Invisible Fence - Who Has One?

[grinningghost]

Looking very seriously at getting one. The price is right and we're planning on getting a new puppy in the summer. What do you think?

 

[clarabelle]

We used to have one-we felt we had no choice -she would climb fences and dig holes and tear up the fence -ect
Pros: It worked pretty well especially if you had an escape artist dog (we did)
Dog could go anywhere front or back yard as long as it was in their "fence"


Cons:- It can be a bit confusing to the dog if you want to walk it (they are afraid to cross the line)
Our dog also tended not to use all the yard -she stayed well away from the line- so I don't feel she got the use of the entire yard.
And the lawn guys, cable guy ect... were always cutting the line and we could not fix it on our own
If you get any new landscaping you have to be careful as well

 

[clh2]

Probably not what you want to hear. But since you asked:

I would never, ever, ever want one.

We live in an area where the lots are about 1.5 acres. The people on the corner have an electric fence around the whole perimeter of their lot. When we are out walking our dog, their 4 dogs will bark at us the whole time while we walk past their house, the dogs follow the perimeter of the fence. Then the owners come out and look at us...like we are the ones who are making their dogs bark.

Another set of neighbors have the fence, and every once in a while, their dog will be out unattended, and then their dog will come out to greet mine.

Another set of former neighbors had a fence, but they also had 2 really mean dogs. Yes, the fence did stop them, everytime. But when those dogs were out, I felt like we were getting charged by the dogs.

Yet another neighbor had the fence, and their dog realized that once she endured the shock, she was free to roam. So, it didn't stop her at all.

If you MUST get an electric fence...the fence is not a babysitter. Please do not leave your dog unattended. You can't control all the other things going on.

Also - the other thing I would recommend - do not have the fence go around the whole yard. Just use a part of your yard for the fence, i.e the back yard. We had neighbors who would need to drive the dogs out of the yard to go for a walk, because then they wouldn't get a shock. When the walk was over, they would drive their dog back up the driveway. (This was the owner of the 2 mean dogs...so maybe he had the setting up really high? Those dogs did stop on a dime.)

Also - don't areate the lawn, it will rip up the wire, probably in more than one place.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

My own vet has two goldens that were in his vet kennel one day, because his fence went down and someone luckily picked them up and called him.

That was enough for me to never want one.

 

[Thats_for_Shore]

I have one. We live out in the country, and it works very well for us.

 

[Kimmumum]

I have a wireless electric fence and love it. We have a golden/lab mix and he never gets out. We didn't have to dig and bury any cables either. There is a transister that you put in your home but it works almost the same ways as the cable version.

I would get another one in a heart beat.

 

[DrCavin]

We have one & I love it. Just open the door & the dog goes outside, when he wants in he barks at the door. Just have to check him every so often to see how close he is getting to the edge, when the battery goes he begins to creep closer & closer to the edge. New battery & he is back to his normal distance.

When I want to take him for a walk, I take off his collar & put on a different one and then walk him down the driveway. First couple times doing this he would put on the brakes & try to back up, but now he is fine.

I have no issues airating my yard, the line is burried about 6" deep. I have had it cut twice, first time was when they put in a driveway next to our property & got it, second time I did it planting some shrubs. Fixed it myself both times, just spliced in a new section of wire & all set.

 

[Cool-Beans]

Dogs are animals, and as such can't be relied upon to not cross the line. For people with dangerous dogs, I think it would be wrong to count on the line stopping them.

But I do a lot of walking and have seen these many yards. The signs go up while the dogs are "training" or whatever.

They really seem to work!

 

[dhcoffey]

We have one for our three dogs and they are great. For years, we had problems with them escaping the "real" fence; and then we put up this one and the only time one of them left the yard is when their battery went down. Other than that, no problems at all. We, too, live in the country with some people walking by and the dogs don't even go to the line at all. I would do it again, too.

Heather

 

[Minnie_me]

We love ours! We have it so our pup is restricted to the backyard, and won't be teased by walkers-by.

I have to agree with the posters who warn you not to use it as a "babysitter" - - other dogs can still come into your yard. And we have to be careful of coyotes as well. We have foxes, too, but they're timid of our 9-lb dog! Sadly, coyotes in this area have been attacking dogs of all sizes.

 

[pbharris4]

Our neighbor to the backside of us has an electric fence. He has 5 dogs ( a great dane, a german shephard, 2 half wolf half something else dogs, and I am not sure what the other one is). They would frequently get out of the yard even with the electric fence. Their coats were sooo thick they would just burn right through it. I also noticed that once in awhile when it rained one of them would be out.

We live in a upscale subdivison with 1-5 acre wooded lots. I have seen people walking carrying bats, a golf club, or something to protect themselves because when these dogs would get out they have attacked at least one woman twice and have come after a few of my neighbors as well. Finally, he built them a big fenced in Dog Run/Cage because Animal Control said they'd be put down next time they got out.

I have seen it work for many other people with smaller dogs though. So depending on the type of dog you have it could work.

 

[Kewz1]

We had one. Then my puppy (Lab) learned if she took the zap she was free. We have a wood fence now.

Kristen

 

[TinkerbellMama]

Looking very seriously at getting one. The price is right and we're planning on getting a new puppy in the summer. What do you think?

Warning: this is a sad story, so don't read if you think it will upset you...

My in-laws' dog died (age-related problems) a few years ago. After a few months, they decided they wanted to get another one. They got a spaniel mix they named Winchester. He was a very happy, friendly, loving, exuberant dog. They loved that dog, especially FIL, and took great care of him. The only thing is, they have a fairly large amount of property, on a moderately-traveled road, and none of it is fenced. They looked into the invisible fence systems and eventually decided to have one put it. It was not cheap for that much acreage, but they were happy. It seemed to work great; he would go up to the perimeter and then get the shock and then turn around and run back the other way. They still didn't let Chester outside to wander by himself, but they figured this would prevent any breakaways from ending badly. Well, it didn't. Just a couple of months after they got the invisible fence, Winchester bolted from FIL and ran straight through it. He was wearing the collar, and was probably shocked, but just kept on going, into the street. He was immediately hit by an oncoming car. FIL was coming up to the edge of the driveway just as the driver was getting out. (It's a huge front yard so he didn't see it happen). The driver said, "I think I just hit your dog!" FIL replied, "No, it couldn't be my dog...we have an invisible fence." Then he walked around to the front of the car and saw Chester lying there. Ugh. That just about broke FIL's heart, seriously. He REALLY loved that dog, and thought he had kept him safe. It's been about 2 years since his demise, and they still haven't gotten another dog. Basically, what I'm trying to tell you is that the fences are NOT foolproof and you can't rely on them 100%. Which, IMO and now IOE as a family, means they aren't worth very much. Why have one when you still can't let your dog run outside for even a minute, safely??

 

[CajunDixie]

We had one. Our labs would go through it! The black one would stop on the other side and scratch his collar....obviously the shock was more like an annoyance to him. When he passed away we got a boxer. It worked great for her as her hair was shorter and the shock was more effective. And before someone suggests the longer prongs for the labs....we used them! The fence no longer works but our boxer still remembers her boundaries and never strays.

A guy DH worked with had a different brand of fence...maybe Innotek or Invisible fence. Anyway it was cruel!! They had theirs turned up so it would give their dogs a mega shock...the dog would literally jump/twist up in the air and bark and then run and hide. We were going to have them dogsit but I refused after seeing their dog being tortured.

 

[denisekayt]

We have neighbors down the street with an invisible fence....their dogs are out roaming ALL THE TIME. Two big labs and a new pit bull they recently acquired. All three of them have charged us, and attacked our dogs when we have gone by their house for a walk. Fence didn't cause them to hesitate for a second.

 

[dhcoffey]

Our dogs are fairly big. We have a black lab, a greyhound, and a whippet and none of them have tried in two years to get through it unless like I said their batteries are dying.

Heather