How to Install an Invisible Dog Fence

• Sledgehammer
• Hand or power lawn edger
• Circular saw
• Caulking gun
• Utility knife
• PVC pipe
• Square-edged spade
• Screw driver

• Electronic fence kit (transmitter, collar/receiver, battery, antenna wire and boundary flags)
• Graph paper
• Masonry anchors and screws
• Masonry circular saw blade
• Work gloves
• Kneepads
• Safety glasses or goggles
• Copper grounding rod
• Grounding clamp
• Green insulated or bare #12 (min.) conductor (wire)
• Insulating splice wire connectors
• Electrical tape
• Silicone caulk
• Crack patching compound/caulk

Before You Begin

Below are the steps involved to make the installation. Not sure you want to do the job? Click here to Home Advisor, a free referral service that connects homeowners with prescreened local contractors, and type "electronic pet fence" in their Find Pro search box.

• Step 1 : Determine the layout

  

  Make a layout sketch of the yard on graph paper or use a planning guide from the fence system manufacturer. Decide where to lay the invisible fence so your pet can run free. Plan the design so the transmitter is located on an outside wall of the house near an electrical receptacle. Choose a location -- such as a basement wall -- that's protected from the weather and not subject to freezing temperatures.

  The antennawire runs in one unbroken loop starting and ending at the transmitter, forming the boundary perimeter. Follow the manufacturer's advice on location of a grounding rod and warnings about not burying the wire near metal fences or with other wire that might interfere with signal transmission.

• Step 2 : Install the transmitter

  

  Mount the transmitter on the inside of an exterior house wall near an electrical receptacle. There may be external mounting holes or you may need to remove a housing to reveal the mounting holes. Use wood screws on a frame house and masonry anchors on brick or stone. Depending on the location, you may need to drill a small hole through the wall for the grounding and antenna wires.

• Step 3 : Ground the system

  If grounding is required, attach one end of a ground wire to the grounding terminal on the transmitter. Drive a copper grounding rod at least 3 feet into the ground with a sledgehammer or follow manufacturer's directions. Leave a few inches of the rod above grade and attach a ground clamp to the rod and grounding wire to the clamp.

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