electric fence that won't harm my dogs

NatJ said:

The dogs will probably get shocked once or twice, and then leave the fence alone.

You will need a strong electric shock to deter the bear.
But if there is a way to adjust the level, you could let the dogs have their first shock at a lower level, and then set it to bear-level. (I have no idea whether electric fences have adjustable levels of shocking.)

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Dhkoenig said:

okay thanks - Iended up going with Starkline's kit for electric netting. It comes with a ground and 164 feet of netting and an energizer so I am hoping that will be okay

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U_Stormcrow said:

SOLAR?

or Plug IN?

The Solar is rated at 0.25J Good for rabbit, squirrel, cat, small dogs, not much else.

The Plug-in is rated at 0.8J Not enough, in my view - I don't know any Mfg that claims a .8J potential will stop anything larger than a big breed dog or a goat. Maybe you get lucky, and have great, highly conductive, moist soil.

When its set up and plugged in, touch it with the back of your DRY thumbnail. (assuming you have no seizure disorders or heart conditions. Its safe, I test my 1.2J fence that way a couple times a week. It is "annoying". But you will know first hand the intensity of the shock.

Why a thumbnail? Because human nails are similar to hair or feathers - and chickens, dogs, and bears all have a lot of them to insulate them from the charge carried on the wire. Part of why people bait wires for bears - so they hit it with a nose or tongue, instead of some hair-covered part.

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U_Stormcrow said:

The one time I touched it after we had inches of rain (with my head, don't ask) I lost about 1/2 second of memory. THAT would have stopped a bear, it just isn't the usual experience with the fence.

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NatJ said:

Would it might help to run a sprinkler around the chicken pen? That would be a way to keep the ground nice and wet so it conducts electricity well, to help make the bear's first shock memorable. (I am assuming the bear will come back within a few days, and hopefully touch the fence at that time. Keeping the ground wet for weeks or months at a time would be a lot of bother, and might cause other problems.)

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U_Stormcrow said:

The fence itself is fine, its just the charger that's a bit weak.This is what I use (to protect a much larger area, about 5 acres). Most of the time, in spite of adding numerous additoinal ground rods, I'm not convinced it would stop a bear - though it has stopped a wild hog, and hog-hunting dogs more than once. The one time I touched it after we had inches of rain (with my head, don't ask) I lost about 1/2 second of memory. THAT would have stopped a bear, it just isn't the usual experience with the fence.

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U_Stormcrow said:

Distance from fence to the ground rod(s) is the issue. If you have a charger in one corner, the opposite corner is the furthest distance from the ground rod, and the charge there is weakest.

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