Tips for the guys..

Ok, my wife suggested I post something, ummm...errr, "useful".  Something for the guys who may read blogs.  supposedly 99.975% of blogs are written and read by women, so here ya go guys, I'm sending one out for you.

Years ago, we adopted a cute little beagle named Maggie.  As she got older she became an escape artist, many times even outsmarting me.  One time she was getting out of our yard and for the life of me I could not find out how.  The fence was in good repair, there were no large gaps anywhere, I even went and added some chicken wire to areas I felt were not "Mission Impossible" standard escape proof.  Yet she was still able to get out.  I decided one day to monitor her covertly.  I let her out into the yard, monitoring her every move from inside, until she went to the side of the house where we have no windows, dang that dog is smart!!  I ran (as quietly as I could) out the front door to peer around the blind side of the house and waited sure this was where she would make her break.  After about 20 minutes on stakeout duty I was handsomely rewarded.  This dog found a single fence picket out of over 100 that was not nailed at the bottom.  She was able to push the bottom, slip out and it would snap back into place to conceal her escape hatch.  Dang is that one smart dog!  That day she got her nickname of Houdini.  So from then on it was hello "Invisible Fence".  Now we had a huge yard in our last house.  Literally I had to mow using a riding mower so the prospect of installing an invisible fence was not very pleasing to me.  But here's the tip, you do not have to bury the wire on the invisible fence!!!  That is only recommended to keep from it getting in the way.  That saved me hours or work.  I merely stapled the wire (make sure you set the stapler to leave a wire gap) along the bottom horizontal board along the fence line and wa-la, I was done!  Worked like a charm!  It was also clear of the trimmer.  From then on the only escape Maggie was able to make was when we forgot to put her electric collar on, when the battery on the collar died or when a storm tripped the GFC plug.  For gate areas I take some PVC pipe, make a "U" shape the width of the entryway and use brackets to secure it under the gate area.  I fill in around the wire on the top ends of the U with caulking to keep the rain and water out and I'm done.  Of course once in a while (like every 5 years) I have to replace the wire due to degradation from the sun and exposure to the elements but it's an easy job to replace the wire now.  So if you are thinking of installing an invisible fence but hate the prospect of having to bury the wire, you don't have to!  Now you can spend that extra time allotted on a cold beer enjoying your dog-proof yard.