Invisible Fence Questions

[Niagara2]

Just had the presentation with the Invisible Fence people, We are looking to stop out dear cavalier King Charles Spaniel from running out the doors when we open them. We can not break him of it and lost him once for a full day. It was devastating to the family but luck came out way and we got a call someone found him before he got hurt or killed out there.
We are looking at the in-home system that works at the front door and garage door. Any one with any experience with this? Did it work? Was it worth the money? Do you feel the dog ever suffered a bad shock from the system. Any input greatly appreciated!

 

[Feralpeg]

I worked with a lady who had an invisible fence. She had two dogs. It worked great for one dog. He was not really a problem to begin with. The other dog was a "darter". As soon as he got the chance, he would dart out the door and be gone. The fence didn't always stop him. If there was nothing out to catch his interest, he was okay. If he saw another dog or a person nearby, he took off full tilt and was across the fence line. Yes, it shocked him, but it didn't matter. He was across so fast and he just kept going. They eventually gave the dog to a family with a wooden fence.

I hope you find a solution that works for you and your dog!

 

[magicmato]

I don't know about one that works on a doorway, but we have an inground pet fence and I can assure you that it does NOT hurt the dogs, other than give them a small shock.

How do I know? Well, the way my husband checks to see if the collars are working right is to place the tines of the collar on his finger and walk across the line, shocking himself.

It feels like what you feel when you wet your fingers and touch both terminals of a 9volt battery (that is our "big dog" collar. The normal one is more of a sharp tingle). It is just enough to make you think and to deter the dog, but really does not "hurt".

 

[Sammy]

We looked into it when we got our new puppy. As soon as he discovered there was a front yard beyond the back yard, he started taking off!

I did a lot of research on the invisible fences and the more I read about them, the more we wanted to do a wooden one. The biggest problem I've read about is that if there's something beyond the fence line that excites the dog enough, there's a chance he will run right through the shock. The other issue is that even if your dog doesn't go outside of the fence line, it doesn't keep others out! We live in a neighborhood with lots of kids and several dogs. I just couldn't take a chance that our dog would be one of those "darters", or that a child could wander into the yard and possibly get hurt.

 

[hiwaygal]

I wouldn't use an invisible fence in a yard, but I didn't realize they could use one at a door! Interesting.

We use baby gates.

 

[RNMOM]

DH had a friend who's dog would run out of the yard then be too afraid of the shock to go back into the yard.

We have a wooden fence.

Has your dog been trained? We actually took our Irish Setter to two different courses because the first seemed a little to lenient but both had their good points. We have a 1.5 yr. old setter who stays by our side all the time. We are actually able to allow him off leash in the front yard when we are out there and if he begins to go to the sidewalk all I have to do is say "Tucker" quietly and he looks at me and returns to my side. Irish setters are not known for their easy training, by the way.

I would like to suggest working with a trainer and possibly a wooden fence. If the system invisible fence fails you are still in the same position you were in before.

Good luck, whichever you choose.

 

[DawnCt1]

We had an IF for our first Standard Poodle. We put it in when she was a year old and she rarely tested the fence over the 9 years that we had her. She also had a seizure disorder and I didn't want her walking upstairs when we weren't home. I also didn't want her going to the front door. I bought the little unit that looks like a smoke detector and put it in the area that I didn't want her to go. It worked. Her collar would give her an audible tone and a shock if she didn't back away. (she never allowed herself to be shocked). When I trained her to avoid that area, I would move it to another location so I never bought more than one unit. I have a new 8 year old standard now. I am not going to train him to the fence at least for now because he is new to our family and I don't want to have to give him too much on his plate to deal with.

 

[FreshTressa]

DH had a friend who's dog would run out of the yard then be too afraid of the shock to go back into the yard.

We have a wooden fence.

Has your dog been trained? We actually took our Irish Setter to two different courses because the first seemed a little to lenient but both had their good points. We have a 1.5 yr. old setter who stays by our side all the time. We are actually able to allow him off leash in the front yard when we are out there and if he begins to go to the sidewalk all I have to do is say "Tucker" quietly and he looks at me and returns to my side. Irish setters are not known for their easy training, by the way.

I would like to suggest working with a trainer and possibly a wooden fence. If the system invisible fence fails you are still in the same position you were in before.

Good luck, whichever you choose.

Yah..it sounds like a bit of an obedience issue. Though, some things are REALLY hard to untrain. (my dog still pulls his leash despite hours and hours of training).

My parents have one and no, it does not hurt the dog and it works for them. They are on a farm and it is the only fencing they have.

My brother had one and it did not work for him. His dog would just brace himself and go flying through, stubborn thing that he is.

So...it depends on your dog!

 

[Niagara2]

Thanks for all the info. We are thinking of the one for the inside that will "fence" the front door. We put the small round disk there and it would beep if dog got close and they are trained to back off. If they go too close, then the shock. I questioned if dogs run really fast and go through before thinking or even hearing the beep. Of course, the salesman says no, but you confirmed my fear. I still might try it as it is guaranteed for a year to work for your dog.
They also told me that this portable device can be moved. Example, when you have a party and food is on coffee tables and such, you can place the disc in the middle and show the dog that it is there by taking the collar and letting it beep near the disc. The pup looks at all the food at eye level and watch out...it is gone.
Training - yes we have had some issues. Most of it has been very successful, he even rings a bell to notify his masters that he wants to go out. The front door has been our only hugh problem. He sees that open space and darts faster than a speeding bullet.
Invisible fence - guess we give it a try.

 

[Jpgirl]

We had an outdoor one and a portable pad that I used to keep the dogs out of the garbage and sometimes from going into certain rooms. It does work, the only thing I really had a problem with was the range-it was so wide and I had a hard time getting down to a 3 foot range. I wanted the dogs to be able to go into the kitchen but stay away from the garbage pail. I loved the fact it was portable as needs changed. You still need to work on training as you have to train the dog to the system. I had a darter-loved to go after squirrels. She was also very very intelligent and learned how to manipulate the system. She hated the shock but learned that the audible warning would signal if the fence was "on". What she learned to do is run the fence line until the battery died in her collar-then she knew she was safe and wouldn't get shocked. At frist we thought there was something wrong with the collar or the battery as it should last more than a month. After 3 months of messing with collars and batteries a rep came out and suggested that the dog had learned the system-not a common occurance. But sure enough after watching her for a couple of weeks I knew she had beat the system. She was a really good and smart dog.

 

[LindaG4458]

An acquaintance of mine had an invisible fence that worked great for her dog. However, during a thunder storm one night, the lightening struck next to the underground cable, followed it into the house, and blew the control box off the wall and across the room, as well as blowing out her computer and any other electrical item that was plugged in at the time. Of course, this is one of those one-in-a-million things but she had the fence removed instead of repaired afterwards. Every time I think of getting one of the fences I thinnk of her and change my mind.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I would be mainly concerned that another dog would come in and hurt or cause trouble with my dog if I were a dog owner with an IF. I'd rather have a traditional fence.

Re: training, IME anyway, once a dog learns he can "get away" with running off, it is very difficult to retrain not to. I mean, reliably train, so that if you give the come or down command, they stop - consistently. Takes tons of hard work, and not always 100% effective. And that one time they get away is the one time they can be killed in the roadway. The best way is to teach from the very beginning not to run away. If that can't be done, the next best thing is a fence.

We are looking to stop out dear cavalier King Charles Spaniel from running out the doors when we open them.

In this case, you should practice the "wait" command with your dog on a leash. Make him "wait" while you hold the door open. Correct if he tries to go out by saying no, and putting him back in his place. When he waits successfully, tell him "OK" when you're ready to let him go out. This is a great command to teach your dog, you can use it in a lot of situations. Be aware, though, it won't solve the running off problem if he's unleashed unless you teach him that, too.

Remember - all training has to be consistent for it to work. Good luck.

 

[magicmato]

An acquaintance of mine had an invisible fence that worked great for her dog. However, during a thunder storm one night, the lightening struck next to the underground cable, followed it into the house, and blew the control box off the wall and across the room, as well as blowing out her computer and any other electrical item that was plugged in at the time. Of course, this is one of those one-in-a-million things but she had the fence removed instead of repaired afterwards. Every time I think of getting one of the fences I thinnk of her and change my mind.

Depending on the type, you can get lightening/surge protectors for them. We have one in our yard... which is lakefront and the lake gets hit constantly. Before we got the surge protector the unit was shorted out by a surge... we have now had it with the protector for 4 years and have had no other problems... of course, we also unplug it if there is a very bad storm here and we are home, just like we unplug other electronics we do not want to get damaged.

 

[vetrik]

I have a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel too!

I've never heard of one being used for doorways before, but I like the idea. I think it would definitely be worth a shot, especially if it's guaranteed for a year. I would not use one as my main fence outside, but I would definitely look into this use for it if I had that problem. It would hopefully be better than your dog disappearing loose into the neighborhood.

Have you done any specific training to try to deal with this problem? Someone upthread mentioned the "wait" command for your dog and we've had a lot of luck using that with our puppy. We started on leash, but now we can have her sit and wait off leash at the door and she will not go out the open door until we release her. To be honest though, we have not tested her at the front door with no fence outside! Even if you choose to go with the electric fence there will be training involved. I hope it will work for you!

 

[Tigger&Belle]

We have one that we trained our older dog on. It worked well with him since he wasn't one to test his boundaries. We got it because as soon as we moved in, when we were debating a real fence and an electronic one, he bolted out the front door. I was able to catch him because, being a male dog, he stopped to pee everywhere. But that made a believer out of me.

When we got another dog, we trained her on it. However, the day after she received her first shock she had her first seizure. I found NO evidence that the fence caused the seizure, but it seemed like too much of a coincidence and we decided to get a regular fence in the backyard. Also, she's the type that would bolt through the fence for another animal, so we really needed a real fence.

As far as the front door issue, we have a storm door that closes and a closer on the door leading from the house into the garage. We also have indoor cats, so want to keep them inside, too. Sheena (the younger dog) is not a bolter and knows to wait for the "release" command before she goes out the front door. Not to say that she wouldn't leave if the door was propped open, but she's not bad about bolting. Magic, the older dog, doesn't realize that he's not wearing the invisible collar, even though it's been several years since he's worn it (he's not the sharpest knife on the rack ).

 

[DVC-Don]

Lots of our neighbors have invisible fences here and they seem to work for the most part if they put the collar on the dogs. There is one Austrailian Sheppard dog across the street that would charge through their "fence" even with his collar on and then be afraid to go back into the yard. He's stayed "inside" the past few years mainly I think due to being older and calmer.

 

[ItsonlyExperiment626]

Hhave you watched The Dog Whisper? He has fixed your problem with a dog on the show. It's out on DVD and he has a book. I would recommend you read it.

I don't like those invisble fences for one reason, my dog got bit by a dog who was suppoed to been kept contained by one of those fences. The dog's owner would forget to change the batteries and thus the dog would run the neighborhood. It wasn't just one Lab, but two very unfriendly Labs. It got to a point where I would have to take my dogs to the park for a walk instead of a chance to be backed up into a corner by these dogs. I didn't know when they would get loose. They not only pinned me and my dogs to a corner, but several other neighbors out for a walk.

 

[Taylor]

We installed one this spring for Brutus. He now has over 2 1/2 acres to wander around on. This has worked wonderful for him. He became used to it very quickly, and will not cross his line. We really don't even need to put his collar on him anymore because he respects his boundaries.

And BTW, we are not afraid of another dog coming into our yard and hurting Brutus. Brutus is well suited to protect himself.

 

[qtwns]

We installed our own electric fence and ran the wires in the basement so that they protected the front door and also ran the wire under the stairs so that the dogs won't go upstairs.

We have had a bad incidence of our neighbor's dog coming into our yard and attacking one of our dogs. So, if I am going to be gone for more than an hour or so, I put the dogs inside in their room. I also do this in case there is a power outage--it'll take a little while for the pups to figure out that they're not protected, so hopefully I'll get home before that happens. (This has only happend once, but that's all it takes, right?)

It has worked great for us and our dogs. At first we had to experiment with the "voltage" (gosh, that sounds horrible) b/c one of our dogs wasn't the least bit bothered by the shock until it was turned up full force. But now she is so obedient that nothing can get her to cross her boundaries. Now the other dog is another story (dumb as dirt, but as sweet as they come.)

 

[Panthra529]

We have both a wooden fence and an invisible fence. One of our 3 shar pei has become a climber and we had to put the invisible fence in to keep him in the yard. The cable makes a 360 degree loop around the house, so if he darts out any door, he will receive a shock. Keep in mind that these systems give the dog an auditory warning before shocking, and the dogs learn to back away when they hear the noise. They will also learn what distance they need to keep in order to not even get the warning noise. From what I remember though about your original post, you are just looking for something to keep your dog from running out the door, not necessarly for something to keep the dog in your yard correct? The indoor ones a few of the posters described sound good. However, keep in mind most importantly, you need to continually check the battery to make sure it is working. I can't tell you how many times our Rufus got out because we weren't paying attention to the battery life. Like a couple of other posters said, you might want to try the obedience thing a little longer. See if you can get a couple of private lessons. If that doesn't work for you, they do sell other options instead of shock collars. There is a collar on the market that will spray the dog with a harmless mist of citronella when you push a button. Check with the Foster and Smith website www.drsfosterandsmith.com you could put this collar on the dog and work with him/her as to what is an acceptable distance from the door. When the dog gets too close, you press the button. This would also be a big help if the dog rushes the door and jumps on people as they come in the house. The collar works for a lot of unacceptable behavior. HMMMM..I think I will get one for my husband! Good Luck!