Invisible Dog Fence Vent

[SadieDog]

Perhaps you could walk on the other side of the street? Nevertheless, animals can sense your fear so perhaps you can just give a sharp, deep "NO!" and keep walking.

I have owned lots of dogs (several of them german shepherds) and have only been bitten once in my life................by my neighbor's toy poodle!

I will say this in defense of shepherds. They are protective. The dog is "protecting" his property from intruders (you). Just because he barks does not mean he is about to attack you. GSD's are very very intelligent dogs and he is warning you that you are too close to his property. That's why this breed is used in so many fields. They are capable of thinking and being trained for SO many things.

Small does not mean "nicer". Large does not indicate "meaner". Walk on the other side of the street. The dog is doing what he's supposed to do.

Well said.

 

[Hillbeans]

I will be the first one to agree that I am *afraid* of big (barking) dogs I don't know and that won't change anytime soon.

LOL - seriously - DH's mom has a border collie at their home in PA and I like their dog. He's older and friendly and DS is not afraid of him nor am I. My neighbors on the right of our yard have a big (old) yellow lab and i'm not afraid of him because he didn't come running at me.

And Linda - I agree that Larger doesn't always mean "meaner" however this dog was "tall" and close to 100 lbs and my son is half that size ( I say that because the dog kind of "went" after him).

I also don't want or expect them to put up a fence - in fact, they have a very beautiful house and yard and a fence would detract from it. I guess i'm just afraid of the dog getting so close to the sidewalk which is why i'll walk in the street.

 

[MommyPoppins]

I hate when dogs run towards you, barking and growling, when you're trying to take a walk. It's VERY scary and frustrating. Sadly, there isn't anything to be done if the dog is in it's own yard. As for the invisable fence. My sister has one for their lab. It doesn't keep him in it. As soon as he realized that he could get to the other side(and female dogs!) he took the pain and rain through the fence. Hopefully, that dog isn't as stupid. I hate dogs who bark for no reason. If you're walking past the house there is no reason for barking. Our dog never barks. If a stranger comes to the yard, she stalks them, quietly and intimidates them. Boxers look awfully mean, but to anyone who has one, we know differently. We used to walk in our old neighborhood and as you past all the houses it was like a dog choir, and they were all inside. I don't know how people can stand a dog that barks at every living thing that goes by.

But like another poster said, maybe you can contact the owners and try and get to know the dog. So he won't bark at you anymore.

 

[Cindyluwho]

I had neighbors who (on their morning and evening walks) would attempt to throw her some treats (also because she was barking) while I was sitting on our deck.

Linda, I must be misunderstanding this. You were actually sitting there on your deck, could hear your dog barking at folks walking by and you were not reprimanding the dog? So, it's OK for them to throw a ball or otherwise engage your dog to quit barking but it's up to them? I'm sure you just left part of the story out but from the way it was written it sounds kinda bad.

 

[LindaR]

*Sigh*..........I WAS trying to keep it short! There are many different kinds of barks........Carson gives out a warning "woof - woof" which is very different from her "mommy's home" happy bark, which is different from her "it's a stray dog and I wanna kill it" bark...........

She is doing what I want her to do. I live in a very bad neighborhood. I WANT people to be cautious (which they usually are because of her size).

When I am outside, I call her to me and have her sit at my feet. She will watch the person until they are out of sight and then she is free to go.

When I am inside, I come to the door and check to see what's going on.

Before someone says something snide.....nope, I don't respond to EVERY bark. There are barks when her and Jake are playing, barks to inform me when my daughter comes home, etc. I only respond to the warning or danger barks. (She is not reprimanded because she is doing what she's supposed to do - give warnings)

 

[Magickndm]

Linda, I must be misunderstanding this. You were actually sitting there on your deck, could hear your dog barking at folks walking by and you were not reprimanding the dog? So, it's OK for them to throw a ball or otherwise engage your dog to quit barking but it's up to them? I'm sure you just left part of the story out but from the way it was written it sounds kinda bad.

No dog is allowed to bark at any time? Maybe you didn't mean that, but it sounds like it.
Barking is a form of vocalization for dogs. My grandma had a dog who would bark at anybody and anything. It was his way of saying "Ooh...pet me! Pet me!"
While I don't think it's ok for a dog to bark non stop or in an aggressive manner, I also don't think it's ok to expect a dog to be perfectly silent all the time.

 

[salmoneous]

As an FYI - what you have described is a guarding behavior, not an aggressive behavior. The invisible fence isn't keeping the dog from biting you. If the dog wanted to attack you, no invisible fence in the world would stop it. What's keeping the dog from biting you is that the dog doesn't want to bite you. He wants you to stay off his property.

I know it can still be very scary - but hopefully this can ease your mind just a little bit.

 

[ktulu]

Reagan will bark at anyone who is in front of the house, there is no stopping her. I don't mind it so much, when she keeps barking, I know I need to check it out.

 

[thinkerbell]

I don't blame you for being afraid of him. I probably would have had to go back home to get dry pants after he came charging at me. That being said, I probably wouldn't be bothered next time knowing that there was invisible fencing there.

My husband used to mark underground utility lines. He told me about a time when he was at a house and the woman who lived there was outside with him. The neighbor had invisible fencing and a huge dog. The dog came running and barking and my big strong husband grabbed her and put her between him and the dog, not knowing that the dog would stop before getting to the property line. It was hilarious to hear him tell it and I would have loved to have seen it.

 

[Cindyluwho]

*Sigh*..........I WAS trying to keep it short! There are many different kinds of barks........Carson gives out a warning "woof - woof" which is very different from her "mommy's home" happy bark, which is different from her "it's a stray dog and I wanna kill it" bark...........

She is doing what I want her to do. I live in a very bad neighborhood. I WANT people to be cautious (which they usually are because of her size).

When I am outside, I call her to me and have her sit at my feet. She will watch the person until they are out of sight and then she is free to go.

When I am inside, I come to the door and check to see what's going on.

Before someone says something snide.....nope, I don't respond to EVERY bark. There are barks when her and Jake are playing, barks to inform me when my daughter comes home, etc. I only respond to the warning or danger barks. (She is not reprimanded because she is doing what she's supposed to do - give warnings)

I knew there was more to the story I didn't mean to sound snarky, and I know exactly what you mean by different "barks". It's obvious now that she's not outside barking every minute of every day. Sorry about he misunderstanding, I love dogs but I detest dogs who bark all night and day and the owners just tune them out. This is obviuosly not the case at your home.

 

[DawnCt1]

*Sigh*..........I WAS trying to keep it short! There are many different kinds of barks........Carson gives out a warning "woof - woof" which is very different from her "mommy's home" happy bark, which is different from her "it's a stray dog and I wanna kill it" bark...........

You are so right about the varied types of barks and not all barks are "created equal". Annie would bark once to come in the house. She would bark at passers by to say "hi". If someone rang the bell or knocked on the door during the day, she wouldn't bark at all. Visitors after dark or late at night were unusual and I was glad that she had a big, deep, "who are you" kind of bark.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

Are the invisible fences better today than they were 10-15 years ago? Back in GA the son of my mother's neighbor (and also her cousin) had a boxer who would regularly cross the invisible fence. The shock would make him yelp when he crossed it but it didn't seem to be much of a deterrent. Or is it pretty much how the dog is trained or conditioned to the fence?

BTW, I am the owner of an 8 pound toy poodle, a 73 pound border/spaniel mix, and a 96 pound german shepherd.

As the owner of three miniature poodles, can I hazard a guess as to which one is the alpha dog??

I've only been bitten by one dog, a dachshund. On the flip side, Lauri and I helped two rottweilers out from the median of a busy road one day, and they were nothing more than friendly drool machines.

I do like what others said about asking the owner if you and eventually your kids can meet the dog. If the dog learns that you and your kids are friendly and harmless, then the dog might bark as you go by but won't charge at you.

 

[cteddiesgirl]

I can totally understand your point of view.

I've known of small dogs (let alone big ones) that have gone through invisible fencing.

I also have several large dogs in my area and I see them almost every day on my walk home from work.
And no matter what side of the street I'm on, they are always going to the edge of their fences and barking angrily at me. And they are actually in their back yards! One neightbor down the street has 2 of them. And they have occasionally gotten out. Luckily the couple times I ran across them while out, another neighbor would help me out as they just happened to be going by in their cars.

Now, my stance is that dog owners need to properly train their dogs. If they trained their dogs to not be jumping up, running and barking at every single thing that goes by the yard, then we wouldn't have this problem.

Dogs are generally smart and can be trained to bark only at people that actually enter their yards. Not at people on the sidewalk or street.
I have seen this with many dogs. We also had a very protective Irish Setter when I was a small child. She never barked or raced towards people that were on the sidewalk.

Train your dogs! And if you can't properly train them, then don't have them!

 

[eclectics]

My friends dog would routinely go right through the invisible fence if she felt like it (a very stubborn standard poodle). She loved chasing cars. Like the others though, she never came back through . I have never trusted those fences after that. Imagine a vicious dog who really wanted to get out! Perhaps you could ask them to move the invisible barrier back so it's not so close to the road. I know in my township we don't actually own the first eleven feet from the road. That's legally town property and you can not put a fence up past that point. Look at your local ordinances and see what it is by you. Good luck.

 

[lbgraves]

Thank goodness the owners are actually smart enough to put the collar on the dog. Our neighbors had one installed & spent the money to have their dog trained. The next year they got another dog & also got him trained after he stopped us from being able to leave our house a few times because he was growling on our steps. Now they just don't put the collars on the stupid dogs...or I guess that I should say the stupid owners don't put the collars on the dogs. It is irritating either way. These are big dogs & I don't like dogs...was attacked by a doberman at age 8.