Questions about electronic fences

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rlrobinhood
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Questions about electronic fences

Post by rlrobinhood » Fri Jul 03, 2015 10:35 am

Hi all,

I just moved and bought a new place that has about 7.5 acres. I have a 1.5year old Brittany and I'd like to give him free run of most the property. Right now, the property perimeter is in metal t-posts and barbed wire. The fence is pretty much new.

So, what I'm trying to figure out is what is the best (and cheapest) way to contain my dog. Putting up a woven wire fence will probably be cost prohibitive. So, my other options are:

Wireless Fence: From what I understand with these systems, vegetation can cause issues. I called a manufacturer and they said that a row of lilacs I have may cause issues. Does anyone have any experience with these types of systems? What have your experiences been?

Buried Wire Fence: I thought this would be my solution. But, when talking with vendors, it appears they cannot be within 10-feet of metal fences. Regardless of how I would set it up, I would have to run parallel or cross a fence perpendicular to barbed wire fences at several spots. I could probably alleviate the parallel portions if needed. But, I will certainly have to cross existing barbed wire fences perpendicular to them. Again, does anyone have any experiences with these? What are your experiences?

Is there any other type of system that I'm not considering?

Any and all advice and information is greatly appreciated. Thanks all and have a great 4th!!

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luvthemud
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Re: Questions about electronic fences

Post by luvthemud » Fri Jul 03, 2015 12:34 pm

Years back I had the buried wire type. IMO it was essentially useless once the dogs figured out that if they ran really really fast, the knick didn't last long. Then, try to get them back in the yard! My neighbor put one up for his dog, and he found the same thing. It seemed like it did more harm than good.

What I did with my last two dogs has been use the e-collar as an electric fence of sort. I went to the hardware store and got a bunch of flags and posted the perimeter of my property. They learned fast not to cross the flags. After a little while, the flags come down and all is good.

Good luck!

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Re: Questions about electronic fences

Post by cjhills » Fri Jul 03, 2015 12:42 pm

A regular electric fence works very well with yellow or white fencing that looks like tape, two or three strands on your barbwire fence with insulators should work. it is economical, easy to install, the dog can see it easily and the dog does not associate it with the e-collar. you also do not have to mess with collars the die underground fence that breaks and a multitude of other problems....................Cj

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bobman
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Re: Questions about electronic fences

Post by bobman » Fri Jul 03, 2015 1:25 pm

cjhills wrote:A regular electric fence works very well with yellow or white fencing that looks like tape, two or three strands on your barbwire fence with insulators should work. it is economical, easy to install, the dog can see it easily and the dog does not associate it with the e-collar. you also do not have to mess with collars the die underground fence that breaks and a multitude of other problems....................Cj

yep and if its really dry run alternating ground wire strands so they give a good jolt......after w eek or so you wont be able to drag him near it

rlrobinhood
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Re: Questions about electronic fences

Post by rlrobinhood » Sat Jul 04, 2015 12:18 am

bobman wrote:
cjhills wrote:A regular electric fence works very well with yellow or white fencing that looks like tape, two or three strands on your barbwire fence with insulators should work. it is economical, easy to install, the dog can see it easily and the dog does not associate it with the e-collar. you also do not have to mess with collars the die underground fence that breaks and a multitude of other problems....................Cj

yep and if its really dry run alternating ground wire strands so they give a good jolt......after w eek or so you wont be able to drag him near it
That's actually a pretty good idea! I hadn't thought of that. A couple probing questions:

1) how many strands would you run and what distances from the ground?
2) And, what do you mean by "and if its really dry run alternating ground wire stands so they give a good jolt." I'm not sure what this mean, can you explain further?

Thanks all!!

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Re: Questions about electronic fences

Post by cjhills » Sat Jul 04, 2015 5:21 am

The height Depends on the size of the dog of course. they need to touch it. It does not need to be very high. They do not think of jumping over. There are lots of different wires but it needs to be plainly visible.
In dry weather the dogs ground contact will not be as good, so running a grounded wire between the live wires improves ground contact.
One issue is that you have to be able to cut the grass and weeds that grow under the fence. They will ground it out if they touch the fence. A weed whip works great for that. You can get a weed burner fence charger but they are expensive, can cause fires in dry weather ad generally are quite powerful........................Cj

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Re: Questions about electronic fences

Post by shags » Sat Jul 04, 2015 5:58 am

FWIW we used the white tape type of hot fencing around the horse pasture. Great visibility, but where we are it can get very windy and the tape didn't stand up all that well to the wind whipping. It frayed at the posts and broke in places. We switched the tape out with white rope type fencing and have good visibility and the rope has not broken.

Be careful about spacing your hot fencing on the posts. Ours is set up for horse containment, not for dogs, and the dogs can slip through the space between strands at a full run.

reba
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Re: Questions about electronic fences

Post by reba » Sat Jul 04, 2015 8:15 am

In my opinion you need to build a fence that will keep other unwanted critters OUT and your dog/dogs in.

Barbed wire can be really nasty stuff and tear up a dog if it gets tangled.

Stock fence won't keep a good dog in or a bad one out. I hunt birds in Montana and two years ago had one of my GSP's point up a black wolf.

I have 5 acres fenced with five foot tall 1x2 horse fencing, it keeps everything out and in except Mt Lions and Bobcats.

I suggest fencing an area around your house (about 1 acre) for the dogs to run in. Remember it will also keep most unwanted critters out.

However there is a product called electro mesh fencing, which looks like stock fencing. It is used to cross-fence sheep. I use it to contain sheep to smaller areas within my property. It also does a wonderful job of keeping the dogs from running the sheep to ground. I have 5 dogs ranging from a little rodent, a couple of cattle dogs and two GSP's. I run the fencing off a battery. Once a dog gets into it never gets close again, on or off. Works great easy to install and move around.

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Re: Questions about electronic fences

Post by RayGubernat » Sat Jul 04, 2015 11:44 am

I am of the opinion that giving a bird dog freedom to roam is NOT a good thing. All they are going to do is get into trouble. I was told, long ago, what you allow a dog to do you teach the dog to do. I kinda took that to heart. I run pointers and they don't need any encouragement to do their own thing. They are quite independent enough as they are, thank you.

Any and all electric fences are only as good as their introduction and reinforcement and only work as long as the dog fears the fence more than it desires to get to what is on the other side. They are not a physical barrier. As mentioned by others, they do not keep anything else out either.

I would opt for a large fenced in enclosure, on the order of a half acre. You can use woven field fence with large posts at the corners and heavy duty steel t posts every 8 ft. It would not be prohibitively expensive, I don't think. The most durable field fencing is about $280 for 330 ft. of fencing. One step below that level of durability is about $150 for the same 330 ft.

I have ten acres and only fenced the portion of the property that led up to and faced the roadway. My "backyard" is a bit less than a half acre and there is plenty of room for five full grown pointers to get exercise inside a fully fenced enclosure. I also do my yardwork training there and the other dogs all get to watch, which reinforces their training without me having do anything additional at all.

When they go out of the yard, I am with them(unless I forget and leave a gate open :oops: )

RayG

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Re: Questions about electronic fences

Post by polmaise » Sat Jul 04, 2015 12:56 pm

rlrobinhood wrote: Is there any other type of system that I'm not considering?
Training ! well ....perhaps more specific ''Conditioning'' It should cost you nothing except time .
Have a great 4th July !

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Re: Questions about electronic fences

Post by cjhills » Sat Jul 04, 2015 2:17 pm

RayGubernat wrote:I am of the opinion that giving a bird dog freedom to roam is NOT a good thing. All they are going to do is get into trouble. I was told, long ago, what you allow a dog to do you teach the dog to do. I kinda took that to heart. I run pointers and they don't need any encouragement to do their own thing. They are quite independent enough as they are, thank you.

Any and all electric fences are only as good as their introduction and reinforcement and only work as long as the dog fears the fence more than it desires to get to what is on the other side. They are not a physical barrier. As mentioned by others, they do not keep anything else out either.

I would opt for a large fenced in enclosure, on the order of a half acre. You can use woven field fence with large posts at the corners and heavy duty steel t posts every 8 ft. It would not be prohibitively expensive, I don't think. The most durable field fencing is about $280 for 330 ft. of fencing. One step below that level of durability is about $150 for the same 330 ft.

I have ten acres and only fenced the portion of the property that led up to and faced the roadway. My "backyard" is a bit less than a half acre and there is plenty of room for five full grown pointers to get exercise inside a fully fenced enclosure. I also do my yardwork training there and the other dogs all get to watch, which reinforces their training without me having do anything additional at all.

When they go out of the yard, I am with them(unless I forget and leave a gate open :oops: )

RayG
Actually electric fences are a physical barrier and they works quite well to keep other critters out. We use it to keep deer out of the garden and all types of predators out of the bird pens they are not going thru it more than once. the only way is to jump over and very few animals(maybe none) figure that out. I would go for some sort of stock fence also. But if cost is a issue, and Op is the one who decides that, electric stock fence is very affective. It will keep buffalo in............Cj

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Re: Questions about electronic fences

Post by RayGubernat » Sat Jul 04, 2015 5:51 pm

double post -

mea culpa

RayG
Last edited by RayGubernat on Sat Jul 04, 2015 6:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Questions about electronic fences

Post by RayGubernat » Sat Jul 04, 2015 6:19 pm

cjhills wrote:
RayGubernat wrote:I am of the opinion that giving a bird dog freedom to roam is NOT a good thing. All they are going to do is get into trouble. I was told, long ago, what you allow a dog to do you teach the dog to do. I kinda took that to heart. I run pointers and they don't need any encouragement to do their own thing. They are quite independent enough as they are, thank you.

Any and all electric fences are only as good as their introduction and reinforcement and only work as long as the dog fears the fence more than it desires to get to what is on the other side. They are not a physical barrier. As mentioned by others, they do not keep anything else out either.

I would opt for a large fenced in enclosure, on the order of a half acre. You can use woven field fence with large posts at the corners and heavy duty steel t posts every 8 ft. It would not be prohibitively expensive, I don't think. The most durable field fencing is about $280 for 330 ft. of fencing. One step below that level of durability is about $150 for the same 330 ft.

I have ten acres and only fenced the portion of the property that led up to and faced the roadway. My "backyard" is a bit less than a half acre and there is plenty of room for five full grown pointers to get exercise inside a fully fenced enclosure. I also do my yardwork training there and the other dogs all get to watch, which reinforces their training without me having do anything additional at all.

When they go out of the yard, I am with them(unless I forget and leave a gate open :oops: )

RayG
Actually electric fences are a physical barrier and they works quite well to keep other critters out. We use it to keep deer out of the garden and all types of predators out of the bird pens they are not going thru it more than once. the only way is to jump over and very few animals(maybe none) figure that out. I would go for some sort of stock fence also. But if cost is a issue, and Op is the one who decides that, electric stock fence is very affective. It will keep buffalo in............Cj

Point taken. However, I was referring to pet containment type electric fencing which is either a buried wire or a single strand near the ground.

Electrified tape fencing or the more recent electrified rope fencing(which appears to be somewhat less expensive) can be quite effective, but its cost rivals that of field fencing if you do it right with four strands. Last I checked, 2" wide Shureline tape was over a hundred bucks for 880(I think) feet, which will do 220 ft of fence and that ain't counting the clips or the charger. If I had to pick between the two, I would go with field fencing every time for a dog. and unless someone teaches the dog to jump or cuts the wire, it is virtually maintenance free for many years . Can't say that about any kind of electric fencing. You must keep it clear of weeds and check it regularly for breaks, shorts and such.

I put field fencing out along the roadway 12 years ago and have not touched it since. It is still fine. I cut up along side it a couple times a year when I am cutting up there anyway. That is about all I do aside from a shot of Roundup when the weeds get taller than the fence.

I do a whole lot more maintenance and checking on my horse fencing which is electrified tape. I spray the fencelines at least twice a year to keep the weeds down so they don't bleed off the charge and I replace numerous clips, connectors and lengths of tape each spring after the winter snows take their toll on the fence tape. When a gale force wind blows through here, it is a fair bet that one or more of the tape connections will have loosened up and need tightening or something more. The field fence just sits there.

RayG



RayG

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Re: Questions about electronic fences

Post by shags » Sun Jul 05, 2015 5:58 am

I'm with Ray on the fencing and that it's a bad idea to allow a dog unsupervised access ro that much property.

Electric fence is easy and relatively cheap to put up, but is high maintainence if you live in an area with abundant vegetation. It's not secure for a variety of reasons whether you want to contain or exclude critters. We have 15-20 acres e-roped for horses and wouldn't dream of just turning the dogs loose in there. I ride that fenceline every day to check its security, and very often see skunks, woodchucks, coyotes, coons, and deer in there - not things I want my dogs tangling with.

We have a few acres of pasture in no climb wire and regular field fence. It's much easier to take care of and much more secure. The dogs stay in and critters stay out. However the dogs are out there only when I can be out too, keeping an eye on them.

IME when dogs are left to their own devices and have too much time on their own, it sets back their training and hurts our partnership.

A small dog yard is preferable to acreage for letting your dog run around. Do you really want your dog out of sight doing God knows what while you're busy doing other things? That can be a recipe for disaster for both your dog's safety and health. They get into enough trouble while you're keeping an eye on them :lol: Our dog yard is attached to the house and it's really handy to be able to open the door to let them out to do whatever and to know they are safe and secure. I couldn't imagine calling them in off of several acres after a 3AM pitstop. Our dogyard requires poop picking, but it's not a bad chore and I'm able to keep an eye on things that might need attention, like pukes or sloppy poops.

I would remove that barbed wire ASAP, it's dangerous. And maybe install hot tape or rope as a temporary measure if wire fencing is beyond your means right now. But never would I just turn the dog out in that large an area without supervision.

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Re: Questions about electronic fences

Post by oldbeek » Sun Jul 05, 2015 6:54 pm

My yard is 1 acre fenced. That is plenty for an active Brittany. I use Fido-shock solar charger. Capacitor discharge. Much better than 120v charger. Used to use a Bull-Dozer cd charger which will knock a bear to the ground and chg 10 miles of fence. I use aluminum wire. Insulators are a expense I beat by cutting small pieces of 3/4 pvc pipe and drilling holes in them. I Use wire everywhere. Around bird area, along horse fence top, around the garden, around my wifes bedding plants ect. Once dog is conditioned it will not go near a wire even if not hot. I move the charger from fence to fence as needed.

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