Electric Dog Fences - Do They Work?

[PhunandFonics]

We are considering getting an electric fence for our little escape artist. Dh and I would love to hear the pros and cons of having an electric fence. We have a traditional chain link fence now, but the dog digs holes and goes right under it, not to mention that he loves to dart out the door every chance he gets.

 

Thanks!

[Tracy in Ky]

It has worked for us, except when the wire gets a break. When that happens, it can be very difficult to find the break.

 

But as far as keeping the dog in when the wire is functional--it is great. We have a collie that loves to roam, and the fence has proven to be very effective. (It is, unfortunately, out of commission right now. There is a break that dh has not been able to find.)

 

Just an aside--a couple of weeks ago I was in the woods digging up dirt to haul to my raised beds. I am used to digging up all kinds of roots, and sometimes I pop them on my shovel. This particular day I was digging and unearthed what may have been the brightest root I had found so far. In fact, I think I exclaimed about it outloud (though no one else was with me). I popped it and then pulled it, and then I realized that it was a wire. :001_huh:

 

Turns out, it was our underground dog wire. :blushing:

 

At least we know where THAT particular break is.

 

So, if you get the fence, make sure you know where it is if you decide to start digging up the property. ha.

[praisefor3]

Originally we went and bought the system and the wire to bury. When we came home and looked around our 2 acres and how much we wanted to "fence in" and how much rock we have in our soil, and realized how many hours of digging we had ahead of us, we promptly took the wire back to the store, came home and ordered a wireless electric fence and had a nice weekend! We love our wireless fence. It emits a radius of about 75 feet around the house. We simply plug in the box and put the collar on the dog. We now have 2 dogs and we bought an additional collar for the 2nd dog. We don't generally keep the collars on in the house. Ours has been a great system and well worth the $250 we paid for it 5 years ago. You do have to replace batteries about every 2 months. Our older collar doesn't show battery strength but our new collar has a light that beeps when the battery is getting old. I know without a doubt that we would have lost two very good dogs without such a system as they both would run into the woods if given the chance. Another benefit of the wireless fence is that when we go out of town our dogs go to our friends' house on doggie vacation. We then simply unplug our box and take it to our friends house and plut it in there. Instant fence. They quickly learned the boundaries the first time and now always know it when we go over. For us it has been great and we would definitely replace it with the same system if it ever went out.

[Marie in Oh]

He is super stubborn and it is on the highest setting of shock and awe, and he had to be schoked about 10 times before he didn't go through it, but it has kept him in for 5 months. The other issue is the battery running out in the collar. If that happens and they figure it out, they're gone.

[momofkhm]

He said it worked great but kept getting "struck" by lightning. In the year he's had it, he's had to call the company for a new something 3 times. He's now given up. When my parents visited last week, brother and dad put up a fence.

 

I also have a friend who had one with 2 Bernese Mountain dogs. The fence worked great for them. The only down side they had was another dog, completely unknown to them, had gotten out of his own electric fence, into their electric fence and died. Peggy is not one who takes that kind of thing well and she was the one who found the mystery dog. The dog was old and his death was not a surprise to his owners, but still Peggy was hysterical (in a bad way).

[PhunandFonics]

Praisefor3,

 

Dh loves the idea of a wireless system, can you tell me the brand name of the one you have?

 

Thanks!

[Heather in the Kootenays]

We didn't bury it just tacked it down along the property line so it wasn't much work to install. We check for breaks by carrying a radio along the line. I have no idea how it works but I could check with dh if you're interested.

 

However, it doesn't work for all dogs. I've heard of dogs that feel it's worth taking the zap to be free. My old dog seems to have lost any fear of crossing as well. (which is fine because he won't go anywhere). It does keep my terrier in perfectly.

[Trivium Academy]

Getting one was the BEST investment, we got PetSafe (Wireless) and although the dog we bought it for passed away, it's wonderful with our 8 month old Golden Retriever. We really don't even need a fence (for the dog) anymore b/c he hears the warning beep and backs up immediately.

[Danestress]

Ours works perfectly.

 

My dog is so well trained that whether he has the collar on or not, whether the fence is activated or not, he will not go through the line.

 

I'd work with the dog, though, on how he darts through the door. Even with an electric fence, that's bad manners, and consist training would probably help. But I give a total thumbs up on the electric fence.

 

A side bonus is that when the train the dog on it, they use little flags so he gets the visual cue on where the boundaries are. Over time, you remove the flags. But my dog *will not* cross through any little flags. So when he was trying to dig up new azaleas I planted, I found that if I just surrounded them with the flags, he would leave them alone!

[PhunandFonics]

Thanks! We checked out the wireless system at PetsMart and also made an appointment to meet with a trainer to work on his doggie manners!

[Angela]

Ours worked great for 9 years, even when the batteries were down on the dog collars my three would stay in...until this last year. Now I can't keep them in! They are perfectly fine with getting out & being shocked even after we have had the voltage turned up. I have to run after them daily now.

[Mamagistra]

Our Innotek fence works great, however, one out of two border collies is just crazy enough to break through with a big yelp once in a while. :rolleyes:

[Pamela H in Texas]

I'm gonna go loook back at this thread but if someone didn't already answer, can anyone tell me if we probably NEED the stubborn dog one or if the regular one is just fine for two fairly normal pig-heads....oops, I mean dogs....

 

I love my babies and I think they are probably just on the normal side, not really stubborn. But I'd hate to buy the wrong thing.

 

ALso, I'd LOVE to fence in almost my whole acre. Is that possible cheaply? This is what I'm using part of my eco. stim. check for tomorrow....

 

Oh, one more question...on the petsmart thing, when you try to add more wire, it comes with the same product # and description. Does it come with another collar? I have 2 dogs now and one that was supposed to be born last night :)

 

THANKS!

Pamela....going back to read rest of thread

[Jennifer in NH]

We have had "Invisible Fence "for over 12 years. it was the best investment ever! We have 15 acres "fenced" in so the dogs have a lot of room! And in the summer we have wired my Mother's summer place with it, even in the lake! Works like a charm! if you do have a break you can go around the line with an AM radio, and it either makes more noise where the break is, or less...can't remeber but it is easy to check that out!

[Jennifer in NH]

By the way, FYI, you really shouldn't train a dog under 4 months of age...And one can pick up extra wire at a hardware store...ours is mostly laid on top of the ground in the woods....it is right up against old stone walls and leaves cover it soon enough. it is only buried just in front of the house and under the driveways.

[Pamela H in Texas]

Jessica,

 

on the wireless, can it be set for like oval shaped? Our land is not square. If I did 75ft wide, my next door neighbor s, both directions, would be sad. But I'd love to go 75 ft long all the time (I think we have about 120 ft to the road and another 100 to the back).

 

The collars seem so expensive. And I'm gonna end up needing 3 (though the baby won't be big enough til almost grown).

 

TIA for any further info

Pamela

[Trivium Academy]

The company is better at answering specific questions, our radius is a circle.

[Sharon in SC]

We have an Invisible Fence for our Border Collie who *loves* to run and it works beautifully! Worth every penny....

 

We are considering getting an electric fence for our little escape artist. Dh and I would love to hear the pros and cons of having an electric fence. We have a traditional chain link fence now, but the dog digs holes and goes right under it, not to mention that he loves to dart out the door every chance he gets.

 

Thanks!

[CookieMonster]

Or even a more rural area, the electric fence may not be a good idea.

 

Electric fences keep your dog in. They do not keep coyotes or wolves out.

 

This is the only problem I've heard of with electric fences. And I thought it was worth putting out there just in case.

[Cheryl in NM]

It depends on your dog. It almost never works on hounds. It worked great for our dogs, Australian Cattle Dog and Border Collie. I didn't work on the hound we had for a short time or any of our neighbor's hounds. Once the dog figures out that it only hurts for a minute they go through it everytime. But....it does work for most dogs.

[Cheryl in NM]

Jessica,

 

(though the baby won't be big enough til almost grown).

 

TIA for any further info

Pamela

 

Put the collar on the baby. The dog will grow up with that boundary will probably NEVER challenge it, even when the batteries in it's receiver go dead or you have a break in the wire.

 

Our Aussie was extremely compliant. She NEVER tried to break out once she knew her boundaries. She understood that if she was on the leash she wouldn't get shocked (we'd take the shock collar off in the house and put her leash on).

[Joanne]

I purchased one when my wood picket fence was disintergrating and the dogs (labs) were getting out.

 

It worked to delay the dogs from chewing/clawing their way out.

 

We've had some tedious issues relating to wire compromises and equipement.

 

It was worth it.

 

I need new collars for ours. My husband (when he came along), re-routed the system and placed it in much better arrangement with less risk of breaks.

[Cheryl in NM]

ALso, I'd LOVE to fence in almost my whole acre. Is that possible cheaply? This is what I'm using part of my eco. stim. check for tomorrow....

 

Oh, one more question...on the petsmart thing, when you try to add more wire, it comes with the same product # and description. Does it come with another collar? I have 2 dogs now and one that was supposed to be born last night :)

 

THANKS!

Pamela....going back to read rest of thread

 

At one time we had our entire acre fenced; the cost was not prohibitive, but I don't remember what it was. One caveat: we live in a mobile home, recently we tried to just fence a small area around our home and the poor dog was getting shocked randomly, even inside the house (not a good thing for a poor border collie who's trying to be compliant!). We figured out that she was getting shocked because of the metal Ibeam under the house.

 

No, extra wire does not come with a new collar. Collars are sold separately. But...ours are 10 years old and work fine.