Invisible Fence

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benelli
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Invisible Fence

Post by benelli » Wed May 04, 2016 12:11 pm

Does anybody have any experience with an invisible fence? Lately we've been having problems with our dog (4 year old intact GSP) getting out of the yard/house. We almost never had this problem before moving into this house about two months ago, but we spend a lot more time in the front yard now, and we have small kids and sometimes they accidentally leave a door open, and the dog is always looking for a way out so he can have some fun.

We've trained him for an e-collar, but that doesn't do us much good if he disappears before we notice he's gone, since he could be a mile away in any direction. An invisible fence is my first idea of what to do, but if anybody else has suggestions, I'm open to ideas. Or if an invisible fence would be a good option, does anybody have suggestions on brands or types? Approximate cost for a medium-sized yard?

Thanks!

shags
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Re: Invisible Fence

Post by shags » Wed May 04, 2016 12:47 pm

We considered it, but didn't go with it based on experiences of folks we know that have them.
Dogs can run through them if the temptation is big enough. And it could be a while before you realize the dog is gone because you've previously trusted the fence to keep him in.
You have to think about keeping the collar charged/batteried. What if it slips your mind?
Invisible fence may keep your dog in, but it won't keep other dogs or critters out. Roaming dogs might be a problem for your kids and your dog.

Other folks have used invisible fence with good results, but it was not right for our situation. We fenced the side yard with no-climb horse fencing and added post-and-board to the front portion for looks. The wire only part isn't fancy but looks acceptable because the t-posts are painted and the fencing is tight. We know our dogs are always secure in their yard, and can leave them out for as long and whenever we wish. They can run loose in the front yard when we are right there with them.

A side note, keep your eye on that dog....one of mine got away from our trainer and a do-gooder picked him up and intended to take him to the local shelter - where they neuter first, call owners later. Luckily we were able to intercept the guy and get the dog back. Scary!

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pooch897
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Invisible Fence

Post by pooch897 » Wed May 04, 2016 3:55 pm

I have one for my Brittany. It's great. I live in a small neighborhood with tons of people walking dogs, tons of deer and birds. I love the fact that he can get a ton more exercise than just walks alone. It's not 100% as mentioned with the battery's and collar issues. I had a collar go bad this winter and he came down the street where I was plowing snow. But I make it a habit to check the collar as often as I think of it. He has never crossed besides that day. I have the YardMax fence with rechargeable battery that lasts over 2 months.


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CWT
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Re: Invisible Fence

Post by CWT » Thu May 05, 2016 7:51 am

We loved ours with the labs and other dogs. They have all gone to the dog kennel in the sky. I don't feel comfortable using it with our GSP's.

kstater
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Re: Invisible Fence

Post by kstater » Thu May 05, 2016 8:45 am

We tried a buried wire fence but my pup would get a run at it and go right through it. Switched to a wireless fence that throws an FM signal in a radius. If the collar does not sense the signal she gets a vibration or shock depending on how you set it up. Prevents them from running through it and sets up in just a few minutes. The pet safe - stay n play model has a rechargeable collar that we charge overnight about 1 night each week. Wouldn't work as well if you had an odd area you wanted to keep the dog in.

nwnick
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Re: Invisible Fence

Post by nwnick » Thu Jun 09, 2016 9:50 pm

We use one to keep our GSP and our Golden close by.
The only issue we've had is when we replaced a collar we didn't coordinate it to the base unit figuring it would work as soon as we put the battery in. The golden figured it out and ended up at the neighbors. Our GSP stayed put.
Otherwise we couldn't be happier with the unit.
We live ona an acre and a quarter but it gives them plenty of room to roam
One suggestion I might offer up is to order up some of the collar tags that have your contact info on it and attach one to each of the wireless fence shock collars....just in case the battery goes dead or you have a stubborn dog who can blow thru the barrier

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Tooling
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Re: Invisible Fence

Post by Tooling » Fri Jun 10, 2016 4:02 am

We have a good bit of experience w/them.

They work great but they are not an end all be all solution for every situation.

What I mean by that is there are many variables toward success and all dogs are different.

As with just about anything else the successful use of one is primarily rooted in the owners and how the dog is trained or raised...common sense still applies.

We don't leave the dog out unattended for appreciable periods of time and generally always have an idea where he is on the property however we're not on him like a hawk either so he does have the autonomy to just be a dog doing what it is dogs do. Luckily, we live in the country.

The best analogy I can come up with would be the parents who buy their kid a video game system or tv for their bedroom and consider that a babysitter which frees the parent to do whatever it is they please. (JMO of course but that's not exactly the way to raise a child).

I would guess that the systems have improved since we first began using them nearly 20 years ago..at that time the cheaper systems were not very good at all so we paid the bucks for the Invisible Fence brand which supposedly is the best system but again, there likely is improved (and cheaper) competition out there.

--> Edited to add

Here's another way to look at it coming from a long time user.

Although this wouldn't happen..if I took off to go somewhere and left my dog out or even thought I might have left the dog outside - I would stop everything I was doing immediately and rush back to the place to put him in.

They're good but not in that sort of way and they will not keep other critters out.

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tnbndr
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Re: Invisible Fence

Post by tnbndr » Wed Jul 27, 2016 6:14 pm

I have one for two GSP's and it works great. Took about a month with each to train where I was comfortable. I can leave them out alone in a city lot and they won't leave, even to chase critters.
I would stay away from the Invisible Fence brand, there are others, I had trouble with them and they wouldn't honor a lifetime warranty after franchise went under. Switched over to Dog Watch. Same wire just different collars and unit.

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