Hot wire and fence climbing

mystang89

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I have to start a thread for this very simple question but it didn't fit into the other thread I had started.

My dog is a fence climber. I'm putting got wire running top. I was reading how electrical wire worked and it goes from the wire, through the animal, into the ground and to the ground terminal, through the controller, back into the line output, all the way back down the fence and into the animal again....... Or something like that. I also know that birds don't get shocked from power lines because they aren't touching the ground.

So all this leads to this question, which probably should have been asked before getting anything. If my dog is climbing the fence and it's paws are not on the ground but instead on the fence itself, will it get shocked?
 

High Desert Cowboy

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I had a similar problem. The problem you’ll run into is what is under the fence? I had mats under mine to prevent digging, and if you have something similar or concrete it will insulate and your dog won’t get a shock. I actually tied a piece of wire from the fence back to a grounding point. This will complete the circuit, and it teaches a lesson the dog will never forget. My Dixie got hit once with it and never tried to jump out again (though she still shows off her vertical leap from time to time, just away from the fence)
 

greybeard

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If my dog is climbing the fence and it's paws are not on the ground but instead on the fence itself, will it get shocked?

It probably get shocked, if the part he is climbing is also grounded to either Earth or the neg terminal on the charger. Most of the time, any un-insulated part of the metallic fence that is connected directly to a tee post is a source of ground, whether intentional or not. The only exception to that is in extremely dry soil conditions.

IF, your entire fence is 'hot' (meaning it is insulated from the ground or metal that touches the ground) then yes, the dog's paws would have to be touching the Earth for a shock to take place.
I was reading how electrical wire worked and it goes from the wire, through the animal, into the ground and to the ground terminal, through the controller, back into the line output, all the way back down the fence and into the animal again....... Or something like that.

You are partially correct. The pulse isn't 'recirculated'. Each individual pulse is a new one.
The pulses do not go "back into the line output".

The path is:
From the capacitors on the controller/energizer/charger board,
thru the hook-up wire from charger to the hot fence wire,
thru the animal,
into the ground,
thru the ground to the ground rod,
up the ground rod to the negative hookup wire
and into the negative terminal of the charger.
That completes that pulse's path.
A new pulse is generated about every 2-3 seconds.

If nothing touches the hot wire, the pulse just dissipates because there is no flow of electrons past where the hot wire ends.
 
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mystang89

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Thanks for explaining that and responding. It's good to know I still have a few options. So if I find my dog still able to climb over I just have to make sure my fence is touching the ground somehow in order to complete the circuit.
 

greybeard

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Yep, or the rest of the fence (the non-hot part) tied in to the ground rod.
I did my b-i-l's garden fence that way last year to keep raccoons and possum from climbing over the fence. I put in a ground rod at the charger and wired it normally, but also crimped a wire from the net fence to the ground rod, making the whole fence 'ground'. Then ran the hot insulated wire about 3' off the ground all around the outside on 3" standoff isulators. The coons got part way up the fence, had to try to go over the single hot wire or between it and the net and ZAPP!
 

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That kinda leads me to another question then. Can my ground wire go underground and back up to the ground rod? If I did something like what you did the wire going from the ground rod would have to pass in front of a door. Can I buy the insulated grounds wire and then being it back up to the top of the ground rod?
 

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I thought that you used 3 ground rods (or more for longer miles of fence line) 6-8' in length, pounded completely below ground level, spaced 9' apart and connected to the ground lead/line at the tops. The wire between ground rods is buried, along with the rods. Therefore, I would use bare wire as opposed to shielded/insulated wire between the rods. It adds to the amount of ground wire. I would only use shielded wire leading to the first grounding rod.
 

mystang89

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Thanks for clearing that up. That actually makes things much easier for me. I was thinking they had to all be in straight line and if so I wasn't sure how to go about avoiding the lines running from each.
 

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I've never had to use more than 1 ground rod, but moisture in the ground ain't one of my problems here....now if drought were to come again........different story.
 

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I hear ya there GB... started digging out a broken/rotted post today and hit water 6" below grade. :confused: And it wasn't even at a low point... Can't take my truck up the pasture track anymore right now as it's digging muddy ruts 8-10" deep. Gonna have to either use the lawn tractor with pull behind cart, or hoof it.
 

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