I agree that kenneling is the best and safest way to insure your dog has a long and happy life. My lab is 9 and has spent her entire life either with me or in my fenced yard. My brother has had tremendous success with his dog using "invisible fence". He followed the whole program to the letter and his dog won't even get close to the boundary (even with the dummy collar on). I would not use one myself because I have way too much invested in my dog to trust a buried wire and a battery.

That's exactly the problem with the electric fences. If the dog gets up enough speed they are through the shock zone pretty quick and away they go. They are OK for keeping super lazy, older dogs from following their nose off over the horizon, but any active dog can break out of the shock area with a good enough reason.

Personally I feel an underground fence is a waste of money. They will work in some dogs (especially if you start the training at a young age), but in a lot of cases, your dogs learns too get by it very quickly.

If you want your dog to run loose AND want him to stay in the yard, better look into building a fence. Like others on here, there is nothing wrong with kenneling your dog as long as they get their share of "active" time.

If you absolutely don't want to use a kennel, use a zip line. You can attach a zipline to two posts or trees or and have a the clipped on with a harness. He can run up and down all day long but not to the left or right. I have a friend who does it. I still say use a kennel, though....probably safer.