Laying an Invisible Fence - the Hard Way! - Page 2

Now you know why you need a warning device on the transmitter that signals you when there is a break in the fence . How are your dogs getting to the wire so often? Are they digging up the buried wire or chewing on the exposed wire or both?

IMO it should be illegal for companies to sell these fences directly to the public telling them - so easy to install, even a child can do it. It is not easy, don't try it yourself.

We had the Innotech invisible fence at our old house to contain our lab we had.  He used to dig under the privacy fence we had installed and had no other way  to prevent him from getting out and terrorizing the neighborhood.  Since we're in construction we thought this would be easy for us to do ourselves but I gotta tell ya that my husband probably spent 2 whole days between reading the manual, setting up the perimeters and then the actual install.  Since we knew we were moving within that year he opted to temporarily instally the wiring by using the staple gun which did hold up but our electrician recommended that if you want to do it right the best thing is to dig down, run the wire through a small conduit to protect it from weather and damage.  Once we moved and now only have our GSD we didn't have the need for the aggrivating fence since our boy is completely content in his own fenced yard but the invisible fence suprisingly did contain our high strung lab but he needed the highest setting otherwise he'd run through it without any hesitation.  The dead give away was when we'd hear his yelp then he'd be gone.  I think when we called the local invisible fence company that does install they wanted $1,200 for the system installed.  I think we paid around $400.00 or so just for the Innotech product; for the extra $800.00 I think next time we'd just have someone else that knows what the hell they're doing come do it because it was a royal pain in the rear.

Blitzen, I stopped using the collar on the puppy because she was frightened. I only just started using it on Ranger today, as the second collar  WAS MISSING until 2 days ago.

I've now made sure the gate is far enough away from the wire that she can't stretch to reach it. I repositioned it yesterday, as I needed it inside for a bit, and when I put it back outside, I placed it too close to the wire.

One of the reasons it took me so long to get this operational is that I had great difficulty trying to figure out how to install it and still give the dogs access to the house without getting zapped. The entrance to the backyard is at the side of the house, and there is a patio just outside the entrance which prevents me from burying the wire. So, the solution was to run it up the side of the house high enough that the dogs wouldn't be affected by the signal, then down on the far side of the door, and under the edge of the porch steps, then into the garage, where the control box is located. The garage is only a couple of feet from the house, with a very narrow passageway in between. I want to keep the dogs out of this area, as they hang their heads over the gate, and terrorize the postie as he/she passes the gate to deliver my mail!

It's a weird setup. You'd have to see it to really understand the problem I was facing. There's a small porch just outside the door. To the left of the door, steps go down between the garage and house to the front gate. To the right, steps go down to the patio and backyard.

I am laughing out loud reading this. I wonder if we are related? Seems nearly EVERY project I undertake goes about the same way as your invisible fence story.

Ex:

How to hang a 6 x 12" family heirloom crucifix on the wall

1. Select location on wall
2. Look for something to mark center of "perfect location" narrow wall next to hallway
3. Find a number of writing instruments... that don't.
4. Search house, basement, car for tape measure (remember, I am married to a carpenter)
5. Use sylus from PDA to mark center, having used a ruler and a piece of string in lieu of tape measure
6. Look through seven large plastic buckets full of nails and screw, all thrown in together, for appropriate size nail.
7. Crawl out from under boxes and baskets that fell off top shelf of bathroom closet while searching for band-aids for hands punctured searching through plastic buskets of nails/screws.
8. Search entire 5 acres + van for hammer. Any size will do.
9. Use 1/2" ratchet to pound inappropriate size nail into wall.
10. Commit blasphemy after putting dent in wall when head of ratchet bounces off nail head.
11. Pick crucifix off floor, glue together after it falls off wall because the head of the nail didn't fit into the slot meant to hang it.
12. Pour excellent bottle of imported Munchen lage into PLASTIC cup.
13. Enjoy.

Shelly, that's why I have my OWN toolbox, with my VERY OWN hammer!

It still didn't stop my husband from borrowing things from it now and then, though. I thought of putting a lock on it at one point, because my favourite mullti-bit screwdrive kept disappearing!

Now, he's been gone a little over 2 1/2 years, and if I  have trouble finding stuff, it's my own fault, cuz I forgot to put it back in its proper spot...

We had to move shortly before Roger died. I used that as an opportunity to sort through a lot of the clutter he'd accumulated over the years. The house we moved to was temporary, we were planning to buy our own place once his sixplex apartment building sold, so I went through another big purging of stuff during the time we were living there. In the years of looking after the apartment building, he had accumulated nearly every tool known, plus all sorts of hardware he used for repairs on the building. Problem was, when something needed replacing or upgrading, he didn't throw the old one out!  Also, due to all the clutter, he could never find anything he needed, so he'd just buy a new one. The stuff he took down to the building for repairs went into a 6 quart basket. When the repair was done, it stayed in the basket instead of being put back in its proper place. He was always building more shelves to hold the baskets!!

When I started sorting stuff out, I found I had nearly a full banker's box of tape: masking tape to mask off woodwork for painting, and duct tape for everything else. I had about half a box of door and window hardware: hinges, knobs and latches. I tried using one of the knobs on a French door I asked my sister-in-law's brother to install, and nothing fitted. He eventually 'made do' by altering several parts with a hacksaw. After that experience, I decided I'm going to chuck a lot of stuff out that I was saving because it 'might be useful'! For the second French door, I went and bought a cheap brass passage set from Canadian Tire. It not only installed without a hitch, it also matches the doorknob on the closet right next to it!

So much for saving stuff for a rainy day!

Oh, did I mention it took 3 different ladders to install the wire overtop of the side door? An extention ladder for the part above the patio. A 10 ft. step ladder for the part above the porch, and a step stool for the part between the garage and the house, as it was too narrow for the stepladder to fit!

Also, when drilling the hole into the garage, the rechargable drill quit on me. I went and got out this cute little ratchet drill  that looked like it might have belonged to Roger's dad. The bit was too dull, and I couldn't get it out because the mechanism was seized with rust. I finally finished it off with an old fashioned carpenter's brace and bit, but had to move the hole over so I had room to swing the handle around without hitting it on the steps!  Thank God my dad taught me how to use tools when I was a kid!

Toooo funny stories.  I have the same problem with hubs keeping things because they might "come in handy".  His workroom is filled with what I consider junk.  I try to tell him to throw it all out, and go to the freakin hardware and buy stuff he needs WHEN HE NEEDS IT.  It looks like a damn hardware here at home.  And there is no way he knows where any of the stuff is when he needs it so he ends up going to the hardware anyway to buy a new one.  Then inevitably about a week later he finds the thing he was looking for.

Shelley is your crucifix the one used for Last Rites?

hmmmmm....  I guess that's why I don't have a husband...I don't like sharing my tools! LOL

Sun, I did the whole "self install" with invisible fence several times, several different houses.... would NEVER recommend it.  Yes, it's costly to have someone else do it, but well worth it in the long run.  House I'm in now was done professionally, almost 2 yrs ago.  When he was installing it, HE hit the propane line.  HE had to pay to have it fixed (he took the cost off my bill).  Only problem I have with professional is the fact that we are moving again (absolute last time ever in my life... LOL), and they want to charge me another $400-450 to reinstall wireing at new house (only doing 1/2 acres).  When he comes out to new house, he's also going to give me an estimate on doing the rest of the 3 acres.  I know that I am going to eventually do it, so I will have to save up, little by little. 

I would advise bitting the bullet and call in a professional.  Depending on who you to with and given the trouble you've had already, they MIGHT feel sorry for you, give you a break in price, or even use the material you already have.  (Play the sympathy card! LOL)

Good luck!

Chrissy

Ladywolf, oh, the fence is up and working now...then I found out one of the batteries they gave me was a dud!   I went to 3 different stores before i found the right size replacement. (I bought an extra, in case the one on the other collar goes as well...)

Still need to fine-tune the location of the wire a bit. I found out the dogs are getting zapped from where it travels across the back door of the garage! Yeah, good way to housebreak the puppy....put it outside to do its business...ZAPPPP!!  before it even gets off the porch!! 

Off to Waterloo today to  hopefully meet the lady that runs the Yahoo list for people who train their own service dogs, instead of having the Lions Club do it for them, and insist they get rid of any pet dogs they have. (Give up my GSD??? Yah gotta be joking...here, take one of my kids instead!!)

Idiots!!  Unfortunately, owner-trained dogs aren't officially recognized by the government, which is one of the reasons for the group's existence. (We're trying to get legislation enacted, so they can be recognized.) There's no law that says you CAN'T train your own dog, and use it, there's just no procedure for you to get it tested and certified, so if the dog bites someone in public, you're in BIG trouble, because it puts all owner-trained dogs at risk of being banned from public places.

Anyway, there is an international organization and test for service dogs, and Dak had years and years of training experience before her illness got so severe she had to quit doing it on a regular basis. She's going to check Ranger out for me, and tell me what she thinks still needs work. He does his service dog jobs at home just fine, it's the public access stuff I need her opinion/help with! She's a member of ADI, and can administer their test to him, so at least he WILL be certified, even if the government doesn't recognize it.  She's almost totally deaf from Meniere's disease, which screws up her balance as well, and my sign language skills aren't very good, but her daughter can sign well enough to help out with communication.

Gotta run!

Ah, success at last. Well....almost

This is why I went in the direction of the "wireless" system.  Besides, it's portable.