Do you have a brand new below-ground dog fence wire, and you’re not sure how to bury it? This article will give you a few tips on how to effectively and safely bury the wire for your dog’s invisible fence.
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How to Bury a Dog Fence Wire for Easy Pet Fence Installation
Once you’ve purchased the wired dog fence containment system, it’s time to install it. There are a few steps to the process to ensure that it is functioning correctly.
Follow these steps to correctly bury a dog fence wire.
1. Planning
The first step is to plan the boundary that you want for your dog. Does it have full access to the entire yard?
Perhaps you want to keep a section of the yard that’s free from dog poop. You may choose to section out a dog-free area.
Or perhaps you have a huge yard and you don’t want your dog to go sprawling out of sight. You need to plan just how much access to your yard you’re going to give to your dog.
Finally, you’ll need to make a note of a few areas. The first is where the transmitter box is going to be located.
Oftentimes, pet owners choose to plug their transmitter box into an outlet in the garage or a heated shed that has electricity.
You’ll also need to mark areas where you want your dog to be able to cross the wire safely. These areas will use a special kind of wire called a twisted wire that twists around the wire that will be emitting the signal.
Perhaps that area will be all around the doors that access the yard. Your dog will need to be able to enter the yard somewhere.
2. Bury Wire
With a layout in mind, you’re ready to bury the wire. You have a few different methods for this.
You can use a trencher, garden hoe, or a power edger to make the job easier. Otherwise, you can just dig into the ground with your bare hands.
You’ll want to dig somewhere between one to three inches deep for the wire. Then simply cover it back up.
Tools To Bury Dog Fence Wire
The easiest way to bury a dog fence wire is with a trencher or power edger. If you have a small to medium sized yard you can use an electric one. We recommend this model (see picture below).
For larger yards where you don’t have enough extension cords rent or buy a gas-powered edger to create a small trench and lay the wire. While renting is better for one time use, if you have plans to continue doing a lot of edging in the future elsewhere after you install your underground wire we recommend this model.
3. Creating Dog Cross Points
To create areas where the dog can cross over the wire without being corrected, you’ll need a pair of wire cutters. In an instance where you have two wires coming in and out of the transmitter, you can twist them together to create a dead zone, so that your dog can pass over the area.
Simply cut the boundary wire at the location where you want the dog to be able to cross. Make sure you also disconnect the wire from the control box.
Then twist the two wires together. There should be about one twist per inch of wire.
It’s always better to have more twists than not. To make it even easier, you can use an electric drill to do the twisting for you.
Next, you splice the twisted wire and place it back inside of the boundary loop. Then reconnect the twisted wire to the control box.
We recommend this splicing kit.
Why a Wired System?
If you’re thinking about methods to keep your dog in the yard, you may be stuck between three different containment systems. The first is the traditional fence made of either wood or chainlinks.
While this kind of fence can keep a dog inside of the yard, they’re also easy for dogs to get around.
Some dogs can simply jump over the fence. Others figure out that they can dig beneath the fence to escape.
Traditional fences also block your view.
The other kind of fence that pet owners might consider is what’s considered the wireless invisible fence. This utilizes a system that emits a signal over certain footage.
While the dog is wearing its collar, it has to remain inside of the covered area, or else it might get shocked, vibrated, or beeped at. Wireless fences can be an effective method of keeping your dog in a certain area, but it has its flaws, too.
Wireless fences don’t always offer a lot of space. The more coverage typically also requires you to buy more expensive equipment.
Sometimes the signal can get confused with other airwaves. Cell phones, for example, have been known to sometimes distort them.
This can allow a dog to either escape when the signal is no longer being transmitted, or they could stand to be shocked out of nowhere.
Perhaps one of the best systems is the wired invisible fence. This utilizes the same idea as the wireless system, except that it uses a wire below the ground to keep the signal running through the confined area.
Wired Dog Fence Benefits
There are a few benefits to the wired dog fence method over the wireless dog fence.
- Works for odd-shaped yards
- For households that don’t have a circular or simple square-shaped yard, coverage can be difficult. Your dog may only be able to roam a certain amount of the full area simply because the transmitter usually only utilizes a circle-shaped signal.
- Stronger signal
- A wired dog fence keeps the signal strong throughout the coverage area.
- Wireless fences can sometimes become distorted through dirt, trees, and rocks.
- Easy to Expand
- It also allows you to extend the coverage. You may be able to buy another transmitter with a wireless dog fence, but that’s just more money.
- All you need to extend the signal further for a wired dog fence is to buy more wire. You can make the shape of the coverage area tailored to your actual yard.
FAQ
How Deep Should I Bury Invisible Fence Wire?
Bury the wire 3 to 5 inches. This is deep enough to protect it from the elements and animals but shallow enough to maintain a strong signal.
Do I have to bury the wire?
It’s always a good idea to bury the wire because it can become damaged aboveground. Rodents, the dog, and the weather can degrade the wire and make it nonfunctional.
Can a dog run through the fence?
If the charge isn’t strong enough, a dog can run through it. You’ll want to ensure the collar emits a strong enough charge. A collar for stubborn dogs may work.
My name is Ken and I’m one of the staff writers at Petloverguy.com. I’ve cared for pets most of my life starting with hamsters, turtles, and snakes. Then moving up to parakeets, guinea pigs, and even ducks.
I currently live with two yorkies and a chihuahua mix.
