Invisible Fence?

[jwstewar]

Well we had some set backs with the invisible fence. We were making good progress with the dogs and they were staying in the yard. Then one day the power went out. We didn't think anything about it and we were outside working on the other side of the fence. Well they wanted to see what was going on. So they kept wondering up to the line and didn't get the warning so they finally crossed it. From that point on, they weren't afraid to cross it. Not sure if their hair grew and broke the contact with the skin or not. Then since they weren't afraid to cross the line, they went to our creek and pretty much ruined the collars.Then after the house fire, the line got cut in a couple of places and then when I put the spouting lines in, it got cut in 4 more places. One of the goals for this spring is to rerun about 200' of our original 2000' feet of line.. Home Depot then sells higher wattage collars that we are going to get some of those. I would really like to be able to leave them out as the deer are really wrecking our trees and I think the dogs would keep them away.

 

[XeVfTEUtaAqJHTqq]

My Lab/Weimaraner had no problem taking the hit when he wanted to run across the line. I had to use a fence and the hidden fence. He would climb a regular fence if there was something really good to chase.

The nice thing is that if you go with the combo is that you don't need the "best" fence. The fence just needs to be good enough to slow them down long enough for them to get some jolts.

 

[bczoom]

I'm hoping the dog is smart enough to learn the perimeter (that's the Border Collie side) but I'm concerned about the Lab part of the dog. Once a bird is in the cross-hairs, nothing but a physical fence may stop it.

A friend of mine has a Border Collie. He put in the invisible fence. The dog learned and knows the line. The dog doesn't know that the batteries in its collar ran out about 2 years ago. It just stays inside the perimeter.

 

[crums]

I can tell you all the best way to make sure your dog is 100% trained to the underground fence!

You have to spend at least 2 weeks training your dog where the boundries of the fence are with a lower setting(at least 15-30 minutes a day). At the end of the second week ask a neighbor or freind that owns a dog (one preferably your dog has never met or doesn't like) and have them walk around the outside perimeter with the strange dog. With your dog, put it on a strong 15' leash and give the dog enough rope to get into the signal field and see how the dog responds pulling the dog back into the yard when it gets the shock and praising when it comes back on its own.

If the dog pays no mind to the shock, bump it up to the next setting (oh yeah, never let go of the leash or let the dogs mingle). Move around the perimeter letting the dog feel that it's uncomfortable everywhere they bump into it.

Once the dog gives up, give it a break for 10 minutes and play ball(still being on leash). Bring the other dog into the yard and let them interact/mingle and then lead the strange dog out of the perimeter to see if the dog in training will fallow. If not, you are pretty well set minus some supervision for the next few days.

On the other hand if the dog follows the strange dog out and is willing to do this more then once turn up the collar until said dog quits(light em up if you have to, a few volts is less painful than 4 tires in the road).

This will work if you're patient, every dog has a different learning curve. In general, dogs who run through fences do so because they are unsure of where there boundries are.