on the menu bar. If you are running only a backyard loop, then yes you can suspend the wire up into the gutters or eaves of the roof to elevate the wire high enough to put the signal out of range. You can locate this backyard loop illustrated on our Planning/Layouts page also located under the “Dog Fence Installation” menu heading.

By: dave

dave — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 19:25:14 +0000

I have a escape artist of a dog. I have a existing 6 foot wood fence with two gates. she has dug out multiple times. I put chicken wire on the bottom of the fence and into the yard and she has even pulled out the staples and pulled up the wire to dig out. I have decided to install a invisible fence to keep her in. I want to attach to the fence and not bury it. I have utilities running down the entire length of one fence line. I would also like to let her get to within a foot of the fence before a shock. I am perplexed at the proper installation at the corners and how to then bury the cables at the gate. I have read you can not make a sharp angle. What is the proper way to install? Thank you so much, I have been lucky my dog has not been hit or lost and I do not want to lose her.

ADMIN – Hi Dave,
For your layout, when you bring the wire down the fence line, you can stop several feet short of the corner and suspend the wire to the next fence line to prevent creating a right angle. Of course, right angles are not as a big of a problem with fenced in properties. When you create a 90 degree angle, it will stay work, but the corners may not have a signal. For your gates, I recommend running the wire at a 45 degree angle down to the ground to bury it under the gate. Additionally, I recommend laying the wire out first and get your system plugged in and tested. You want to make sure that you are not getting interference along the boundary with the power cables. As for your boundary width, 1 foot is very tight. We recommend 2 to 3 feet as a minimum when combining with an existing fence.

By: D Bell

D Bell — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 17:33:56 +0000

I’m looking at putting the containment wire in plastice tubing. will that cause any issues with the transmissions?

ADMIN – Hi D Bell,

No, that is a great way to protect the wire while not hindering it’s functionality.