Wireless fence

[rudens]

My black lab pup wants to bolt and run if someone leaves a door or gate open. We are considering training her with a wireless fence.Does anyone have experience with them. We are concerned that once she is trained to avoid the boundary.she will not want to go past it on a leash or to get in the car.

[JSKR]

It is my understanding that it is like a shock for the animal and most dog trainers do not like it at all. I have heard it can and sometimes does cause issues.
Just think about it this way, how would you like a jolt of electric shock every time you tried to cross a boundary?

I found a page with some pros and cons, the 2 most significant to me are: animals can come in the yard and attack your pet but your pet can't get out to escape the attack, and again, the literal shocking of the animal.

http://www.petplace.com/dogs/are-electronic-fences-right-for-your-dog/page1.aspx

[JakRussll]

We used it and had good success with it. It is a nice alternative to a real fence. The shock is really just a scare. It is low voltage and should be a non-factor after the dog learns to associate the sting with the invisible fence. You set it up with white flags for a visual reference for a few weeks. And remember, the "shock" collar gives off an audio alarm when the dog gets close to the fence. In no time, he will hear the chime and turn around.

He will typically feel a shock when he gets about 4 feet from the fence, so you may want to put it outside your property line to allow for more room to roam. You bury the small line and it is soon undetected and forgotten. Maybe your neighbor will let you encroach over 3 to 4 feet and bury the line. Take the dogs shock collar off and he will have no problem associating his leash or leaving with you in the car as okay. Try to walk off the property at the same place each time (ie the driveway).


GLuck

[Milly]

We have one and it's a great investment...ours is called Invisible Fence and they are out of Austin.....Our dog was one of bust and run. Now even when we are in car he never attemps to get away.....

[anony]

We have a wireless fence and have for 9 years. We have a 90 pound German Shepherd and a "yapper". We live in a rural area and have about 3 acres "under wire". Never a problem. We did have to upgrade a collar for the Shepherd to a "stubborn dog" as she didn't notice the lighter charge with her amount of hair. We have taken the collar off for over a month at a time (wife thinks she's hot with it in summer- the dog, not the wife), and never has she ventures out.

My thoughts-- excellent for rural-- worthless for urban- as mentioned before. Other dogs can come in (no problem here:>)) ) and more important-- a child can wander in.
Highly recommended.

[Whoop]

We had the wireless fence and it didn't work. My stubborn headed dog would run through the fence while getting the snot shocked out of her. Then be on her way. Once she went through it an figured out that the shocking stopped if she got on the other side, that was the end of it working. We had it put on the side of our yard, where there was a fence that was in need of repair, and she still would go through the shocking to get to other side.

I would reccomend checking out Bill Wolters book and video water dog, or family dog. Both are really good book on dog training. With just a little work they will stop the bolting. I say that we used this on our "puppy" when we got her and she is now a very well behaved dog. It is my older hard headed one that goes through the fence, and she was never trained as a younger dog. Now she is half deaf, and blind.

[rudens]

thank you all for your input. We will start school at Barkingham palace on Tuesday.

[salspecht53]

Great idea, rudens. We know the folks at Barkingham, and they have excellent experience with dog training at many levels.

Sally