Thoughts on invisable fencing

[Black97]

Starting a new job tomorrow in Richmond. Bought a house and we will move in at the end of September.

The property has a little over 1 acre. We have two dogs (Shizu & Lhaso) that have always had a fenced backyard. There's no fence at the new house and putting one up around the whole thing would be expensive and building just a small one in the back wouldn't look good.

Lots of pet people here so I was wondering if anybody has invisible fencing and how it works out for your dogs?

[Jeff_in_Atl]

My advise, if you forget to put the collar on the dog and let him out the door, don't go running after him with the collar.

[Joe 1320]

My advise, if you forget to put the collar on the dog and let him out the door, don't go running after him with the collar.

[Trash man]

My advise, if you forget to put the collar on the dog and let him out the door, don't go running after him with the collar.

thats half the fun

[MN6WS6]

It really depends on the dog. I know some people who have electric fences and they work great. They trained the dog like the instructions say and the dog learns that once it hears the beep that it's too close and a shock comes soon after that.

But...

A good friend of mine has a Rottweiler, and while he's loud and likes to rough-house, he is no danger to anybody. He went through the proper training as well, but the dog is so strong and big, that even on maximum shock, the dog just runs right past the wire and keeps going if he gets excited. You can tell it's working because he kinda tenses up as it starts shocking him, but he just powers through it. So they took it down and fenced the yard in.

If a fence is absolutely unaffordable, I would buy an electric fence and just lay it on the ground loosely to see how it affects them. If they don't stay within their confines, wrap it back up and return it (most pet stores will allow you to do that). If all else fails, you could do a runout cable setup which should give the dog plenty of room to run while keeping him/her confined to a set area.

[Black97]

Well our two are fairly small. They are very smart when it comes to certain things (food and car rides) and very dumb in others. If you let them loose out front, they would walk away and then not know where they live and would just keep wondering around or sit on somebody else's front porch.

The Lhaso is a little bit of a dingbat as Archie would say. He flies around like a maniac when he gets bouncy and I can't tell you how many times he missed the one step coming up on the deck and whapping right into it.

[sneitzel]

Just after they got married my sister and brother-in-law had a Red Heeler and a Blue Heeler. They were living in a rent house with no fence and went with the invisible fence. Those 2 dogs were smart enough to learn how to get a running start and bolt past the fence before it did any real harm. They ended up giving the pair to a rancher with lots of land and they were both MUCH happier. (the dogs and my sister/brother in law)

I never have been a fan of them but it is better than nothing...

[Joe K. 99 Zeee!!]

My mother has an electric fence for her two labs. It's worked very well for them.

I bought a collar for my cocker spaniel that he uses when he visits. He was fine after a day or two of training, but he still gets nervous when he ventures too far out.

You do have to watch out though. If they get too worked up they can run across the line before they realize where they are. Then they're stuck on the other side and won't want to cross to come back.

[Joe 1320]

But...

A good friend of mine has a Rottweiler, and while he's loud and likes to rough-house, he is no danger to anybody. He went through the proper training as well, but the dog is so strong and big, that even on maximum shock, the dog just runs right past the wire and keeps going if he gets excited. You can tell it's working because he kinda tenses up as it starts shocking him, but he just powers through it. So they took it down and fenced the yard in.

I was just going to say, and electric perimeter wouldn't stop my rottie for even a second. LOL!

[Black97]

You do have to watch out though. If they get too worked up they can run across the line before they realize where they are. Then they're stuck on the other side and won't want to cross to come back.

We always watch our guys when they are outside. The bigger one will not go outside without at least one of us in sight. Separation anxiety I guess.

But if there's a squirrel or skunk out there he will make a dash for it. Not a pleasant smell at all on your house dog.

[Joe K. 99 Zeee!!]

Not a pleasant smell at all on your house dog.

I'm sure. Try dead turtle breath.

[FroSSty]

My friend has an invisible fence...It is not he type that you have to bury a wire but one that you plug in inside and it has a radius around the unit that they are allowed to roam freely but when the get out of range of the unit, it beeps and shocks...So if the make a mad dash away from the house, it doesn't stop shocking until either the get back within range of the unit or the batteries fail(which would be a while)...It has kept in two English Mastiffs even with the unit turned off...
Similar to THIS one...

[Black97]

Thanks Frossty, very interesting gadget.

All tough we would like to just contain the dogs in a small area in the backyard not all around the house what this allows you to do.

[FroSSty]

Basically, it makes a circle, which you can adjust size wise. What you would want to do is to put it as close to center of your boundary as possible and turn the settings up or down until it is within your boundary.

I believe what it is doing is producing a small radio signal that the collar is tuned to. When the collar doesn't pick up the freq., it beeps a warning and in a set time starts the shocks until it picks up the signal again.