YOur Advice on those D0-It-Yourself- Dog electric fence.

[SeeDisney]

Hi,


We have a six month old puppy and would like to install the do-it-yourself electric fence.

Can anyone recommend a product or your experiences on this.


Thank you.

 

[wildlandmedic]

We used a wireless radio fence. It does not require any burying of wires or fences. It consists of a radio transmitter and a collar reciever. When the dog gets close to the set perimeter, it gives an audible warning. if they go farther, it gives them a shock.

It contains flags that you set at the perimeter for a visual warning. You can take the flags out after the first week or so.

The box sits on your porch or in the house. It has a hi/lo setting and a power dial. You can adjust the distance that it allows.

You can pretty much set it up and you are done in an hour or less.

The only problem we had was keeping the terminals in contact with our dog's skin. She was a bloodhound and the terminals had a little trouble with ending up in between the folds of skin on top of hair, so they didn't make good contact.

We absolutely love ours, after our dog was trained, we don't have to use it anymore. My brother in-law is using it 2.5 yrs later and it still works.

 

[Abbie]

Ours sounds like the previous poster, but we did have to bury the wires. We rented a trencher and did it that way. We've had to replace the transmitter twice in the last 13 years but it's inexpensive ($30) and works great! Even when we had trouble with a mole or chipmunk chewing the wires, my husband was able to find the break quickly and repair it easily.

We got our entire system I think at Walmart and it was easy to do. Batteries on the collars need replacing every so often but that's about it.

 

[FSUDisneyGirl]

The thought of shocking a dog on his neck like that just turns my stomach. I would suggest training your dog in another way. Before you use the collar, put it on your neck and try it out...you may rethink using it, as someone in our neighborhood did.

 

[crz4mm2]

We used a wireless radio fence. It does not require any burying of wires or fences. It consists of a radio transmitter and a collar reciever. When the dog gets close to the set perimeter, it gives an audible warning. if they go farther, it gives them a shock.

It contains flags that you set at the perimeter for a visual warning. You can take the flags out after the first week or so.

The box sits on your porch or in the house. It has a hi/lo setting and a power dial. You can adjust the distance that it allows.

You can pretty much set it up and you are done in an hour or less.

The only problem we had was keeping the terminals in contact with our dog's skin. She was a bloodhound and the terminals had a little trouble with ending up in between the folds of skin on top of hair, so they didn't make good contact.

We absolutely love ours, after our dog was trained, we don't have to use it anymore. My brother in-law is using it 2.5 yrs later and it still works.

I have this as well. Works VERY well for us.

 

[Scurvy]

I don't have any experience with a system like that (I'm assuming you are talking about the "invisible fences" rather than an actual electric fence; if not, please disregard this!), but I wanted to share what happened to a friend of mine. His dog was trying to chase something and ran out of the bounds of the yard. Once he was out, he wouldn't go back in because of the shock. They did end up catching him later that day, but it was a really stressful situation for their family.

I've heard good things about the invisible fences before, but since that happened to my friend I've heard stories like his fairly often. Sometimes they didn't end as well as his did. I think in part it depends on the dog - if yours is a breed with a high prey drive or one who is ruled by following scents (like a beagle, for example) then this might not be the best choice for you. If the desire is strong enough, a dog who is intent on following something will chase it out of your yard and then can't/won't come back in. Also, if there are lots of roaming dogs in your area keep in mind that this sort of fence won't protect your dog from them - they can still enter your yard to interact with your dog.

 

[Mickey's Minion]

I don't have any experience with a system like that (I'm assuming you are talking about the "invisible fences" rather than an actual electric fence; if not, please disregard this!), but I wanted to share what happened to a friend of mine. His dog was trying to chase something and ran out of the bounds of the yard. Once he was out, he wouldn't go back in because of the shock. They did end up catching him later that day, but it was a really stressful situation for their family.

I've heard good things about the invisible fences before, but since that happened to my friend I've heard stories like his fairly often. Sometimes they didn't end as well as his did. I think in part it depends on the dog - if yours is a breed with a high prey drive or one who is ruled by following scents (like a beagle, for example) then this might not be the best choice for you. If the desire is strong enough, a dog who is intent on following something will chase it out of your yard and then can't/won't come back in. Also, if there are lots of roaming dogs in your area keep in mind that this sort of fence won't protect your dog from them - they can still enter your yard to interact with your dog.

When we got our dogs, this is the reason our breeders highly discouraged an invisible fence.

While it may keep your dogs in, it does nothing else to keep everything else out.

If you have loose dogs running around, they can easily come onto the property and attack.

But worse, if a kid wanders onto your property to pet the puppy lounging his backyard and gets bit or nipped at, you are at fault for having a visible enticement.

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

Other than the electric (invisible) fence, what can be used (other then fencing in the whole yard) to keep a dog in? my mom is adopting the neighbors begel (they hate the dog and never bring him inside or let him run) and was going to do invisible fencing but this thread makes me wonder if theres better solutions.

 

[lovebuzz]

We have the Pets safe wireless fence. The reason we chose this one is because when we go on vacation we take our dog to my Mom's. All we have to do is grap the box and plug it in there. We have not had any problems and we are going on 6 years with it. We have a dog that likes to dig, so she would get out of our regular fence. This one works great.

 

[JoiseyMom]

The thought of shocking a dog on his neck like that just turns my stomach. I would suggest training your dog in another way. Before you use the collar, put it on your neck and try it out...you may rethink using it, as someone in our neighborhood did.

ITA!!!!

 

[JoiseyMom]

Other than the electric (invisible) fence, what can be used (other then fencing in the whole yard) to keep a dog in? my mom is adopting the neighbors begel (they hate the dog and never bring him inside or let him run) and was going to do invisible fencing but this thread makes me wonder if theres better solutions.

If you can't fence your property then take your dog on long walks and to a dog park so they can fun. I am a fully fenced in back yard..and we have an area fenced off for our dogs. Before we had this house with a fence, my dog was always on his leash. He didn't have a yard to run around in until he was 3.

 

[funkychunkymonkey]

Its not in the budget to fence the yard and mom wants to be able to let him run. We dont have a dog park (or ANY park that allows dogs.). Im hoping she can come up with a safe idea. I hate invisible fences!

 

[Pooh's Pixie]

We have the wireless electric fence. It is portable which is agreat feature. And it is relatively inexpensive and you don't need to dig up your yard. It is a slight shock, and is adjustable so you can lower it. My DD has been shocked by a horse fence several times, and it is not a big deal. I think that's more of a chock than the dog collar! It also gives a warning beep so that the dog will stop before they get the shock. I think my dog has only been shocked a couple of times in the years we've had it. And it hurts a whole lot less than being hit by a car.

People have to do what works for them, but I do not think it is inhumane.

 

[manning]

Other than the electric (invisible) fence, what can be used (other then fencing in the whole yard) to keep a dog in? my mom is adopting the neighbors begel (they hate the dog and never bring him inside or let him run) and was going to do invisible fencing but this thread makes me wonder if theres better solutions.

Our neighbor has two beagles and use an invisible fence. Beagles like to put nose to ground and hunt rabbits etc. and they are stubborn. Once they catch a scent they want to go. Once I was watching them out the window and all of a sudden one of them saw a rabbit and took off. When he hit the fence he came to a sudden halt and reversed course. The neighbor said they had to increase the shock level because they would go right through the fence. It took a while to train them but they did. Also when they let them out they watch them.

 

[crz4mm2]

If you can't fence your property then take your dog on long walks and to a dog park so they can fun. I am a fully fenced in back yard..and we have an area fenced off for our dogs. Before we had this house with a fence, my dog was always on his leash. He didn't have a yard to run around in until he was 3.

So, I take it you think an invisible fence is not "fencing in property".
I don't see the difference myself.

 

[Scurvy]

So, I take it you think an invisible fence is not "fencing in property".
I don't see the difference myself.

Installing an invisible fence isn't "fencing in property". An invisible fence isn't a real fence, and there are some very significant differences between the two. The invisible fence just an invisible barrier that causes your dog to receive a shock if it tries to pass a certain point. It doesn't keep anything else out of the yard (other dogs, roaming children, etc.) as a real fence would do. Plus, it doesn't always keep the dog inside the yard if it's determined to chase something out of the yard, as a well maintained real fence can do (if it's tall enough, at least). A real fence is an actual physical barrier that provides protection to the dog as well as keeping the dog contained.

If you are going to compare the invisible fence to some other method of containing your dog, I think a more apt comparison would be a tether. A dog who is tethered in the yard is also exposed to any other roaming animals (or people) who might interact with it.

 

[ckay87]

This may or may not be a popular reply. But we have trained our dogs to stay in their yard AND we watch them while they are out there.

I don't exactly know how I trained them, but they just listen to me. For the first 6 months I had each of them, I walked them around the yard with leashes. It was a pain, but they learned their boundaries. Now I just let them out and watch them while I do dishes or something in the kitchen. When I see them drifting, I give them a yell. Our particular cues are "get in your yard" or this real quick, awful, annoying sound I make that gets their attention immediately (it's like a "stop" cue. The Dog Whisperer does something like it, but I thought of it first ) When they hear those sounds, they literally stop and turn on a dime. But really, I rarely need to call them. They know their boundaries and stick to them. To this day our dachshund (who isn't even the sharpest tool in the shed) won't even go out the front door because that world does not exist in his mind without a leash.

So I'd say that is the alternative to any kind of fencing...just treat them like kids. Watch them and train them to listen to you.