How to Bury Dog Fence Wire?

Since you found this article you must be an owner of a high-driven, adventurous pet that just won't stay in your yard.

We have all been there - desperate and without any choice but to tie our dog on a chain. Then we heard about this wonderful thing called electronic underground dog fences and we had the same questions you have right now.

First and foremost let us start by saying - installing an in-ground dog fence is not as hard as you might think. No, you don't need a bunch of special tools, you don't need previous experience with construction projects and you don't need a lot of funds.

What you do need is a solid layout plan and some spare time for your little DIY project. Depending on the size of your property, it might take you two hours or a whole day. The system will work if left above ground, but we highly recommend you place the wires underground, since that way you will avoid breaking the wire by driving over it or mowing the lawn. Also, your pet won't be able to chew on it. But before we dig into how to bury dog fence wire, let's see how the system works first.

What is an electric dog fence and how does it work?

An in-ground dog fence is a containment system that forms an invisible perimeter tailored to your needs. It's safe, affordable and easy to set up. It utilizes a transmitter that is plugged into a standard electrical outlet and connected to wires which are then spread around your property in a custom layout of your choosing. Your pet wears a collar that communicates with the wires and sends a warning tone or a mild static simulation if he comes to close to the boundary line.

With some training and patience, even the most stubborn and obstinate pets will learn that being out of bounds is bad. The most important thing you should know is that the purpose of the jolt is not to inflict pain, rather it's to grab the attention of your pet if it's distracted by something like chasing a cute squirrel or a bird.

​The ultimate goal is to keep your pet safe from danger, for instance running across the street in front of cars.

Using this system is much more affordable than putting up a physical fence (if you already have one you might want to consider using both) that can cost you thousands of dollars. Also, if you're a proud owner of an escape artist, he might just dig under or jump over a physical fence.

Instructions on how to bury dog fence wire

After purchasing and unpacking your unit, the first thing you want to do is grab the user manual and read all the instructions. it is of utmost importance that you do this first. You'll gain more insight into your new product and get a better understanding of how it works and what features it has. These manuals usually show some basic templates which could help you in drawing out your custom layout for your yard. Some of the default layouts are :

• Full Yard - Covers the entire yard, giving your pet the most freedom to roam around, while not leaving the property.
• Yard with Exclusionary zones -  Use this layout if you want to keep your pet out of some specific areas(gardens, flowerbeds, pool area)
• Split Yard - You might want to keep your dog either in the front yard or backyard.

These are just a few, but you can get creative as long as you follow one basic rule - you have to create a continuous loop. What that means is that the wire that comes out of the transmitter has to come all the way around and back.

So you mounted the transmitter on the wall in a well-ventilated room that will protect it from the elements and you mapped everything out. Now you want to spread the wire above ground first and test the system before digging any trenches. There is a simple way to cancel out the signal by twisting the wire. This is important when you want to run the wire between the perimeter line and the transmitter. Also, this will come in handy if you want to exclude some zones like mentioned above.

The next thing you want to do is walk around with the collar turned on and using the test light strip that is included with the unit, check if everything is working as intended. Be sure to try out different transmitter settings that determine the distance before your pet gets a static simulation. This way you'll know for sure you got everything right.