Well... Today Michael helped me put up an electric fence...
To give you some understanding of the situation here: I have a nasty neighbour. He owns some sheep and some alpacas. The alpacas live at the front of his property and 'attack' my dogs whenever we walk past. The sheep have just moved into the back paddock. The one that runs right up against the back fence. ie my back yard. So... now, whenever I let the girls out, if they see the sheep they run and bark at them. (giving him something to complain about). But... if my girls ever got OVER the fence he would shoot first, ask questions later.
So you see my problem. And why I've resorted to the fence. Its a special thing called a Ping String, made especially for small fast moving animals... and let me tell you, they sure moved fast when they touched it! YIKES.
It took us a while to put it together cause I was using farm electric fencing bits but running a Ping String energizer unit off a car battery for the current. So it was a bit of a mish mash of bits. We were trying and trying and couldnt figure out why it didnt work when connected to the wire, but Michael got his fingers zapped when touching the clip. (heheheh - I let HIM test it...
)
Finally **I** figured out it was grounding itself out cause we hadnt fixed up the end bit. So I fixed that and Michael plugged it in and got me back...
But there is a god cause he then touched it himself to see if it was working....
Then we let out the guinea pigs... oops, I mean the girls. They went out and sniffed around the 'new' stuff in the back yard... first Pagan hit it with her nose. Poor girl. She hightailed it outa there. Then Montana tried her luck with the fence. Yep. That thing bites. I dont think we'll have a problem with them getting too close to that fence again!
I feel as guilty as ever about it, but really... better they get zapped a few times and learn to stay clear of that fence and NEVER put their feet on it, than they go over the fence and end up shot by an idiotic neighbour.
Btw, its a very low current but it pulses fast, much faster than a cow fence. So its safe for dogs and humans and doesnt pack a wallop near as bad as a cow fence would. Its made for dogs, cats and possums and things like that. However, I felt I couldnt risk NOT having it since Montana has no respect for fences and Pagan would love to hunt down the sheep if she got the chance. I've only put it along the back fenceline where there is a danger. The other side is ok, my neighbour there has cows and even if the girls did get out and chase them he would just tell me to get them out. He's a much nicer person. I've tangled with the guy on the side over the dogs before and he's not one to take lightly. In fact I used to leave the dogs out when I went to work when I first got here, but since he moved in I've been locking them in the house. Better safe than sorry.
