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You will need a fence charger that is designed to keep bulls in their pen, not a wimpy "pet containment system" so make sure anyone you talk to at the store understands that you don't want a Hartz kid-safe type thing. My Home Depot doesn't have a strong enough charger, you have to go to a livestock place such as TSC or a feed store. The charget itself will put you out $50-$80 new, but it's OH so worth it. I prefer Fi-Shock brand, but it probably doesnt' matter much.
For large and very destructive dogs, you may have to go a little crazy on the wire as well. I used "standard" 14guage wire for my fence which worked fine on my dog and is cheap, but a neighbor's Boxer used to like to break it. I finally went to electrifying small cables (wire rope) until he got the picture. (14ga is the same size/strength that welded wire horse fence is, which is why you may have to try something stronger in your situation.) Some dogs learn that once the wires break the shock is gone so similar to the way some dogs will run through an invisible fence they learn to fight through the initial shock for the relief/freedom that comes afterwards.
Choose insulators that will work for your chosen application, there's usually a variety of them with a variety of ways to attach them to the fence or posts. Again, I prefer the Fi-Shock brand ones that I have, but your results may vary.
Also, the better that you ground the fence the better it will work. You buy an 8ft ground rod in the electricl conduit aisle at Home Depot, or they also have them near the electric fence stuff at TSC. You will need a ground clamp for it as well (sold in the same areas). If the ground is dry a lot (Texas.....) you may need more than one ground rod and clamp. (I have 2) If the ground is dry the dog's feet may not ground him very well either so you can also run a ground wire near the hot wire so that the dog contacts both at the same time --- however if you are running your hot wire next to a standard metal fence (horse fence, etc) that will do the same thing if the dog touches both fences.
Check your fence daily!!!!! You can buy a tester which I have, but I generally find it easier to use a screwdriver to check for sparks (use the metal on the screwdriver to bridge between a hot wire and a ground fence, the plastic protects your hand). A hot fence makes white/blue sparks with a powerful zap sound, like lightening, but a weak fence barely makes some yellow light without much noise, and a dead fence won't spark at all. One time mine died because a squirrel had crawled through the chainlink(grounded) and grabbed the hot wire, and since the fence was very powerful he died that way grounding my fence out until he was removed. Rats and birds can also do the same thing.
You will need a fence charger that is designed to keep bulls in their pen, not a wimpy "pet containment system" so make sure anyone you talk to at the store understands that you don't want a Hartz kid-safe type thing. My Home Depot doesn't have a strong enough charger, you have to go to a livestock place such as TSC or a feed store. The charget itself will put you out $50-$80 new, but it's OH so worth it. I prefer Fi-Shock brand, but it probably doesnt' matter much.
For large and very destructive dogs, you may have to go a little crazy on the wire as well. I used "standard" 14guage wire for my fence which worked fine on my dog and is cheap, but a neighbor's Boxer used to like to break it. I finally went to electrifying small cables (wire rope) until he got the picture. (14ga is the same size/strength that welded wire horse fence is, which is why you may have to try something stronger in your situation.) Some dogs learn that once the wires break the shock is gone so similar to the way some dogs will run through an invisible fence they learn to fight through the initial shock for the relief/freedom that comes afterwards.
Choose insulators that will work for your chosen application, there's usually a variety of them with a variety of ways to attach them to the fence or posts. Again, I prefer the Fi-Shock brand ones that I have, but your results may vary.
Also, the better that you ground the fence the better it will work. You buy an 8ft ground rod in the electricl conduit aisle at Home Depot, or they also have them near the electric fence stuff at TSC. You will need a ground clamp for it as well (sold in the same areas). If the ground is dry a lot (Texas.....) you may need more than one ground rod and clamp. (I have 2) If the ground is dry the dog's feet may not ground him very well either so you can also run a ground wire near the hot wire so that the dog contacts both at the same time --- however if you are running your hot wire next to a standard metal fence (horse fence, etc) that will do the same thing if the dog touches both fences.
Check your fence daily!!!!! You can buy a tester which I have, but I generally find it easier to use a screwdriver to check for sparks (use the metal on the screwdriver to bridge between a hot wire and a ground fence, the plastic protects your hand). A hot fence makes white/blue sparks with a powerful zap sound, like lightening, but a weak fence barely makes some yellow light without much noise, and a dead fence won't spark at all. One time mine died because a squirrel had crawled through the chainlink(grounded) and grabbed the hot wire, and since the fence was very powerful he died that way grounding my fence out until he was removed. Rats and birds can also do the same thing.
