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My dog likes to rome. We just moved out to a rural area, and our yard is too large and too hilly for a fence. I think I can give her much more freedom of movement with one of those "invisible fences".....but I have some questions.
Can you encircle a house with an invisible fence (including over driveways and retaining walls)?
Some of them have underground cables....are those easy to snag on a lawn mower?
Is it hard to train a very energetic dog on them?
Is the training process traumatic for dogs? She's definitely willing to scratch herself up to chase deer into the brush. I'm not sure if she can feel pain
Is a professional install necessary? Is it worth it?
If anyone has experience with these things, I'm very interested in hearing your recommendations.
Our Lab, as well as our Golden trained very quickly. The Golden was about 4 at the time, the Lab was a puppy. We have a 1+ acre lot, and ran the wire ourselves around the perimeter. My husband used a concrete cutter to put a groove in the driveway, the hills and retaining walls didn't present any problems. We put the flags in place, and the collars on the dogs, and it really was just that easy. I'm not sure either of our dogs ever felt a shock, they reacted just to the warning signal.
We buried our wire, so no issues with the lawn mower. Over time it has resurfaced, and there are breaks, but the dogs haven't had to wear the collars in years. They are now 13 and 9, and never leave the yard, despite lots of tempting deer and squirrels to chase into the woods behind us.
My biggest complaint was that the collars didn't seem to last very long, so it's just as well the dogs "got it" quickly.
People will tell you that they can be dangerous, because a dog that breaks through will be reluctant to return if it means getting shocked again. But, as I said, we never had them break through.
We did this for our lab. We have about an acre for her to explore, but it's in a neighborhood and dogs need to stay in their yards. It didn't take long at all for her to figure out where the boundaries are, and in fact she rarely wears her collar. Sometimes, we put it on her as a reminder that the fence is still there and she is good for another few months after that.
She gives a happy "Woof" to our friends and neighbors as they walk or run by, they greet her by name and she stays right where she is in the yard
I hear there is also a radio wave (?) type that you put in your attic, and it covers a big circular area around the house. I guess it depends on if your yard is irregularly shaped or not.
Two of my kids have used the wire system and they've worked well.
My daughter uses a wireless invisible fence and it works great. Covers quite a large area. We have a golden and used the remote trainer along with the flags. She learned her property boundaries quickly and only got zapped twice. Once or twice had to get the collar out and as soon as we put it on her, ears go back and stays close to the house. Also trained her with a dog whistle (I can't whistle). No matter where she is and she hears the whistle...homeward bound.
When we are petsitting my daughter's dog we just put up a few flags and she stays within the boundaries. Little does she know we don't have an invisible fence!
You might post this under DOG forum for more opinions.
If you are in a rural area, you need to consider wildlife. The invisible fence might keep the dog in, but it won't keep anything else out, as they aren't wearing collars . We have coyotes and bobcats hanging around all the time, so our dogs aren't out unattended ever, even though they are not small dogs (45 and 75lbs).
I had a friend with two Great Danes, she got an invisible fence and it worked great until the dogs learned how to take the collars off of each other. She told me they were doing it but I didn't believe it until I saw it, it was the cutest thing ever, once both collars were off they would high tail it down the street for a little romp through the neighborhood.
If you are in a rural area, you need to consider wildlife. The invisible fence might keep the dog in, but it won't keep anything else out, as they aren't wearing collars . We have coyotes and bobcats hanging around all the time, so our dogs aren't out unattended ever, even though they are not small dogs (45 and 75lbs).
Tried to rep you again but couldn't.
Some dogs also have high enough prey drive and/or pain tolerance that they'll blow through the invisible fence. Their effectiveness depends on the dog but as pointed out above, invisible fences are wholly ineffective for keeping anything out.
I had a friend with two Great Danes, she got an invisible fence and it worked great until the dogs learned how to take the collars off of each other. She told me they were doing it but I didn't believe it until I saw it, it was the cutest thing ever, once both collars were off they would high tail it down the street for a little romp through the neighborhood.
Super bright dogs but they might get hurt
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. We have coyotes and bobcats hanging around all the time, so our dogs aren't out unattended ever, even though they are not small dogs (45 and 75lbs).
