non boating dog question. invisible fence

S

starcrafttom

Active member
In need some opinions about the invisible fence and how well it works. I DONT need opinions about whether I should or should not use it because of personal feelings about pain training , suffering extra. I don't mean to be snotty up front, I just don't want this to turn into a debate. I need to hear from people who HAVE used it with there pets and what they think about how well it worked.

We maybe moving onto 2 plus acres and I would like the dog to run the whole property and I don't want to build a wood fence around the whole 2 acres. So for those of you who have used it, or a similar product , what so you think of it?????
 
Tom, I had friends who did use it in Central Oregon. Worked well with 3 big dogs. It did leave the property feeling open and clean. I think they did 2.5 acres. Oh, one caveat. It worked well until their house got hit by lightening. That blew most of the wire for a couple of hundred feet either way from the house, out of the ground. :shock: :evil:

Good luck with the move.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
Tom,

I have had some experience with invisible fences at my mother's house in Utah. One issue was that one of her dogs was deaf so could not hear the warning sound that alerts the dog that s/he is approaching the fence. The other is that if the motivation is sufficiently strong to the dog, s/he will run through the shock. Then the dog is trapped on the outside with no way to return without getting shocked again, which they won't do. There was a dog in her neighborhood that was boundary-trained and would not leave the property. If you can get your dog to that point that is a stronger fence than an invisible fence, but it is hard to do.

Warren
 
I've zero problem with shock collars when used appropriately by trained individuals - they can work wonders. However, invisible fences are a different story...we strongly recommend against them in rescue , primarily for two reasons:

- Many dogs with strong prey drives will charge right through them. The zone where the shock occurs is narrow enough that a dog running at full tilt after another dog/cat/critter, will cross it in a couple seconds. This not only places the dog in danger once through, but it leaves the dog outside the fence unable/unwilling to get back in. While in pursuit, they may ignore/tolerate the pain; but upon a casual return back home after giving up the chase, there's not enough incentive to go through it.

- Even for dogs with lower prey drives that will be contained by these systems, they do nothing to keep other dogs out. This is typically a bigger concern than the one above; aggressive dogs running loose can only be kept away from your pooch with a physical barrier.

Physical fences and/or large kennels are far superior.

On edit: Warren beat me to the punch RE the pain threshold.
 
Tom,

I've seen them work well - perfectly in fact - on a couple of dogs. I also know a dog who will intentionally get up a head of steam and charge through the barrier notwithstanding the jolt it gives him, if he really wants to get at something "outside." I don't have a dog and have never tried to set up one of these fences myself, but my understanding is a given dog's "personality" can make care in training to the fence absolutely crucial. Some dogs will learn that the pain won't last forever if they just keep going. I think you can vary the width and intensity of the "fence."

Good luck.

(Excuse the redundancy. A couple of responses arrived while I was typing this one.)
 
Two of our neighbors have them, and they work very well. The dogs are not aggressive. After a period of time, they turned off the fence, and the dog still respected the boundary.
 
Invisible Fence Dog Watch etc.are lightning magnets if your property is susceptible to lightning. Expensive to replace main control units. We had to keep getting stronger batteries for our yellow lab. Finally did what we have to done to start with fenced in the complete back yard of the property with three rail split rail locust posts with black mesh wire stapled to the split rail can't notice the black rectangular wire. Then installed a doggie door so Sparkie could come and go as he/she pleased. You get what you pay for, cheaper may not always be better. Good fences make good neighbors.
D.D.
 
Good feed back even if bill did not read the part about "having used one". But he did bring up good points so he gets a pass :wink:

I haven been reading a lot and see that the systems have changed over the years. Susan had a system for her lab/plot 15 years ago. prefect example of a hi pray drive, well super pain in the ass drive. Even on the highest setting he would run thru the shock zone to chase cats , runners , leafs in the wind. Labs are stupid dogs that are trainable but just stupid dogs that are singly focused "BALL :dog ". I love them but ...

It appears that the newer systems have addressed most of the concerns you guys have risen. Better grounding for lighting. I have never had a house hit by lightning and in the area we are going I doubt that's a concern with all the trees around us. The house is already grounded. More warning beeps and progressive shocks starting at a father distance from the fence, all of which is adjustable. Lighter collars, one once, that dont need c-cells batteries like the old units.

As for the run thru effect. Shadow is prey driven but not to the point of lab stupid. If we are in the yard and he sees a cat he will go for it IF I am not looking. He checks first to see what I am doing or looking at. If he bolts and I see him I can command him to stop just with my voice. I spent a lot of time in the yard getting him to that point so the basic training is there. Funny thing is that to get him to the point where he looks to me first I had to let him , on my command, chase a few first. If he thinks there is a chance I will let him go for it he will look to me first. In the beginning when I would never let him chase he would just ignore me. funny dog. Oh and letting him out the door to chase has really done away with the number of cats pooping in my yard.

As for coyotes. we have enough bears to keep the coyotes out of the area. And I plan a thinning hunt once or twice a year late at night with a quite 22 I own or even my bow. Seems the neighbors all have dogs that are loose. I don't like dogs off their property but it does act as a buffer zone. Fencing does little to keep coyotes out either. they go over or under.

Shadow will have access to the house thur a doggy door, as he does here at the current house, so he can run and hide from bigger dogs. Shadow is also a different dog. He gets along with even the most aggressive dogs. Pack dogs are a concern but mostly at night.

It is a cost decision but we only have what we have. Fencing is not cheap and is a maintance headache. Most of the property is still woods but I do want to thin it out a little and get some light in. Fencing the whole thing right now is not going to happen. Fencing a smaller area may be a choice.

so still looking for more comments from folks that have the systems for their dogs.
 
Our beagles figured it out in about an hour. A couple yipes and they got the point. Our ony problem is that our yard is very narrow. To compensate for that we had to lower the shock width of the wire. That makes the entire warning and shock zone only about 6 feet wide. If a dog was running fast enough, they can get through it. We also test the collars daily by holding them near the control box to hear the warning beep. After several years now, they stay in the yard at times without the collars and wait until I call them to me to cross the barrier. Teaching the dog to know when it is safe to cross will prevent them from total fear of the boundry. In our case, our back yard is open to wooded ravine and a pond and up by the house is a walkway to the driveway. Both areas need to be crossed on occasion. They have learned to wait until called.
 
I have had one we used with a terrier (very Stubborn) who got zapped once and never tried to cross the wore again. It takes patience and some training to get the dog smart about the fence system. Currently my next door neighbor has a very energetic, excitable labrador that will not consider for any reason crossing the fence.
 
We have used them for years with our Airedales and have never had a problem. Our dogs are hunting dogs with very strong prey drive and we have had deer come into our yard and although they chased them from the yard they have NEVER broken the fence to go after the deer.

Interestingly, our one little girl, Valkyrie, now gone, came to associate tree lines with getting zapped (due to our invisible fence's location) and became reluctant to cross tree lines as a result.

For a number of years I was one of the "guns" at the Airedale Nationals and one year a judge from CA used flags that were identical to those used to train dogs on Invisible Fences to mark the field where the birds were. A large number of dogs refused to go into the area to hunt until the flags were removed.

One note: be sure to get the Invisible Fence name brand and not one of the knock-offs.

Nick
"Valkyrie"
 
Tom, we used one with Wicket. It worked pretty well with one exception. As others have noted, a truly determined dog can run through it when after something and then they don't want to come back in. Wicket did that once. Other than that, it worked well for 10 years or so. I still have the controller and probably even the collar. Since we had to put the dog down last June, I really don't have a need for it. If you want it send me a PM.
 
Our property isn't suitable for fencing, but we live in a protected hilly development with an undeveloped lot next to us.

Keili (our Samoyed) wasn't even house trained when we got her (she was a breeder's dog whom they retired as they're now breeding her offspring), and didn't respond to any voice commands (and just loved to pull on a leash).

After a year of daily wearing a Cabela's gun dog shock collar, she's a completely different dog. Most days I don't administer a shock, but I put the collar on even when I'm not carrying the remote.

So we've been letting her roam the yard and a little bit into the surrounding undeveloped area. Last week as we were leaving the house with her (not on a leash), she spotted a ring-neck pheasant about 50' away on our driveway and gave chase. A very loud yell from me brought her to a complete stop.

I guess my point is...I would investigate personal training with a good shock collar first - I think you may be able to achieve 90% of the results you are looking for with a minimal expense (plus you'll be able to take your dog with you off leash on hikes with confidence).
 
Shadow is completely off leash trained already. All of my dogs have been. I'm good at that type of training. I can take him almost anywhere with other dogs around and he will stay at my side 99% of the time. once in while its just worth it to him to get yelled at.

I am looking at the fence so for when we are not home. I dont like locking him in the house or a small enclosure. I really hate the crate idea. People that have no other means to care for their dog but place them in a crate while at work should just admit they really should not have a dog. Two of Susans co workers crate their dogs in the car while at work. They are single and live in apartments. They should just not own a dog until they can live in a house with a yard.
 
Tom,
We use one of the wireless bases for our dog & it works great. With this type you just plug the base in set the peremiter & let it go. Usually just takes a time or two & they'll respect the boudries weather the unit is on or not. The shock is not that bad as I carried it in my hand to try it before I put it on my dog. We have a base @ home & one @ the beach house so when we travel back & forth we just take the collar (just in case he would get brave) but we rarely turn the units on. These bases also work with multiple collars. Lowes & tractor supply carry them here for around $125. Pretty cheap way to protect the pooch!
 
Tom - I don't know the pricing on the wireless systems but I do know that there is a type that provides a shock whenever the dog is outside the boundaries. E.g. returning to the boundaries reduces the pain (as opposed to the wired system where it's a shock on the way out and a shock on the way back in).
 
Back
Top