Will underground fence confuse e-collar training? (aggressive, black, train, adopted)

[mountainrose]

We just adopted a sweet shelter dog who is a gorgeous purebred black and white English Pointer about two years old.
He is wonderful to train -very willing to please, intelligent, and calm unless he gets the scent of something. He is genetically programmed to hunt and point, and we don't exist once he gets tuned into a rabbit, bird, or deer.
It's clearly how he ended up at the shelter from apparently running off and getting lost.

We live on a farm and have started him with a trainer using a remote e-collar. It does not "shock" it is more like a vibrating buzz. He's only had it on twice and already he is learning to pay attention to us instead of chasing. He doesn't mind it at all and wags his tail a lot while we use it, so I know it doesn't hurt him - just gets his attention focused back on us.

He needs a yard to be off leash and play and exercise, so we are planning on having an underground electric fence put in for an acre or two.

Do any of you think getting zapped by the fence is going to confuse him about the e-collar or visa versa? Even though I think they are different sensations -- the fence zap being more of a true zap and much stronger than the e-collar.
Anyone had experience with using both?

Thanks for your help.

[LifeIsGood01]

When he starts dancing the merengue you will know there is a problem.

[Jkgourmet]

Electric fences sound good on paper, but the miss half the equation.

Please keep in mind that the electric fence will keep your dog IN; however, it will not keep other dogs and critters out.

We had friends in AZ who used them. One was killed by a coyote, the other seriously injured by a neighbors pet who got loose. That electric fence didn't do anything to keep those animals OUT.

[jim9251]

My understanding is the electric fence signals a beep on the collar, then a mild shock, then a stronger shock. You have to show the dog the boundaries.

I'm having the same trouble with my two dogs. They take off for no reason and won't return when I call them. I'm also considering an electric fence.

[mountainrose]

Jkgourmet -- Yes, it's is important on a farm like ours to be careful of what can get into the boundaries. We plan on two or three acres fenced. Coyotes don't come near the house, but we do hear them a mile or so away. We are planning on getting a donkey down in the pastures as they are great at protecting sheep and cattle, as coyotes won't come anywhere near them.

Jim -- We decided to go with Dogwatch instead of the Invisible Fence brand. Their battery lasts two years instead of a few months, the wire is stronger, and they got better reviews. The installer comes and trains you and your dog the first couple of times to the boundaries, plus they are flagged. We have a lot of hunter and sport dog people locally with dogs that run off and chase -- they said it really works if trained to the fence properly. Here is their site.
DogWatch® Hidden Dog Fences - Home

What we are concerned about is if it will be confusing to be training for both the fence and ecollar at the same time.
Our guts say yes, so I think we'll wait til he really understands the fence, and then start up the e-collar training again.

[thecoalman]

I have the Havahart wireless fence. I've had some issues with it like finding the right place so there was no interference near the house. Part of the issue here is I can only set it to about half it's width becsue the road is that close, as you increase it the interference close to the house becomes less likely. It actually ended up in the attic. It does a radius that equals about 10 acres, should be perfect for a really large open area especially if you have second story so you can it up above things like cars.

One thing to note, if you have aluminum siding or any other type of metal in the walls such as if it's stucco it won't work.

[mountainrose]

Coalman,
We decided not to go the wireless route as too many problems with them. The underground fence company (Dogwatch)
uses FM so there is no interference. I think it is the only underground fence that uses FM.

[thecoalman]

Originally Posted by mountainrose

Coalman,
We decided not to go the wireless route as too many problems with them.

I know there is a lot of problems with them, it wasn't exactly ideal either where we live. The ideal situation for them appears to be a two story house with many acres surrounding it. The father you can extend it the stronger the signal is near the house which is where you are going to have the most interference.

We only have a single story house and on top of that it's masonry. It almost worked on the first floor however I was still having issues especially around the cars parked in the driveway. Once I moved it into the attic it worked well. I just wish it was more directional becsue we have miles of woods behind the house but the road is close in the front. They do have one with four sending/receiver units but it's very expensive.

The road is the only reason we bought it. Other animals are not a huge concern here, my biggest concern is if they start messing with an aggressive deer. That is kind of rare but not unheard of either. If they leave they are only gone for about 1/2 hour at the most.... If I could keep them off the road I wouldn't even have bothered.

[mountainrose]

They installed it today for five acres at $1,500. Because it is FM it has no interference with anything. All the others use Am and so lots of interference.
They told us Dogwatch has a patent on the FM signal for underground fences, so no one else can use it.