So, you're thinking about installing an invisible dog fence to keep your dog safe in your yard, but you live on the lake and your dog loves to swim. You just can't bear the thought of restricting him from his favorite hobby - you see the delight in his eyes every time he shakes his sopping wet fur all over your favorite patio chair - but you also can't bear the thought of losing him to one of the cars that barrels down your street. What'cha gonna do?
Fortunately, invisible dog fences don't just work on land - they also work in water. You can run invisible dog fence wire in a lake or pond pretty much the same way you would any other area of your yard, with some minor modifications:
Use high-quality wire. The most important factor to consider when including a body of water in your dog fence configuration is the quality of wire you'll use. If you use the cheap, stranded wire that comes standard with most DIY invisible dog fences, you'll likely end up disappointed -- that wire is prone to breaking very easily in the ground, and is even more prone to breaking in water's ebb and flow. So, make a trip to your local wire specialty store, and invest in upgraded solid-core copper wire that is at least 20-gauge (16- to 18-gauge is even better). You'll pay a little extra upfront, but the added expense is more than worth the headaches you'll avoid in the long run. Buy a high-quality dog fence. If your dog's fence receiver (the device he'll wear on a collar around his neck) is frequently submerged in water, it needs to be waterproof or the battery will eventually rust and the receiver won't work. So, look for a DIY dog fence that actively markets its receiver as waterproof and supports that with a strong product warranty. Protect wire that's installed in the water. Insert the wire into PVC tubing or even a garden hose before you put it in the water. This will not only protect the wire from the elements, but will also weight the wire so that it rests on the ground rather than floating on the water's surface (that's safer for both the wire and for human and canine swimmers). Remember that the signal the wire emits must reach from the lake floor to the surface of the water or it won't contain your dog -- in other words, if you install the wire in water that's 10 feet deep and you set your dog fence to emit only a 6-foot signal, you'll have problems. So, plan ahead and either limit the fence to relatively shallow areas of water or know you'll need to set your boundary signal to be fairly wide. Make sure your dog can swim! The last thought I'll leave you with is to make sure your dog is a very strong swimmer if you plan to allow him to swim without your direct supervision. Dogs are pretty natural swimmers; but, like people, need some practice to become really proficient.
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