Anybody know anything about wireless dog fences?

[zac]

The time has come to contain my dog. He can't be a house dog, but he can't run buck wild anymore outside. I have about 3 acres that I would like for him to stay in, but so far the largest radius wireless transmitter that I can find is 90 FEET. I want my pooch to have more than 180 feet to play in. Thoughts? Suggestions? A fence is out of the question & a chain dosent work for me & burying a wire for the wired systems would be a major undertaking.

thanks folks
zac

 

[MikeFlynn74]

what kind of dog is it?

 

[zac]

Sorry bout that, Buddy is an 80 lb Black & tan dog. He minds me great, but when i'm gone.. he dosen't listen to the wifey very well.... I'm gone about 5 months out of the year....

 

[Fusorfodder]

True story here about the invisible fences.

Some years ago when I was in high school, I was pulling up in my friend's driveway. As I did so, his 2 dogs(a lab, and a German shepherd) ran up and started chasing alongside my car. I noticed how one of the dogs had a black band around roughly the waist of the dog, just in front of the rear legs. Since I had never seen anything like that before I asked my friend what was up with it. Well, my friend's dad put in an invisible fence because there was a busy road next to the house and the dogs liked to chase cars. He put the collars on the dogs, and the next time a car came by, sure enough the dogs were chasing it. The lab stopped abruptly and ran back in the safe area when encountering the boundary, but the shepherd kept running, ignoring the jolt coming from the collar. So, my friend's dad gets a hold of the shepherd, and turns the collar up to maximum and lets them go again. Another car comes, and again the dogs run out. The lab stops before the fence, and the shepherd stops for a moment outside the fence, but then keeps going. The dog is completely ignoring the highest setting on the collar. Fed up, my friend's dad takes the collar and straps it around the sheperd's genitals, leaving it on the maximum setting. Another car, and of course the dogs go after it. This time as my friend tells it, the shepherd lets out the most painful howl and drags himself back over the fence line whimpering.

My friend told me the German shepherd never crossed the invisible fence line again.


Sorry if it doesn't help you, but it reminded me of that, and I think it's way too good of a story not to share =D

 

[Arneba28]

Installing the wire fence in the ground is honestly not that bad but it is a days undertaking. When I lived at home we put one in for out shepard. We had 2.5 acres that we wanted to perimeter with the fence. It took two of us a day to put in. Once its in though there were no problems except the tree that fell on the line and cut it in a storm. We just used butt connectors and it was fixed and working again. The most major part of it is training the dog that he has to stay in. That took about 3 days, a few hours a day.

 

[BuffaloSabresBrewer]

Thats hilarious!

 

[Mutilated1]

Get one of those pet safe fences with the transmitter so you don't have to bury the wire. If you want to have more than 180 foot diameter for the dog to run in, you can always get an extra transmitter and space them apart.

They work wonders.

We have a german sheppard, and some of our neighbors have little dogs. Well she got lose one time and got in a fight with a little dog so I ended up having to pay its vet bill. Then a few months later she got lose and got in a fight with another little dog and its owner took me to court so I ended up with yet another vet bill.

We got one of those Pet Safe wireless fences because my sister got one for her dog and it worked really well. It took just minutes to set up, and we never even had to attempt to train the dog or anything - just put the collar on the dog and turn it on.

The first few days we had it though, the dog didn't want to get off the front porch. It took a while for the dog to realize it could go out into the yard, it just couldn't go running off. Now its been about a year since we had it, and I don't think it even has to be turned on anymore - the dog won't even try to leave the yard and run around the neighborhood.

 

[zac]

Mulitated (or anybody else):

Do ya'll know of any brand that offers more than 180' diameter circles? I'd have to pony up for at least 3 if not 4 transmitters to cover my whole lot. Thats a lot of money. Also what happens when the power goes out? Does the dog continue to get shocked until it comes back on? Is the same true for the in ground systems or does the system just not work when the juice is off?

thanks
zac

 

[Mutilated1]

I don't know of any brand other than PetSafe. But if the power goes off, the dog doesn't get shocked - the system doesnt work, but after the first few days you can turn it off anyway - the dog will be trained by then.

I dont know what to tell you about the inground systems, but you might consider one of those because you don't have to put the wire in the ground. Just run it above ground around where you want the dog to stay, put the flags up, put the collar on the dog and you're done. Once the dog is trained, you can sell the damned thing on eBay if you want to - it doesnt have to be permanent.

 

[brauhaus]

i think you may need to bite the bullet and invest in a fence, 3 acres is quite a large piece of land to mess around with wireless transmitters....

that or you might have to settle for a chain, or 90ft of wirelessness if the pooch won't listen to your wife.

 

[zac]

Mulitated, I bit the bullet & called to company to ask a few questions, they're only open the standard business day, so I guess this will wait till monday. WIth the 90' radius of the wireless transmitters, i'd need a minimum of 5 to give Buddy the room I'd like to see him have, then I'm looking at about a grand worth of crap. Unless PetSafe can come up with a wireless device that will go over 180'.. i'm thinking of getting the "professional" (expensive) wire & just running it on top of the ground & see what happens. I can swallow 300 for the system, but a 1K seems a little excessive.

BraeHuas, a fence is entirely out of the question. I have tractors through the lot all the time, trucks with trailors, already got enough crap to mow around, a fence just isn't going to work at all. Wonder if I could get 2 collars & have one one the wife? I bet that would go over well.

thanks again guys.
z

 

[MikeFlynn74]

Never used a wireless dog before?

 

[MA_Brewer]

All I can offer is, I have the wired invisible fence for my pup, and it works great. We even just installed a doggie door for her so we can be even more lazy...Ha!

 

[Bernie Brewer]

You can rent a dog fence trencher that will dig a shallow trench, lay the wire, and backfill the dirt all in one pass. Seems to me that this is your best bet.

 

[Homercidal]

+1 on the trencher. My father-in-law installed one using a rented trencher and it worked pretty good. I don't have a large yard (1/2 acre) and he still recommended I use one by the hour. His dogs got trained real quick and don't even test the fence anymore. My friend had one years back and once in a while his dog would run through it and go on a long walk.

 

[farmbrewernw]

+1 on the invisible wired fence, I don't even have to put the collar on my dog anymore.

 

[CBBaron]

+1 on the invisible wired fence, I don't even have to put the collar on my dog anymore.

Thats the nice thing about an intelligent pet. They can be trained.

We had cows growing up and used an electric fence to keep them in the pasture in addition to a couple strands of barbed wire. Every time the power went out or a branch would short the wire the beasts would be out. They would constantly try to reach the "greener" grass on the other side of the fence, if they didn't get shocked they'd push harder until something gave out. No such thing as training them to stay in.

For OP. Your dog doesn't have to have the run of the entire property. If you insist on doing that then a wire is probably the better solution. Either way you will need to be consistent when you are home as well as when your wife is alone or the dog won't learn to respect the boundaries.

Craig

 

[Philip1993]

I have the wireless and I love it. The range can be an issue, but not in my case.

The wireless have one BIG advantage. They keep shocking until the dog comes back. Not true of the wired variety. Not sure why, but that's the deal.

If you have a large property, consider NOT burying the wire. I have friend that did that and it worked fine. Once or twice a year, he'd clip it with the mower, but it was an easy fix since it's not buried. You can also lay it out, pour sand, and let the grass grow over it. Or, you can rent/buy an edger and dig a nice 1" x 1/4" trench wherever you want.

Installation issues aside, they work great.

 

[zac]

Update:

Ordered a fence & enough wire to circle the place.... Its supposed to be here today, so wish me luck, bet ya'll cant guess what im doing over the holiday weekend?
Zac

 

[shecky]

I did my own wired fence, granted just over 1/2 acre but it only took a few hours. That was six years ago now. It's really worth the money if you don't want to put in the time. My chocolate lab has the fence and a dog door. He comes and goes as he pleases.

One problem: my dog is too smart. He has figured out how to toe the line with the fence just enough to run the batteries in the receiver down but not enough to get zapped. Sneaky little bugger.

 

[Brooklyn-Brewtality]

depends on the dog though. there is no reason to even bother depending on the dog's coat. My husky would never feel anything through his thick fur. I have heard stories with thick-haired dogs where they never felt the shock, and ended up starting a fire in their coat from all the heavy shocks

 

[shecky]

depends on the dog though. there is no reason to even bother depending on the dog's coat. My husky would never feel anything through his thick fur. I have heard stories with thick-haired dogs where they never felt the shock, and ended up starting a fire in their coat from all the heavy shocks

You can get receivers with longer prongs that reach through the fur and touch the skin. My brother has one for his Samoyed.

 

[Matt_D]

possibly doing the same thing this wonderful weekend

 

[Philip1993]

One problem: my dog is too smart. He has figured out how to toe the line with the fence just enough to run the batteries in the receiver down but not enough to get zapped. Sneaky little bugger.

That has been fixed in the wireless version. He gets to walk up to the boundary line all he wants. But hang out there for more than 3-5 seconds and you get popped anyway just to keep them guessing where the line is.

As for the batteries, go to a craft store and look for them (CR2032 usually). They are used for battery operated tea lights and go for $1.99 for eight (vs. ~$3.99/pr). We change ours monthly whether it needs it or not.

depends on the dog though. there is no reason to even bother depending on the dog's coat. My husky would never feel anything through his thick fur. I have heard stories with thick-haired dogs where they never felt the shock, and ended up starting a fire in their coat from all the heavy shocks

I will grant you that long coats can be a problem, but I call BS on the stories of fire and heavy shocks. While the voltage/frequency is very high and painful, the current is minuscule.

 

[shecky]

That has been fixed in the wireless version. He gets to walk up to the boundary line all he wants. But hang out there for more than 3-5 seconds and you get popped anyway just to keep them guessing where the line is.

As for the batteries, go to a craft store and look for them (CR2032 usually). They are used for battery operated tea lights and go for $1.99 for eight (vs. ~$3.99/pr). We change ours monthly whether it needs it or not.

Yeah, I've got a stash of batteries on hand. My fence has the same thing, but he hangs out enough to hear a couple of warning beeps then backs off. He roams the perimeter of the yard doing this for long periods of time, at least those when he's not under the deck sleeping.

 

[will_cbe]

Nope. Know anything about Coleman stoves?

 

[Philip1993]

He hangs out enough to hear a couple of warning beeps then backs off. He roams the perimeter of the yard doing this for long periods of time

The wireless logic is designed to defeat that problem. Too many beeps in a certain period of time and he gets popped for trying...

 

[shecky]

The wireless logic is designed to defeat that problem. Too many beeps in a certain period of time and he gets popped for trying...

Heh, it's no biggie. He's quite popular in the neighborhood for entertainment purposes. He hasn't escaped yet in six years. I don't think he's going anywhere.

 

[zac]

Ok, Fence has been up a month. Doggy made it outside once. Collar did not shock when I brought it back over the line, checked the control box, everything seemed fine, re-checked the boundry & the collar beeped/shocked.

Dog won't come greet me in the driveway anymore b/c the boundry is close, but by and large the wireless fence was a great investment.

Only 1 side of my yard is actually mowed, so I just laid the wire on top of the ground, no troubles, no worries & I figure by the next time I mow, it'll be buried.

Happy pet-safe customer here.

z

 

[HBHoss]

Ok, Fence has been up a month. Doggy made it outside once. Collar did not shock when I brought it back over the line, checked the control box, everything seemed fine, re-checked the boundry & the collar beeped/shocked.

Dog won't come greet me in the driveway anymore b/c the boundry is close, but by and large the wireless fence was a great investment.

Only 1 side of my yard is actually mowed, so I just laid the wire on top of the ground, no troubles, no worries & I figure by the next time I mow, it'll be buried.

Happy pet-safe customer here.

z

Good to hear. The local deputy dog catcher person told me those fences were good except sometimes the dog can get out then can't get back in because they get shocked when they try. Doesn't sound like an issue with other posters though.

 

[zac]

For now, the good thing is I know where he goes & the folks that live there don't mind, in fact they'd like to keep him. Thats what the fence is for.

Another neighbor said he watched him the first day he was outside with the fence alone. He'd do a lap around the house, take a bigger lap, get zapped, start lapping again till he got zapped elsewhere. Poor guy. I feel sorry for him not being able to roam like he did, but geez, gotta protcet the family pet!

Zac

 

[Philip1993]

Ok, Fence has been up a month. Doggy made it outside once. Collar did not shock when I brought it back over the line, checked the control box, everything seemed fine, re-checked the boundry & the collar beeped/shocked.

That is normal. The collar shocks at intervals while outside the line, but stops on re-entry. That's to encourage them to come home....

 

[zac]

The wired in ground system shocks while outside the perimeter? Dog was outside of it (I assume) all day long. The guy he was with said he wasn't getting shocked at intervals. He even tried to coax him back across the line & dog wouldn't go. Are you thinking about totally wireless systems?

 

[Philip1993]

The wired in ground system shocks while outside the perimeter? Dog was outside of it (I assume) all day long. The guy he was with said he wasn't getting shocked at intervals. He even tried to coax him back across the line & dog wouldn't go. Are you thinking about totally wireless systems?

Aren't we talking about wireless systems?!? In any case, the wireless shocks outside, the wired does not.

 

[Donasay]

You should look into Innotek, innotek.net. They make a great product that my parents use, it is a combination invisible fence shock collar and training shock collar . The invisible fence shocks the dog when she gets too close to the property line, it also has a hand held transmitter that lets you press a button and shock the down when the dog is doing something bad. As the fence system only shocks when the dog gets close to the property line, once you are away from the house you can use the hand held transmitter with the buttons to administer shocks for training purposes. This allows you to give them a command in the middle of the woods and have them follow it or suffer the consequences....

 

[zac]

Monthly update:

Dog is returing to a normal life inside the fence. He knows where the boundry is, and hasn't tested that I'm aware of in a month. He's happy to see us when we come home, he just doesn't run right up to the vehicles.

All in all, satisfied customer.

Now if I could just keep the neighbors dog from coming onto my property & eating Buddy's food. Can't proove it, but I know its happening.