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I have 2 borders and I live on a busy road. We dont beleive in tying them up or sticking them in a cage. they are never free when were not home and never will be even with a underground fence. but when we are home were busy on the farm and arent always watching what tegan and jess are doing. so we thought about an underground fence. what do any of you recommend. we have 300 acres so we just want to do mayby half and acre 2 at the most. i dont care about cost even though i cant afford to much. my dogs life is very important so i wll do whatever it takes. so please let me know what you use and like or hate. thanks and god bless

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I will start off by saying I won't judge anyone who uses invisible fencing however it is not something I would purchase to use for my pets for a number of reasons. I won't go too far into my personal thoughts on the fencing, but I'm not one to use a negative device to train - we have an actual fenced in portion of our yard for our dogs. Some other concerns are that should your dog/s become enticed by something, they will typically run right through the fencing (yes there are dogs that will stop when they should) and then won't come back into the property once the adrenaline has worn off, that is also should they not get hit by a car, etc etc. As well it doesn't keep other animals/people out of your property that could as well cause your dog/s harm. I've picked up 5 dogs in our small community that use this type of fencing that had run off. One was only just a month ago.

 

Jack & Co I agree about the crating!

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When I needed to have a safe feeding corral area for the sheep, I put up a 5 strand electric fence. I`m always curious as to why this would not work for keeping the dogs in. My dogs were kept out from the sheep feed area, and the 3 different rottweilers who wandered around (unwanted) never got into the area. One did get killed on the road, and another one disappeared. I think an above ground electric fence with several strands would keep other bothersome animals out, as well as keeping your own pets in and safe. There is also less chance of a sudden rush of enthusiasm that makes the "invisible" fencing something that is worth avoiding.

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A hard fence and a good recall are my weapons of choice. I no longer trust boundary training because of one bad experience.

 

Hard fences aren't necessarily the final answer, because most BCs can scale any fence of reasonable height, but it does slow them down without hurting them. It gives you that extra five seconds or so to call them back if they are headed for trouble and with a solid recall, they'll stop and turn back.

 

I've never trusted invisible fences because once the dog gets through it (and they do), they are very unwilling to come back. For example, my cousin's husband tried the collar/fence with his favorite beagle.. the dog blasted right through it, got shocked and wouldn't come back through it though the owner was right there to call them back. Would yours be tempted to chase after something and then do the same thing, not turn around and come back to you because they'd gotten a shock?

 

A crate is not a bad thing for a dog. It keeps them safe and happy in certain situations.

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I have never had a dog of mine in 2.5 years go thru my wireless fence and not come back. As soon as they hear the beep they come back. With the wireless fence they cant just run thru it and only get one shock, with the wireless fence they keep getting shocked until they return for up to 25-35 seconds.

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Guest echoica
I have never had a dog of mine in 2.5 years go thru my wireless fence and not come back. As soon as they hear the beep they come back. With the wireless fence they cant just run thru it and only get one shock, with the wireless fence they keep getting shocked until they return for up to 25-35 seconds.

 

That sounds horrifying! :rolleyes:

 

...and that is dependent on the brand. My brother's fence does NOT do that. It beeps at so many feet. Then fast beeps at so many feet. And then shocks at so many feet. Then stops once the dog crosses over. They paid a lot of money for their system and 3 years later they ended up getting a real fence. The dogs all of sudden started wandering outside the area...and no amount of retraining could get them back to the original acceptance level. Habituation (the decline of a conditioned response following repeated exposure to the conditioned stimulus) is quite common using punishment methods for obedience.

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a few more points here.....

-invisible fence and their shock collars DO NOT PREVENT OTHER ANIMALS/DOGS/TEASING KIDS from coming on to one's property

-there can be a lot of negative fallout from their use and comes in the form of reactivity and potential aggression

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I used to work for a shop that sold both the Invisible Fence & Pet Stop brands of fencing. Basically, they are only as good as the training you put into it -- You can't simply install it, slap a collar on your dog(s) and go about life. It takes weeks to do proper perimeter training.

 

I, personally, will never use it. Not because I don't trust it to keep my dogs in my yard, but because it doesn't do anything to keep other people/animals OUT of my yard.

 

I also don't keep collars on my dogs for safety reasons, so using a fence that requires a receiver box to be worn on the collar is kind of out for me.

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I came across a newpaper article a few months ago, where a child wandered onto a property with invisible fencing and was attacked by the dog living there. One of the many reasons that I don't like them. If there had been an actual fence this would not have happened. THe kid and his friend were walking down the street going home from school and goofing around with a toy or something like that and it rolled onto the propery where the dog lived. The town has now banned invisilble fencing. I tried to post the link here, but it no longer exists. It was somewhere down in the southern states.

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I've never found them to be worth it. A few of our neighbors have tried them and their dog/s always escaped and came down to our fence to bother our dogs. It's annoying. And of course once the dogs got out, they never went back in till the owner came and got them.

 

Luckily for us, all our neighbors have since put up physical fences. :rolleyes:

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My preference is not an invisible fence just for reasons some have mentioned already. I've had GSD's that wouldn't be particularly happy with another dog coming onto their property and we used to live in an area where a few neighbors thought it was okay to let their dogs roam the neighborhood. Seems they always found their way into my yard!

My sister uses an invisible fence and it seems to be working okay for her as I don't think any of her dogs have ever gone through it. Although I nearly cried when she described how the dogs discovered they would get a shock if they got too near the boundary. They do have a warning beep but the dog initially doesn't know what that means I guess until they get the shock...?

I'm good with my actual fence. My dogs are never out there unsupervised anyway and/or never out there without me checking on them constantly.

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  • 4 years later...

I am curious if there are any safety concerns using the invisible fence other than the points made earlier.

I have almost acre of land and not worried of other animals getting into yard but more concerned of my Jax getting out to chase cars ! He seems to be content sitting under the large tree and relaxing after a good play and I hate to make him come in. I was wondering if the dog could get shocked or burnt due to malfunctions?

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If your biggest concern is Jax getting out, then I don't think any additional points need to be made. An invisible fence cannot physically stop the dog from going across if the dog is sufficiently motivated. I don't know how strong of a shock they give, but if he really wants to chase a car or anything else, he's going to be focused on the car/chase and likely not on the beep or whatever warning the collar is supposed to give him when he gets close to the perimeter.

 

I don't know anyone who uses an underground fence, but I can tell you that I saw sores on the neck of a dog that was wearing a bark collar, and the sores corresponded with the prongs on the collar. The owners were friends of mine and would not have intentionally hurt their dog, but it happened anyway. Can't say if that would be an issue with the type of collar used for an underground fence.

 

Frankly, if I wanted my dog to be able to stay out, I'd either fence off a part of the yard with a real fence, or set him up a 10 x 10 or 10 x 20 kennel in the yard where I'd know the dog would be safe and secure.

 

J.

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I bought an invisible fence (from the inventor's daughter, to give you an idea how long ago it was!) for a very determined-to-roam pointer/retriever mix.

 

My ex and I tried the collar on our arms before purchasing it. The shock was definitely unpleasant, but not awful.

 

As I said, Bear was determined. After being trained (and yes, you have to shock the dog in order to train it) he would often got sit near to where the warning beep would trigger and sit there deciding whether it was worth getting shocked to get his jollies. Often it wasn't and he'd mosey on back into the yard.

 

Other days, though, he'd decide it was worth it and we could see him brace for he shock before dashing across the line. (Who says dogs aren't capable of deductive reasoning?) He wouldn't cross the fence to come back home though. He'd sit in the neighbors' yard out of the waring beep range and cry for us to come get him.

 

So, the fence didn't keep him in when he didn't want to be kept in. And this was not an in-the-moment reactive dash after a moving vehicle. In that case the dog's not thinking it through, but reacting. I've seen too many dogs go through IFs like that, and heard of some who did it with disastrous results.

 

So, what I'm saying is that I think it would depend on how strongly reactive your dog is to chasing cars. If he's a really determined car chaser, then it's not something I'd personally feel safe risking.

 

If you do decide to get one, be sure to check the batteries often. Some dogs will learn pretty quickly when the batteries are worn out and take advantage of it. We put one of our border coolies who liked to sneak off to the neighbors' house and attack their dog. It stopped her from doing this until the battery wore out. We always knew . . . :o

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My in-laws use an invisible fence with their corgi's and I do put a collar on my dogs when they visit; If and only if I let them roam the acreage. I don't like it, but it keeps them somewhat contained. Lyka has a habit of chasing the birds and livestock on the property, and the collar does stop her most of the time. However like others have said a very determined dog will bolt through it. The corgis have escaped a couple times, and were too afraid to come back.

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Our first dog while playing fetch cut his leg down to the bone on some unseen broken glass in the brush. He showed no signs of injury while the ball was still being tossed and we did not see the blood. Once we stopped tossing the ball and started heading home he laid down and would not get up and then we saw the blood.

 

This is one of several stores we have of just how focused this dog could be to the point of being unaware of pain; I have no problems believing this dog would have run right through the shocks from an invisible fence if no one was there to give a verbal stop.

 

 

I believe you had better know your current dogs' temperament when highly focused and be aware of any future dog's focus in terms of how effective this fence will be for them. Remember you are investing in protection for your current dogs and future dogs.

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My experience with invisible fences is second hand and not good.

 

I think with a dog it is either a hard fence or supervised. Our property is very large, our dogs very well trained and highly motivated to stay home, there are dozens of people around virtually all the time ... and still you hear now and again, "Sera is out gallavanting or Old Moss must have found a rabbit - he's gone into the hills" and there was the time two youngsters chased the vet's van two miles (through fields they went, to meet it on the road up yonder) ...

 

My puppy is boundary trained and is about 95% - hedging a few yards here or there into a particularly enticing adjoining area, etc. - and my aunt who lives on the next "house lot" just has to look at her for Molly to think that is an invitation and my permission would be forthcoming and off she goes gleefully. If I was there and issued a warning "Molly, stay home" she would stop and come back or stop and go no further but without the warning, she'd be having breakfast biscuits with my aunt every morning without my knowledge or permission.

 

Truthfully, ANY dog, even the best trained dog in the whole wide world, is still just a dog and prone to ... you know ... doggy urges, some of which cannot be resisted without immediate intervention. I can stop her from chasing the skunk with a "hold" command - but if I were not there ... it would be tomato soup baths. A fence is the next best thing.

 

YMMV.

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I have several customers with electric fences.

 

Two of them worked well. The dogs would not cross the line.

 

I have another case right now where the owner has an American Bulldog, a lab and a Brittany. The lab and the Brit are really good about staying in the fence. The bulldog just walks right through it.

 

His neighbor told me he put in an electric fence and it worked for a couple of weeks. After that his beagle would even stand right on the line getting shocked and wouldn't move.

 

Does not work well with dogs with high pain tolerance.

 

I wouldn't want one. I would be too afraid one of my dogs would get too excited and run right thru it. And anything can walk into your yard.

 

And if the power goes out so does your fence.

 

Too many ifs for me.

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