Installing invisible fence for dog

[Craig D Peltier]

Hi, im thinking of buying a invisible fence kit to keep dogs in the yard. Foster and Smith sells some so does Amazon. Might be from Pet Safe.

Anyhow none of them seem to show how you get it across a driveway. All it says is you bury the wire, and some installers rent edgers. Well how about a tar driveway ? Anyone know the answer here?

Thanks

[Charlie Schultz]

I've had a couple installed- in both cases they cut through the driveay (blacktop in one case, concrete in another). Not sure what machine they used.

[Joe Chritz]

If it is narrow enough you can tunnel under with a conduit but it is difficult without a special machine. If you have any seams you can tuck the wire in there or you can make a seam with a concrete saw or similar.

Be sure to train the dog correctly on the fence and try to set it up so there are natural edges the dog can see. It works better to go from say a fence to a fence than out in the open, it gives the dog a visual reference. Really anything for reference works good.

Picture trying to stop at a single point on a big frozen lake with no reference points.

I ran a dog training biz for several years and the fences work very well with some dogs and just OK with others. It is much better if they never learn they can run through the fence.

Joe

[Jim O'Dell]

Do be careful, while these systems can protect your dog from getting out if properly trained as Joe says, they don't keep other animals from coming in your yard to take on your dog. That includes humans! Jim.

[Paul Atkins]

A piece of pvc pipe with a hose filling will work like a hydraulic drill to get under the driveway unless there is an obstruction or alot of gravel base. Makes a bunch of mud too.

[Harry Hagan]

I'm wondering in if tunneling under the pavement would place the wire too deep and compromise the effectiveness of the fence. My vote would be for cutting a 1" groove with a concrete saw and fill with appropriate sealant.

[JohnT Fitzgerald]

I'm wondering in if tunneling under the pavement would place the wire too deep and compromise the effectiveness of the fence. My vote would be for cutting a 1" groove with a concrete saw and fill with appropriate sealant.

that's how they installed ours. cut through (or maybe just into) the blacktop with a diamond blade, insert wire, and use blacktop sealant.

[Jim Tobias]

Craig,
They installed ours by cutting through the asphalt driveway and inserting the wire in the kerf. It is not very noticeable at all. I will say it has worked quite well after a lot of initial training (walking the dogs out individually and training them about the "beep" and making sure they understand the "key word".
They have each gotten too close and been hit but not enough to hurt them, only scare them. After that, the "key word" (in my case "BACK") gets their attention the same way the word "treat" does. They come running!!

Jim

[Ed Hazel]

I used my edger to cut a groove in the turf pushed the wire in.
For my asphalt driveway I cut a groove 1/2 - 3/4 inch deep with my circular saw and and a cheap fiber cement blade, I laid the wire in the groove and covered with black urethane same as they use to install windshields it has outlasted the dog.

[Matt Meiser]

We have had at PetSafe system for close to 7 years now at two different houses. At our old house I installed it. We had an asphalt driveway and to cross it I bought a fiber blade for my circular saw. It cut very easily and left a kerf just wide enough for the wire. I then filled it with asphalt crack sealer as a temporary measure until we had the driveway resealed, at which point they used their hot sealer on it. We moved the next fall so I can't comment on how it held up long term. It was a lot of work to bury the cable around about a 1/2 acre.

We had it installed at this house around about 2 acres and they crossed the gravel drive by burying a piece of PVC conduit a few inches down and running the wire through that. Installing it ourselves the first time was foolish based on what they charged for the second time--I think it was like $3-400 including the wire but that was 5 years ago. We moved the controller with us.

We talked to a number of people who had systems before we got ours and the trend we found is that these work well if you get them when the dog is young, not as well if they are a few years old. Our dog ran through it once when we first got it/him, yelping all the way, and all the way back as I chased him. After that, he obeyed it. Once a few years ago we forgot to check the batteries and he went next door. But he can chase a rabbit, cat, or the neighbor's dog at full tilt across the yard barking all the way and stops shy of the line. If we take the collar off, we can't even get him to come to us. Where we have bonfires is outside his area--he'll sit at the corner and whine, but won't cross even with the collar off.

If you take the collar off, don't try carrying it across the line holding it so that you are touching the studs. Trust me! My daughter will agree too!

[Lee Schierer]

I installed my own fence about 1-1/2 years ago and our Brittany puppy learned to respect the fence in about 2 weeks. Now he will not even go near the fence without being on a leash to go through the "secret gate" to go out in the back field. I installed an Innotek Ultra Smart system. Ultra Smart It has a water proof rechargable collar with multiple levels of correction and adjustable barrier width. The wire needs to be installed only an 1" or so deep. If it is too deep it will reduce the effectiveness. I installed my wire around a 1 acre parcel in about 6-7 hours with a hand edger tool. I crossed my concrete driveway at a stress joint. Black top could be sliced with a fiber or diamond cutting wheel in your skill saw by making a groove 1/4" deep, laying in the wire and sealing the crack with black top sealer, no big deal. I have had one break in the wire (poorly stripped wire splice, I nicked the wire) in a year and an half of operation through two winters. Right now we have 24" of snow on the ground and the fence still works.

I liked the Innotek fence and collar better than the Pet Safe version (both are now made by the same company). You will need to train your dog and the Innotek training DVD is great and the training works. As others have indicated it will not keep other dogs out, but will contain your dog if it is properly trained.

I have one dog and two collars so I can always have one ready. The Ultra smart tells you when the charge is getting low. My daughter bought the same system and her dog stays in our yard when they visit and mine stays in her yard with no problems. My Brittany loves to chase birds and cats, but will stop inside the fence even when in hot pursuit every time.

[Robert Parrish]

Craig, you can tunnel under cement using a 1/2 inch pvc irrigation pipe connected to your water hose. When you get through, run the wire than pull the pvc pipe out the other side. It worked for me.

[Lee Schierer]

Craig, you can tunnel under cement using a 1/2 inch pvc irrigation pipe connected to your water hose. When you get through, run the wire than pull the pvc pipe out the other side. It worked for me.

I've done this, but it creates a sizeable void, possibly not a good thing under an asphalt driveway. Signal strength may be an issue. Burying the wire more than a couple (1-2) of inches limits the reception by the collar.

[Robert Parrish]

Lee, I guess you would only have a sizable void if you lived in clay area. But a small 1/2" pipe in a sandy area works fine.

[Craig D Peltier]

Thanks for all the info. My driveway is cement with peastone size aggregrate.Maybe 10 foot span.
One thing that suprised me is burying th wire only an inch sounds like it could pop out in soft ground going over it. Ground stays pretty soggy here. Is this the specs?
I hear people renting gas edgers I would assume there going down several inches.