An electric dog fence may consist of a transmitter, a boundary wire, a receiver, a test light and sometimes training flags and signs. The receiver will be attached to the dog’s collar, and the prongs transfer the correcting shock on the skin of the dog’s neck.
Tool Requirements
You need to have a wide flat edge shovel, gloves, a pen, and paper. You may also need to work with a family member or a friend. Optional tools include a power drill with large drill bit and a small gardening shovel. Be sure to read the instruction labels first in your electric dog fence system.
Deciding on the Layout
This is the phase where you need to grab a pen and paper. Draw a simple representation of your whole house area. You can draw your garden, garage, driveway and even your neighbor’s areas as well. You can put dotted lines on the boundaries, and you can draw loops that will indicate which areas you allow your dog to wander.
Determining the Transmitter Location
Since the transmitter needs a steady flow of power supply, your best location candidate for the transmitter is your garage where an electrical outlet is present. Another option is to place it within your house. You can use a power drill to create a small hole in one side of your house, and you may let the wire get through it as the boundary wire plugs into your transmitter. Other options include directing the wire beneath the side door or garage door.
Laying the Boundary Wire and Flags
You may need somebody else’s assistance when it comes to burying the boundary wire. You can break ground with the shovel; 2 to 3 inches will do. You can then take the spool of the boundary wire, and your assistant may carry the spool and shove the wire into the earth using their fingers. Press it deeply. You may need to wear some gloves. You can then place the flags in the ground near the wire every 10 to 15 feet. These flags can be used during the dog training phase and will also serve as a marker. Do not forget to pull an extra wire into the spool as you may need to start over again if you run out of wire. If this happens, you can run to your nearest hardware as they can provide you with one.
Connecting the Wire to the Transmitter
One needs to twist the wires by putting extra wires to the pool. One can cut the wire at the end nearest the spool. The easiest way to twist wires is by using a power drill. You can refer to the electric dog fence manual to find out how tight the wires should be twisted. A rule of thumb in order to determine if you have the right tightness is you should not be able to easily place a pencil’s eraser end between the two wires. After twisting, you can already attach the wire to the transmitter. This completes the installation process.