Electric Fence that won't kill a small dog?

[vyshtia]

Our coop is almost done and I'm thinking about putting up solar electric fencing around it to keep my 110lb lab (chicken killer) from trying to attack the coop/run when I'm away. Question is - how do I know if an electric fence is strong enough to deter the 110lb lab and not kill my other two small dogs (5 lb and 15lb)? I'm looking at purchasing the solar electric fence from home depot (I think it's Red Snap'R).

Thank you!
Dawn.

 

[Mac in Wisco]

It won't kill them. It will just give them a shock and they'll probably never go near it again.

 

[patandchickens]

A quick google did not turn up any useful info on electric fence voltages for small dogs, but I suspect they probably *are* a little more vulnerable than large dogs, I just don't know how much. One thing you could do is to phone some fence charger manufacturers and see if they have any advice, tell them you want to use their charger for a small dog and want to know what is a safe voltage.

You will want a GOOD, DIGITAL fence tester, yes they're more expensive than the little four-neon-lights jobbies but a digital fenc tester will be *accurate* whereas the others are notoriously inaccurate. Fence voltages for dogs should typically be in the 4,000-5,000v range.

The ideal situation, if you are worried about the small dogs (and as I say, while I do not know for a fact whether this is warranted, I think it is a reasonable concern to investigate), would be to see if you can get a resistor or something like that, that will step down the voltage on one or more wires to maybe 2,000-3,000 volts or whatever you deem safe for the small dogs. Use that voltage on the small-dog-level wires, and the higher voltage on a lab-nose-height wire. Or something like that. I am not sure exactly what you want or where you would get one but I *know* they exist b/c I know someone who had that arrangement to lower the voltage on a stock fence that was charged pretty high elsewhere but they wanted it less strong where it ran around the house and yard. Ask an electrician or electrical-supply store?

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[newchicksnducks]

Again, you can contact the manufacturer for more info, but I believe that since most fences operate on a pulse, there will only be a brief zap, and the dog(s) will quickly move away from the fence. This should not seriously injure them, just "ouch" and a quick get away.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
This brings up a good point - if you are concerned with safety, make sure to get a normal charger that pulses... they still do sell some "always on" nonpulsing ones labelled for dog use. They may (*may*) have some valid use for difficult to contain dogs; but are inherently less safe and should not be used unless there is a specific need.

The model mentioned in the original post is almost certainly the pulsing kind, but I mention this in case you should change your mind

good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[vyshtia]

Great - thank you so much for the tips! Yeah...I did do a search but didn't come up with any info on this specific question.

Thank you!