Dog Fence Planning Guide

Make a Sketch of Your Property

Make a diagram of your yard. Feel free to print out this free graph paper to draw your layout. We suggest deciding on the layout before you actually install the wire. This always makes it easier to install your dog fence and you can reference it as you begin installation. Be sure to include all permanent structures like your house, shed, and driveways as well as other important features like pools or gardens.

Whole Yard Perimeter

Hourglass

With this layout, your dog can use both the front yard and the backyard but cannot move freely between the two. You choose whether your dog is in the front or backyard at any given time. This layout makes it easy to segregate your dog to either zone. Have that BBQ In the backyard without Rover trying to steal your food or bother guests. Many people also choose this layout to separate two dogs from each other or to give their front or backyard time to regrow.

Front or Backyard Pinch Method

The pinch method allows you to install your fence in a simple continuous loop while still limiting your dog's access to only one side of your property. By running the perimeter wire in a loop and then "pinching" the house, the dog will also be kept from running out an opened house or garage door. This is the best and easiest backyard or front yard only installation method. This method allows you to confine your dog to either zone without installing the wire completely around either the entire front yard or backyard. You must be cautious if installing this type of system.Be sure to install the dog fence cable far enough away from your home, to prevent signal field from entering your home and inadvertently setting off your dog fence collar. A good rule of thumb for keeping the wire far enough away is 1-2 feet from your maximum containment field. For example, if you have a four foot signal field emitting from your dog fence cable you would want to keep your containment wire at a minimum of 5 feet away from walls or structures.

Front or Backyard Double Loop Method

The double loop method is another way of achieving a back or front yard only containment system. In this method, you run a perimeter loop and then double it back to create a closed loop. Be sure to leave at least 4-6 feet of space between the two wires.In some cases, the double loop method is the only installation method possible. These scenarios would be a shared front driveway or a townhouse or duplex where the homeowner does not own the side yard.

Front or Backyard Over the House Method

A third option for achieving a backyard or front yard only loop is to run the wire up and over the house using the downspouts and gutters. This is not our preferred method! The signal can sometimes 'spill' into the bordering areas inside your home,  causing your dog fence receiver to activate indoors. If you are planning on taking the collar off your dog while he is inside your home, you won't have to worry about the downsides of this type of installation.

Waterfront Limited Water Access

If you have a waterfront property you can run your perimeter right  into the water to allow your dog to drink or swim. Fishing sinkers or bricks work well to sink the wire. If the wire is more than 10 feet deep, the signal will not reach the surface and your dog will be able to swim over the fence line. You could allow your dog unlimited access to the entire body of water. Installing a system like this can be accomplished in several different ways. You can wade out into the water and place the line using bricks or sinkers to weight the dog fence cable down, or you can use a boat to place the wire in deeper bodies of water.

Waterfront Dock/Boathouse Option

Another option for a waterfront property accounts for a dock or boathouse within your perimeter. Basically a variation of the first waterfront layout but incorporating the dock and the boat house. You can also start your loop it you have a power source in the boathouse or at the end of the dock.

One Sided Open Ended Exit / Entrance Layout

The open ended layout allows you to create a free pass area for your dog. With this layout you would complete a double loop around three sides of your property and use twisted wire as part of the main loop. (Remember the twisted wire i nothing more than the main loop being twisted together.) The twisted wire will cancel the signal field allowing your dog to pass.

For this layout to work properly, you will need to keep the wires running parallel to each other separated by 5-8 feet. There are a few situations where this is a preferred layout. For example, if you have a lake or body of water you want your dog to have free access to, this layout would work well. Please remember if your dog swims outside of the containment area he may not be able to get back into the fence.

Lakefront Access Two

Lakefront Access Two if you have enough space in your yard, you can use a double back around to create a three sided fence boundary. Set an extra length into the lake when doubling back so that your dog will not be able to easily run around the electric dog fence.

Avoidance Areas Within the Perimeter

Giving your dog access to your property but not your garden or other areas is easy with an internal lake loop. Lake loops within the perimeter create "no go" zones by connecting to the main perimeter via twisted wire that your dog can freely cross without a correction. You can also use an extra dog fence transmitter of the same brand as your main loop transmitter to create a smaller distance based signal field than the one you have set for the containment barrier. Avoidance areas can be set to a much lower field range than your actual containment field. For example: Supposing you have a 100 pound Great Dane and you have a six foot field set up to contain him, it might take six feet to keep him in the yard, but it would only take about a 6 inch field to make him avoid flower beds or off limit areas. You could set two customized transmitters up sending out different ranges. The containment field would be six feet and the avoidance field would be connected to a different boundary wire system but only have a field range of 6 inches or so.

Avoidance Areas as the Main Function

You can use your electric dog fence not only to keep your dog in but also to keep your dog out of sensitive areas of your property. Multiple loops connected by twisted wire can allow you to create multiple 'no-go' zones on your property. An unlimited amount of off limits areas can be created with this application. This type of install is ideal for somebody who already has a fenced in backyard and wants to keep the dog away from certain areas.

Avoidance Areas Wireless Application

Hand burying wire can be a real bummer and consume a lot of your time. Buried wire in your flowerbeds can also become a maintenance nightmare over the years. Cutting your dog fence cable and wire popping up out of the ground can ruin the aesthetic value of your plantings and flower-gardens. Certain outdoor wireless barriers can be the perfect solution for avoiding manual labor and constant maintenance. The outdoor wireless fence systems are disguised as a rock and can transmit a field of 2-10 feet in every direction of placement. These systems will only work with certain models of dog fence systems, unless of course you are only purchasing these systems for avoidance and not containment.

Gate or Escape Point Installations

In certain instances, the main purpose of the installation is to keep your beloved pet from escaping from a fence gate or opening. You can certainly make this happen with an electric dog fencing system. All of the fundamental rules of installation apply to installing a small section of protection as they would for a whole yard installation. This includes completing a loop, twisted wire and installing a main control panel next to an outlet. The illustrations below demonstrate how protection can be provided for almost any escape point on your property.

With this layout, you can simply run a piece of twisted wire from your main dog fence transmitter to the gate opening or escape point. Simply run a small loop around this area separating the wires by at least 2-4 feet. This area will now be active and prevent your dog from escaping through this area.

Physical Fence Installation

A determined escape artist can easily penetrate a physical fence and find themselves exposed to the dangers of the human world. A gate can get left open, a clever dog will dig under a fence or in some cases even hurdle over it. Over the years we have seen some creative solutions, where homeowners stack up blocks or mend up sections of fence with metal meshing. In most cases a determined dog will always move to the next section that is unprotected, find a penetration point and escape into the world. One sure fire way to stop your dog from escaping permanently is a physical fence installation. This is highly effective, because a dog can't jump or dig out nor sneak through an open gate. While he is in the process of attempting to dig out of the fence he is in the correction zone. It doesn't take long for Fido to figure out that he should stay several feet away from the physical fence. For your dog to escape, he would have to know where the hidden fence system starts, then be able to jump 6 feet in the air and 8 feet across and over the unseen boundary. For the skeptics who would say my dog can dig under the fence, the signal field also travels about 4 feet underground. In this case, your dog would have to get his miners cap on digging 4 feet down and 6 feet across, while being in the correction field the whole time. This type of layout is more or less foolproof as long as simple maintenance is performed.

Front Yard Only Installation

In rare cases, an electric dog fence can be installed in a front or back yard only. This type of layout would be perfect for the homeowner who has walls surrounding his property on three sides with only the front or back as an escape area. This is a relatively easy install and can be accomplished by simply running the neutral wire from the transmitter to the front or backyard. Then run a loop wire around the entire front yard connecting one end of each wire back to the ends of each twisted pair.