non boating dog question. invisible fence

We installed one for our golden retriever - she would sneak off when we got busy and quit watching her.

She was a very gentile dog and we had no doubt the fence would work with her. She only tested the fence 1 time and got a real hard shock - after that she would not go within 15 feet of the fence. When we went for walks (we would of course take her collar off) I had to carry her across the driveway boundary - she wanted nothing to do with the fence.

The fencing had a audible beep that got louder and quicker the closer she got to the fence - she stayed far enough back to avoid the beeping.

It was the best thing we did - we were much happier knowing our dog was home and safe.

I think the key here is knowing your dogs personality - like the above mentioned lab with a 1 track mind - everyone has to decide if their dog would respect this type of boundary.

The rest of the story - We had to put her down at age 10 due to cancer.
 
Ron, thanks for the info ,but sorry about your dog.

After reading a ton of review about the wireless systems I have decided against it. My property will be to long and narrow with to many tree's to make it effective.
 
Tom,
We put up 1100' of stock fence in the back yard for our golden retriever.
We put up 36" fence that the dog doesn't challenge and it doesn't slow the deer down at all. The deer are so terrified of the dog some times they even look up when she barks at them. Once in a while when she barks they will play the game and jump over the fence just to make the dog feel good.
 
ron&carol":g85wff3g said:
We installed one for our golden retriever - she would sneak off when we got busy and quit watching her.



The rest of the story - We had to put her down at age 10 due to cancer.
Click to expand...

Before the days of the electronic fence I also had a golden retriever that refused to stay in the fenced back yard. She started digging out. She would always go out on the same side that put her in my grouchy neighbors fenced yard. She would then have to also dig out of her yard. I poured concrete along the area she would dig. This stopped the digging out so she just started jumping the fence. This was a 8ft privacy fence. She was smart but dumb. If she had picked her spot 5ft to the right she would have at least been "free" without going into the neighbors yard.. I tried everything. She would still jump that fence. In desperation I put up the regular ol electric fence. Ten min after it was up she tried her thing with me watching through a window. She hit that wire turned about four flips with her tail between her legs. From that time on she would not even go on that side of the yard. That day I took the electric box off the fence and never hooked it back up. She never got out of the back yard again.

So sorry to hear about yours. That was one of the best dogs I ever had the pleasure to have. We lost her a couple of years after this incident. This reminds me of another thing about her.

I don't care how far you could throw a frisbee(sp), she would catch it before it hit the ground. She would get it and bring it back and drop it at your feet. When she got tired she would drop it but then put her paw on it til she was rested. Then she was ready to go again. Dang I miss that dog. :cry

Roger
 
I have two electric fence story's

Story One. while talking to one of my propane client her dog kept jumping up the other side of the 5 foot fence. he would jump and bark and jump and bark. I put my hand over the fence to pet him on his next jump and placed my hand right on a electric wire :idea :shock: that was just on the inside of the fence. Not sure what i say but it was not in English. Almost when to my knee's.


Story two. I lady i got to know had a horny bull. I found him, the bull, walking down the road trying to find a way in to a pasture full of cow's. The funny part was the he was dragging 20 yards of fence behind him. I used the four ways on my truck while the owner walked him up two miles of road. That summer I found that bull 5 times while on my deliver route. The owner tried barbed wire , electric wire, razor wire, chained him to a dozer tire. When he wanted to go visiting he just walked thru all of it. Happiest, nicest, most gentle bull you ever meet.
 
Well its been two years at the house and I am back at looking at fences. For two years shadow has had 24 access to a 30 by 30 foot yard to take care of business thru doggie doors. And when I am home he runs free with out any problems, until now.

Shadow has pretty much stuck to his yard. We have several dogs on boarding property that more or less get along and don't really bother anyone. Shadow does not wander far from his dog bowl but as of late he is starting to not come back when call and for some reason will only shit in the one neighbor yard that is yard proud. All the others dont care and have dogs that shit in both their and my yard. Oh and when I say yard I mean 2 plus acres of mixed trees and ferns plus a little grass.

So its back to putting in a buried fence around the yard. cost is around 2k. A wood fence or a wire fence is going to cost around 11 to 18k.

Looks like I will be installing this my self. I have found out that you can run the wire on the ground in the wooded area so that makes it a lot easier.

So any new thoughts or advice?
 
As a dog trainer having taught classes at Petsmart and Petco for years I'll just say this. There is nothing wrong with any device that helps get the desired behavior that one is looking for as an owner. However in my experience most owners look for some sort of "magic" when it comes to dog training. Training is hard work and a big responsibility. There are no short cuts or magical collars or leashes or fences etc. Dogs are pack animals with someone in the pack being the leader. In a home environment the owner should and must be the leader for the owner and dog to have that wonderful bond that everyone looks for. Dogs think in terms of is something good for me or is it not. Reward and correction. Correct the behaviors you don't like and reward the ones you do. Once a dog has learned something that brings the dog pleasure it is very hard for the dog to change that behavior because no one ever stopped the bad behavior. To a dog chewing on a table leg or running to chase a squirrel is very pleasurable. You have to create a desire on the dog's part to pay attention to you because it is more rewarding than chasing the squirrel. That is why training early as a puppy is important. Bottom line the training along with a device can bring results but you cannot leave out the training part of the equation.
 
Hi Tom,

Just a note based on our personal experience. We tried the do-it-yourself electronic fences and found that their quality is very poor. Without exception, our dogs figured out the system and found ways to defeat it. Eventually we went with the Invisible Fence and have used them for years with no problem. Their warranty and support service are excellent and if you move all you have to do is take the box and they will rewire for a reasonable fee. When one of our dogs somehow got out of his collar and I ran it over with a lawnmower, it was replaced for free.

Also, Marcia is a veterinary internist and through many discussions with her clients has heard the same story many times. This could possibly be a classic case of "buy cheap, buy twice." We decided that spending the extra money was better than a gamble of having one of our dogs being hit by a car.

Note: we do not have any interest in Invisible Fence, but are just satisfied users.

Best regards,

Nick
"Valkyrie"
 
I have used both the buried wire and the transponder type with my Great Pyranees ( dogs do not come much bigger) with good results. The transponder type has limited range though models differ.
 
We had an underground fence for years and trained four of our dogs to it. It worked really well, but training is important ... teaching the dog to turn around and come back into the yard when s/he hears the beep. Leave the flags in place for as long as you need to. For deaf dogs, leave the flags indefinitely. Our neighborhood had these kinds of fences in a lot of yards. Only one dog would repeatedly take the shock or run through the fence, a golden retriever who couldn't stand to have another dog pass his yard. For that one dog, the fence was a bad idea. For all the others (a dozen or more) in the neighborhood, they worked great.

FWIW, the greyhound rescue groups in this area wouldn't adopt out dogs to homes with these kinds of fences, because they could run through them so fast while chasing small animals.

Also, it's never safe to leave a dog alone outside in a yard with an underground fence, because other animals can get in.
 
Tom,

I'm a little late to the party, but having used both types of fences, the wireless for me was the best tradeoff since the moose kept dragging the wire off. I couldn't bury it around my house due to the brush and woods. The only thing I noticed on my first lab who was a horse by most standards, I don't think he cared too much about the shock. I don't think 20 amps would have mattered. He finally learned I didn't want him out of the yard and the fence was his boundary. On our current lab who is much smaller, he learned about it as a puppy and respects it to this day.

One thing to remember, if you take the puppy for a ride, be sure to take the collar off. He or she will appreciate it.

Tom
 
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