I need help with a question about my Petsafe undergroud wire fence system.?
I have a Petsafe underground wire pet system to keep my dog in the yard. 95% of the time it works great, and the rest of the time the contol box beeps at me. The only way I can get it to stop and work again is to plug in my wire break detector, turn on the radio, then plug back in the fence and it usally works. This makes me think it must be something electrical, but I don’t know much about this type of thing. My installer did put it right next to my electrical box for my landscape lighting and was wondering if this would cause the symptoms that I am having. Any suggestions?
3 Responses
Phil W
04 Apr 2010
IAMADOG
04 Apr 2010
Get a real fence
Rosalie
04 Apr 2010
I think the only way to get this fixed the right way is to contact the company that installed it, and have them look at it. You paid for an installation that would work where they put it, and how they put it there, and unless something has changed, it doesn’t sound like it was done right.
Ask them to send a tech out to fix it, and don’t fix anything yourself. It would even be better if it malfunctions before the tech gets there, so they can see what is happening.

I tend to agree with Rosalie. However, Petsafe is not a very good system to begin with. It might be better to just go ahead and replace it with a better quality system, less trouble in the long run. Your existing fence wire could be used.
The "Invisible" type of fence consists of three things. First is the wire which is buried an inch or two into the ground. Second is the transmitter which is mounted to the wall indoors and connected to the fence wire, and third is the collar that the dog wears. The transmitter sends out an AM radio band signal that the collar will sense if your pet gets to close to the electronic field. The collar will then deliver a correction. Some of the better ones will give a warning beep prior to delivering a shock. Though it is a strong shock it will not harm the pet in any way. Small marker flags are placed along the inner edge of the field about 5 to 10 feet apart during the training period and removed (every other one) as the pet gets used to the fence.
Huskies are escape artists. We have 14 of them. The only thing that I have found that they can’t go over or under is invisible type fencing. Some folks say that it doesn’t work on Huskies. They don’t know what they are talking about. You can’t buy the cheap stuff, like what they sell at Lowe’s or Home Depot or PetSmart etc. The best I have found is the Smart Dog 2100 by Innotek. I have had this type of fence for over 10 years now. You can find it on line at several sites, discounted for less than $300.00 with 2 collars. Extra collars are about $80.00. The kit has everything needed. The collars are rechargeable (unlike the "Invisible Fence" and most others where you have to buy the proprietary (one place to get it = expensive) batteries every 3 or so months), has battery backup for the transmitter, run through prevention, waterproof, etc. Innotek now owns Invisible Fence brand. Be sure to use heat shrink type splices in the wire if needed. They are available at marine supply stores. Do not use the "weatherproof wire nuts" from Lowe’s etc. They will not work for this application. Use an edger to dig the "trench" for the wire. The wire only has to be buried 1 or 2 inches down.
The key is taking the time to train your pet. I have known of people to pay big money to install a fence, strap the collar on their dog and then complain that the fence is junk when the dog blows right through it. Also, you do not mention the breed of dog. Longhaired breeds require a longer contact probe on the collar (these are included with the system above). Training may take awhile, one of ours took 18 months (she was a bit stubborn) before we trusted her, most were pretty good in a month or so and we have one that it only took 3 days! The amazing thing is that we can take the collar off, put them on a leash and when we head towards the perimeter their brakes come on immediately! You can also block off areas of the yard that you don’t want them in. When hurricane Isabelle came through we had no power for 3 weeks, the terrain was changed with all the fallen trees, and the underground wire for the fence was damaged and NONE of the kids even tried the fence. As I said earlier, the people who say that it doesn’t work don’t know what they are talking about. We have 14 Huskies (15 until we lost one over the summer due to medical reasons), all free to run around, contained in our 6 acre yard. And no I am not a dealer ….. just a satisfied customer with 14 hardheaded Huskies most of them rescued as adults. We can leave them outside unsupervised for hours with no problems. However, we do not leave them outside when we leave the house.
It will not keep other animals out including the neighbor’s brats. Neither will a 6 foot stockade fence … this I learned when I lived elsewhere and was attacked by a neighbors dog in my backyard. As far as people being scared of dogs, well if a 15 to 20 foot barrier field isn’t enough, neither would a chain link fence be. Besides, if the pet stays on your property who cares if they are unreasonably scared. As far as a dog running through … well yes, that could happen, however, with proper training it is unlikely. Huskies have an extremely high prey drive. Where we live we have a lot of wildlife, large and small. The kids will line up along the edge of the field and watch the rabbits, geese, deer etc. They won’t challenge the fence. The deer and geese have learned where the kids can and cannot go and will stay just outside "Husky country". Sometimes within 5 feet of the kids. As I said it does work. The key is training. That is the most important part of the installation of the fence
25 years of being owned by Siberian Huskies. I currently have 14 Huskies most of whom were rescued by us from people who didn’t know what they were getting into