i am looking at getting an invisible fence for my lab. i would like to know if they really work. i liveonrented ground so i cant put up a standard above ground fence. whats the difference between the cheaper ones and the more expensive ones? does it hurt the dog? dont know much about them. any information would be appreciated.

There are lots of opinions to the pros and cons in the dog world, I have heard good and bad about the fences. Good: keeps the dog in area, where you want him, Bad: if he or she gets out, and or over runs the fence, the fence will still be hot on the dog, take the reciever of its neck before recrossing. The only other thing is that I have heard of the recievers sometimes going bad, and shorting out, two different people have had this happen, that I know personally, makes the dog very uncomfortable, and the dogs were in the house when malfunction happened. After that the dog for while would not go in the house, and to the day will not sleep, or walk by the fire place. My self, I would tighten up the obedience, and use regular e-collar, that way I control, what and why. Dog knows what you taught it....now re-enforce when it ignores. Dog can still have free time, but you will be able to re-enforce your work, if you have done it. Thanks Jonesy

thanks jonesy, this is just about what the guy at the pet store told me too. dont want to do anything that could hurt the dog. might look into a e collar instead. thanks again for the info.

I have been using a wireless fence for almost 3 years and it works great. We have the unit on the back porch andthe doghas a radius of 90 feet in all directions.

The collar gives off a beapingsound within about 10 feet of the limit and increases until the limit is reached andthe dig is zapped.Flags are set out so the dog knows exactly where he can and cannot go. He is so used to this setup he refuses to crossareas even with no collar.

He (Ranger Pete) is a 4 yr old Springer Spaniel whoalways wants to go outside,(what Springer doesn't?). That being said, I can only speak for my dog. He is intact, a dominate male, about as active as you would imagine, especially considering he is a Springer but still very sensitive when it comes to being reprimanded. He (usually) obeys very well and loves to be worked. The longer he's outside, the better he likes it.

This fence is a very convenient setup, no wires required and surely keeps my dog within the limits we set. He knows what will happen if he exceed his space and will jump through a hoop of fire to avoid it.

I've used Invisible fences pretty extensively for the better part of the last 10 years. My experience has been pretty positive with them. The only exception was when my female got pretty charged up by a squirrel on the other side of the fence. She was a very headstrong dog and went straight through without a flinch. Once on the other side and convinced she couldn't get the squirrel, she decided to start barking until I came out; took the collar off and carried her back through the area.

After that event, we did a little more training to make sure she got it and I never had another incident.

I never had any problems with the recievers and they were always very good about sending the new battery (biggest expense in getting the fence).


Good luck,

I had one I bought from Cabelas 4 -5 years back .
I trained my lab that a bell on his collar ment he had to stay in the yard and out of the garden ,the collar without a bell ment he can wander .

But he still will not go close to the road .

I forgot to change battery after a year and he still thinks the collar will work .

I gave the unit and the collar away and just use a collar with the bell .

IMO if your dog is properly trained it will the fence will work .

If your dog is bull headed the fence will not work .
I have a freind that bought one , spent LOTS of hours training his dog (a Mutt ) and it will run over the line knowing the shock will only last a few seconds , then it will be free .

Johnch

This is very interesting, so the fences will not work on certain dogs or races but will on more calm dogs. Im sure it will not work on fast dogs, like dobermann wich is fast and just will get the shock for a couple of seconds, what about rottweiler wich is more calm in movement but has a bad temperament when it sees something he doenst like. It would be nice, if people post the races wich will just cross over the fence and the ones that respect it. Im sure the fence will also not work so well on an older dogs, its better if you start the training when he still is young.

I agree with Jonesy about using an eCollar to teach them the boundaries. I needed to train my pup to stay in the yard at my in-laws. He is usually over at their house at least once a week, and needs to lean how to stay in their yard. Luckily the boundary of their yard has some natural features for the dog to recognize. I first took my dog around the yard everytime we were there on leash. We walked the boundary of the yard about 5 times. After a few sessions of this we walked the yard 2 times on lead, and then I let him loose with only a check cord dragging behind. We walked around the boundary, and when he started to go beyond I corrected him with the check cord. We did this a few times and he was really in tune with staying in the boundaries while I was walking near. I then put his eCollar on him and did the same thing, only I stood near the middle of the lawn. I corrected him by voice and shock at the same time. After a few sessions of this, I was able to sit inside the house (thank god because it was winter time and pretty cold) and watch him. I would give him a zap if we went past the boundaries that we had set up. Now I can let him out and don't think twice about him leaving the yard. If another dog comes near their yard or any other distraction, he just sits at the boundary and barks or stares. It only took a total of about 1 month which I thought was pretty good considering we didn't get to work on it but a couple times a week. I am sure if I was trying this same technique at my own house every day he could pick it up in a couple weeks.

On top of what Jonesy stated. I do not like the name of this product they are not fences. A fence not only keeps things in but also out. You still have to worry about dogs coming into your yard starting fights or just plain messing with your dog. If you have a female in heat then very easy acsess. I have witnessed the lab across from work test his boundaries on several occasions. He has crossed the line several times and came on over to work. I will take his collar off and walk him back over the line and put his collar on. When they want something on the other side they go for it.

If you decide to get one then the ones like Jimmy has sounds like it would work best since you rent and would not have to put the wire in the ground and it could easily go with you when you move.

As several have stated good training is worth itweight in gold.

I dont know if it has anything to do with quality or not but if you do consider purchasing an electric fence make sure that it doesn't only correct the dog for a short period of time but instead keeps on correcting the dog until it comes back into the safe zone. My neighbour has a lab and purchased a fence that only corrects for a short amount of time. The dog simply runs through the fence knowing that the correction will only be applied for a short period of time then he is free to rome. I think that the e-collar is the best idea beacuse it can be used in various other training methods as well. It is much more useful as a mutli-purpose traning device then the electric fence.