How to Find Wire Breaks in a Dog Fence Using a Portable Radio

Most people choose to install an underground dog fence to keep their dog from roaming the neighborhood but avoid the expense of an above-ground fence. One of the downsides of these types of fences is the wiring can be broken by landscaping, underground pests and tree roots. To save money on service calls, many homeowners decide to repair these problems themselves.

Although repairing dog fence wiring is not necessarily difficult, finding the wire breaks can be tricky. Here are the steps to finding those wire breaks without calling the installation company or using expensive equipment.

Instructions

    • 1

      Buy an RF choke, an inexpensive electronics part that can be found in nearly any hardware or electronics store. The RF choke will complete the circuit in the dog fence even though there are fence breaks and allow the radio transmitter to emit the radio frequency. Remove the fence wires from their jacks in the radio transmitter and replace them with the two leads of the RF choke. Then wrap each of the fence wires around the other end of the RF choke leads near the coils.

    • 2

      Tune a portable radio to the radio frequency that your dog fence is using. It is usually on the lower end of the of the AM radio stations. Check your dog fence paperwork for the radio frequency it is using. Sometimes it is also on the radio transmitter because you can change it there. If you cannot find it there, you can always search for the correct frequency on the portable radio. The correct radio frequency will sound like fast-paced clicking, tapping or beeping when you tune to it.

    • 3

      Walk along the dog fence perimeter carrying the properly tuned portable radio. Wire breaks will be indicated by a drop in the radio signal. You should walk the entire dog fence perimeter at least once or twice so that you will be less likely to confuse a weak radio signal with wire breaks. There also may be several wire breaks, so walk slowly and be sure to double-check your findings.