Invisible Fence Layout Help / Recommendations 300 acre farm

[media310]

We recently moved into a ranch house situated on 300 acres in the mountains of Colorado, the yellow X marks the location of the house. As you can see the only paved road leading to town is directly behind the house, maybe 50 yards or so with traffic moving at 55mph - this worries me. The other direction leading away from the road is wide open backing up to a 13,000 foot mountain. The entire ranch is fenced in for cattle, but my girl could easily get under the barbed wire or jump the old fencing. I believe it is also electrified during cattle season.

So I am thinking of an Invisible fence on the backside of the house along the road seen in the photo above. I'm not as worried about her running up the mountain as I am her chasing something on accident into on coming traffic. To the lookers right of the photo is a sizable river so I think that would hold her in. Thoughts, suggestions, recommendations? I am guessing its 4-5 blocks distance??

I want her to be able to have the freedom this place offers from time to time. There are so many birds on the property, prairie dogs and whatnot that she can entertain herself for hours out there.. I do worry about the coyotes but that's for another post.

[Cajun Casey]

You are asking for a dead dog. An invisible fence will not stop a dog in full pursuit. The whole concept is spatial and visible markers cue them to stay within the boundary. Why do you want your dog to harass gamebirds and self-hunt on trash?

[RoostersMom]

I agree with Cajun totally. I live next to 1,000 acres of conservation ground with no neighbors. My dogs are penned up at all times unless I am out with them - and I'm out with them a lot. I would never think to let them "be off by themselves" all day. They don't need that and it will only cause problems for the dog, the dog will learn to run trash, kill things, and get into all kinds of trouble, not to mention getting knocked up by some rancher's cow dog. A dog doesn't need that kind of freedom at all. It's just like my old pappy used to say "nothing good happens after 11pm." Same with dogs, nothing good happens when they're out of sight for any length of time.

[displaced_texan]

I'm with the first two replies. I see lots of bad things that could come from a dog running unsupervised. Little to no good...

[ezzy333]

This an easy one. Little if any upside and unlimited downside.

Ezzy

[media310]

Appreciate the advise, making me re-consider.. Should I just use an invisible fence to setup a small yard for her then, maybe use one of the old horse corrals? Any suggestions would be great. I'm new to this so go easy.

I have yet to get an eCollar, so are you guys saying I'm not to let my girl run off leash on the property?

[Cajun Casey]

I run my dogs without e-collars, only a Garmin. They are pretty solid on recall, though. The dog should be supervised.

[shags]

The thing with invisible fence, it might keep the dog in, but it won't keep other critters out. Why not fence a portion of the yard with wire no-climb horse fence and then the dog will be safe and secure outdoors when you can't supervise?

I live in a rural area too, and can't count the number of dogs my neighbors have scraped off the road because they wanted the dogs to run free and enjoy the country life. People don't drive these roads expecting a dog to run out in front of them.

My dogs run almost every day, but they go when I'm with them.

[kninebirddog]

The thing with invisible fence, it might keep the dog in, but it won't keep other critters out. Why not fence a portion of the yard with wire no-climb horse fence and then the dog will be safe and secure outdoors when you can't supervise?

I live in a rural area too, and can't count the number of dogs my neighbors have scraped off the road because they wanted the dogs to run free and enjoy the country life. People don't drive these roads expecting a dog to run out in front of them.

My dogs run almost every day, but they go when I'm with them.

I am not a big fan of the invisible fence biggest reason why is it will not stop the neighbors dogs from coming into your yard plus some dogs what they are chasing will be worth that charge through the magic line

Like Shags go with walks with the dog..

I like the e collar so if I see my dog about to get into trouble I can work on them going with me a some what free run with a purpose and be able to redirect them if needed or correct them if needed and not just watch them run off on a screen in my hand

[displaced_texan]

The thing with invisible fence, it might keep the dog in, but it won't keep other critters out. Why not fence a portion of the yard with wire no-climb horse fence and then the dog will be safe and secure outdoors when you can't supervise?

Exactly what I was thinking.

You want to keep other dogs and critters out, and keep yours in. Invisible fence won't do that if they are chasing something.

[media310]

This board rocks!! I had never even heard of wire no-climb horse fence.. Awesome stuff. Just emailed the landlord to see if I can wrap on of the corals out front. There are 2 that are never used. So fingers crossed, otherwise I have been looking for a place with a fenced yard. I love this property but want my girl to be around for the long hall!!

I can't say enough thanks!! Very blessed

[markj]

I use pet safe and did 4 acres, but when I am at work they are in the kennel, well cept for the new pup she is in the house. They will stop right there wit hteh stubborn collars I use, take 9 volt battery not 6 volt. You can take a steak and wave it about, they will not cross that line cats run thru they chase and stop right there cat gets away.

Other dogs can come into the yard altho they dont cause there are not many around my place has dogs. Where you live I would be hesitant leaving them out, preaators and such?

[PrairieGoat]

I agree totally with the other posters regarding the invisible fence.....asking for trouble from many perspectives. Would also take a look at "field fence"; it is generally a bit cheaper than the "no climb horse fence" and just as good at keeping dogs in. Would also not let them roam off leash unless I was out with them....too many critters to run into that wouldn't be in their best interest. I generally don't let mine out of my sight in the mountains around here due to mountain lions.....dog can be dead before he even knows what hit him/her. As one of the other posters suggested would also have them on an ecollar anytime they are outside the fence. I have mine trained to check in with me anytime I beep (using Tritronics) or page (Dogtra) them. In my opinion, this ability to "recall" them out of vocal range (especially in the wind....not that we have any of that in CO!) is one of the most important commands you can teach your dog(s).

[nikegundog]

30+ years of free roaming dogs, never had a problem. I live by a highway now and am thinking about getting an invisible fence for safety reasons for a young dog. As far as harassing game-birds, they are harassed all the time by coyotes, fox, owls and hawks so I consider by dog a non-issue. Maybe I've just been lucky but in my area every farm has one or two dogs and very few if any are kenneled. Yes, dogs in heat are a problem. If I began to have problems with my dogs running I would have them kenneled, however hasn't became a problem yet.

[mcbosco]

I would get a Komondor or Kuvasz to hang with your bird dogs out there. I have a friend in Steamboat and his Komondor has taken on 5 coyotes at once. They can't bite through the cords.

Even fenced, coyotes will get in somehow.

[mm]

Regardless of what you do I have some info to offer. You can invisiable fence off just the road if you want with a double loop system it is possible to do straight lines alone with invivsiable fence. I would IF the road, train the dog to obey that line, at the least and then contain the dogs however you want but at least you can keep them off the road.
mm

[media310]

Got the "green light" from the property owner to install some fencing outside. Appreciate the tip on the field fence!! Will update with photos and results in the next couple weeks..

[MikeAZ]

I agree with everything that was posted but would just like to add: you can make the width of the invisible fence field huge. If you are worried about dogs running through the field and getting past it, just make it really wide, the shock will be going on long enough to get their attention, even if at a full sprint.

[markj]

I used to have the horse fence all around the place, I put a hot wire on the top, one hit of that them dogs never jumped it again.

[PrairieGoat]

I used to have the horse fence all around the place, I put a hot wire on the top, one hit of that them dogs never jumped it again.

Glad you reminded me.....I always run two strands of electric fence wire on the inside of all fences (one about 1 foot off the ground, the other about 1 1/2 feet above that). I connect these to a fairly potent electric fence charger (not the cheap pet model). I want my dogs to have a very healthy respect for the fences and not "test" them for weak spots (digging under or jumping over)....has worked 100% for me, never had an "escapee"!

PS.....I make sure the fence charger is one of the "pulse" models, had a bad experience at my aunt's house with my son when he was about 4 years old "sticking" to a fence run off of one of the cheap pet models that wasn't pulsed.