How to Stop an Invisible Fence From Beeping

If the transmitter box on your invisible dog fence starts beeping incessantly, the noise will drive you crazy. Fortunately, turning it off is as simple as unplugging a power cord or two. It's crucial to remember that you've done this, however, and keep your dog inside or on a tie-out until you've restored power to the fence.

The beeping is annoying, but it's the fence's way of telling you something is wrong. Silencing the beep will keep you sane, but it won't fix the fence. You or a service technician will have to fix the issue before you can trust the fence again.

If your unit is beeping about once a second, you can turn it off by unplugging the power cord from the transmitter. If your system has a battery backup, you will need to unplug it as well. Next, you'll want to address the underlying problem which, in the case of rapid beeping, is usually a broken wire.

The basic concept of an invisible fence is really quite simple. A powered wire leaves your transmitter, travels around the perimeter or fenced-in area of your property, and then returns to the transmitter. If the current fails to come back, the fence assumes there is a break in the wire and beeps rapidly. You can either call a tech or find and fix the broken wire yourself.

If fixing the wire yourself, don't use electrical tape to splice the wire back together. It's not waterproof and will not hold. Instead, use an underground burial-rated wire repair kit.

Rapid beeping usually indicates a broken wire, but on occasion, it indicates a bad transmitter. Because the transmitter works by sending a current through a closed loop and checking to see if it comes back, you can do a short loop test to check your transmitter.

To do so, turn off the power and remove the cover from your transmitter. Find the place where the wire leaves and then returns to the transmitter. Unhook the wires currently there and then place a short wire between the two terminals. Restore power to the unit.

If it still beeps, the transmitter itself is bad. If it doesn't, a broken wire in your fencing system is the culprit.

If your dog fence is beeping but pauses between beeps, the unit is likely telling you that your battery backup isn't working. In this case, your fence will still work unless you lose power — or turn the unit off to stop the beeping. If so, you won't be able to depend on your battery backup to keep the fence up and running until you fix it. Order and install a new battery as soon as you can.

Invisible fences work by giving dogs a small shock if they get too close to, or cross over, the invisible fence boundary line. Before the shock fires, however, a dog's collar will beep to let them know that they are close to the boundary. This is perfectly normal and not a cause for alarm.

Near the fence is the only place the collar itself should beep. If the collar is beeping when the dog is in the house or at other inappropriate times, find someone to repair the collar or replace it. This is not normal and indicates a problem with the collar.