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electric fence and border collies


KrisK
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We are in the process of getting all the fencing (woven wire and electric offsets) for the sheep arrival (now arriving in early November)

 

Since the electric fence is going to be used as a predator deterrent, the hot wires will be offset on the outside of the fence.

 

How would I go about training the BC's to keep their noses away from that fence or are they doomed to get shocked at least once??

 

 

 

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Most of mine have been hit once. Its usually only once.

Poor mick didn't come back out of the house till the sun went down. Dew yiped but never stopped.

Poor jazzy was old. She hit it coming out, must out missed it going in. She was old. She kept trying, never did figure out what was happening, I never let her get close again.

 

Most learn very quickly. But they do have to hit it.

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Mine get zapped about once a year. They figure out really quickly that if you're climbing over it, etc, that it's safe to do so as well. It's not fun the first time they zap themselves, but they get over it. Wait until you get zapped...

 

My older dog, who should have known better, once zapped himself trying to reach through electro-net to eat a goat turd. I had to just shake my head at that one.

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Mine both got zapped as youngsters. The Mini Aussie came trotting back to the house, shaking his head and looking surprised and indignant. Thirty seconds later he'd forgotten about it. My poor BC was wet when he touched it, and came running back to the house, screaming bloody murder. He barked at inanimate objects for half an hour afterwards. Later, when he touched it as an adult, there was a lot less drama.

 

Leslie

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You can teach a leave it command. And train it to leave it, with the wire...that being said, it'll happen at least once! My old giant schnauzer never really did learn about the hot wire. or I guess he kept relearning. Everytime he hit it, he turned around ready to give another dog/person hell for what just happened.

 

The border collies learned early with the electric netting...the worst was Boomer who ran about 2 km away after hitting the wire

 

But doomed describes it!

 

Cynthia

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Yes, they gotta hit it once...you can tell them to leave it but be slow to give that command and they will touch the fence. Mine did figure out if I was holding the wire, it was off, otherwise they would steer clear. I would have to lift the fence to get a dog thru to help me....they would scoot under the fence in record time. Tess would wait until I climbed over before she would cross. She never would go first.

 

The LGD have to learn as well. The ewe figure out when it is turned off though. it sad but a bit funny to see the lamb touch it....they get hit and then run back to mama, screaming. Two seconds later, they forgot all about it.

 

I had a male dog named Mick. He loved to pee on anything. One day, he was aiming for the fence and I told him to leave it....he didn't listen and he got zapped....he screamed (I am sure that hurt)

 

After that whenever I told him to leave it, for what ever reason, he stopped so darn quick!

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It must be the name Mick! ;)

Last year I had a small paddock hot wired. The lambs would hit it and bounce back 3 feet in the air. Took them over a year to test another fence. This year hasn't been successful in containing the darn sheep. Has anyone ever run a wire on top of the hot wire and used it as a ground? It was suggesteds to me. You run an independent wire about 6 to 10 inches above the hot wire and connect it to the grounding pole on the charger. Then when they touch both they are sure to feel it. I'm about ready to try it. Had to mend wires twice yesterday and this is my season to be out of town. :(

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When my fence guy put in my high-tensile fence, some of the strands were ground wires, the idea being what you describe. This kept the goats in, but I did have one sheep that kept getting out (wool is such a great insulator....) Once I put in another hot wire so that the space between the wires was smaller, then he stayed in. I don't live there anymore, but I'm guessing the space between the strands was 4-6 inches where the fence was "sheep height." I would think you'd want the wires close enough together so the head would touch both at once.

 

Leslie

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The key thing is that you should not interact with the dog when it happens. So it is good to "provoke" it a little when you have things under control ( walk about near the fence but not too near), or say "leave it" or 'no" as was suggested and are not say anything else. Also it is good to have the dog not with other dogs then and not engaged in doing anything at the time so that the dog knows what hit it.

 

All my dogs needed one lesson (2 BCs , a mutt, and a Berner) except for my most recent, third BC - Darine who was not very smart in that respect. But Bonnie - my superdog, moreover, considered them no obstacles, since she just files over them and this is very useful on my farm. I don't like this moment at all, but I got zapped myself a number of times because of being careless.

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