In-ground dog fence, advise please

[usregimechange]

I know completely nothing about them but my wife wants to get one. Any experiences? Does it work, is it inhumane? etc

[Scuba]

1. I've had one for five years....

... circles my one-acre lot. Burying it was a pain in the, er, it was a pain, but it works great.

For the first month or so, the owner uses closely spaced (~10 feet) little flags to make the demarcation line clear for the dog. Work your dog in your yard, then quickly call her away if she approaches the line. After that, remove the flags gradually. Your dog(s) will remember where the line is.

I haven't actually turned my fence on or put the collars on the mutts for a couple years; they know where to stop.

As for the humane part, this was a big deal to me. The unit I bought provide a warning beep as the dog nears the line, then a gentle tingle, then a stronger one, then a shock. I shocked myself several times with the batteries fully charged to assure myself it was not abusive.

All dogs are different of course, your mileage may vary.

[usregimechange]

2. thanks, that helps

[Scuba]

3. I added a bit on edit.

[trof]

4. But once the dog gets out, it ain't coming back in.

A neighbor has one for a couple of Spitzes.
The sight of a squirrel or rabbit across the street is TOO much for them.
They'll suffer the momentary pain and charge.

They never catch the prey.
But now they're out and the 'fence' works both ways.
Unless they see a critter in THEIR yard they stay out.
They usually hang out at our house until the owner comes to fetch them when I call him.

"Hi Charlie. Romulus and Remus are here."
"Thanks. I'll come get 'em."

[HopeHoops]

11. Romulus and Remus - GREAT names!!!

[triguy46]

5. Seems to next door

Neighbors have it around 1-2 acres of their property and it keeps their 2 labs and lab mix in without exception.
They come to about 3 feet from the edge when our cat goes by. They don't chase. They mentioned that training the dogs to the fence is the critical process.

[yawnmaster]

6. My brother-in laws wife wanted him to get one, too. And they did...

He told me that the collar itches once in a while, and sometimes his wife forgets to turn it off when they leave the house, and he gets zapped.
He said he thinks she does it on purpose sometimes.
All in all, though, it does keep my brother in law from wandering.

[erinlough]

7. It worked for one of my dogs...

but the other one became almost paranoid and very nervous, even though the collar was set to vibrate only. I finally just fenced in part of the back yard and I walk them out further. Some dogs just can't take it I guess.

[undeterred]

8. funny story

I met a guy at the dog park who bought his first house and put in one of those fences. He had a young boxer and he wanted the dog to be able to stay outside all day while he was gone and the weather was nice. When he came home at night the dog was always lying on the front step, exhausted.

So one day they guy comes home and the dog isn't there. He goes inside and there is a message on his voice mail from a woman who he vaguely knows from the dog park. She says she has the dog. In fact she's seen the dog at the park unsupervised almost every day for the last month. She's wondering what the heck is going on.

The dog park is 3 miles from his house, but apparently the boxers been making his way across town to the dog park on a regular basis while he was away at work.

Apparently he thought the shocks were a small price to pay for his freedom to do as he pleased all day.

And the owner didn't realize that you have to train the dog... putting in the fence is not enough.

[HopeHoops]

12. Now that IS funny!

[Walk away]

9. It depends on the dog. If you have Retreviers or other easy dogs to train....

it's cheaper and safer to actually train them to stay on your property. Of course that takes time and effort. I work with a lot of Cairn Terriers and most have no problem passing the shock barrier to chase their prey. My Henry would never let an electric fence deter him but he is trained to stop at my walk and has only once broke his training in twelve years.

[HopeHoops]

10. Two of my neighbors have them. We don't. There are pro's and con's.

One of the positive aspects is that once they are trained, they don't really need the collar buzzer anymore. The negative side of that is that they won't leave the yard when you call, like if you want to visit with a neighbor's dog.

In a serious or adrenaline-filled situation, they'll run right through the wire and are on the other side before they know what hit them. Face it, dogs are fast. In play, they won't, so if you toss the ball or frizbee too close to the line, you'll be going to retrieve it, not the dog.

The ones I've know who are electric-fence trained generally (not always) are hell to manage on a leash. We used leashes and voice training with our dogs (walking the perimeter for example) and nobody can tell that we don't have an electric fence. They respond instantly and don't pull on a leash when we use one. Most of the time they just sit out in the yard while we're working. They also don't run away. We find a lot of dogs running loose and I can easily say that most of them have collar boxes - AND NO DAMN IDENTIFICATION TAGS!!!

I don't consider them cruel in any way. They give proximity warning signals before the zapper point and most dogs adapt to that very quickly. It's primarily a manner of how you plan to interact with the dog outside. Our two are herders. They love long runs (into neighbors' yards) to get balls and other thrown objects. They love to chase the bunnies out of the garden and half an acre away. They couldn't do that with the collars. The Australian shepherd behind us is perfectly happy with his fence and the black lab next door is fine with it too. Think about it, but either approach is fine. Not using one takes more work, but I'm happy with the results we got.

Then there's the physical fence. The golden retriever down the street doesn't have an electric one, just wooden, and she excels at escaping from it. Our house is always her first destination. She listens to me, but when she arrives she rolls over onto her back and pisses herself - every damn time. She'll heel for me on a leash, but the family that owns her just drags her around and treats her like an idiot. They love her, but they just can't understand that the dog DOES have intelligence. She's also a major cuddle (except for the pee part).