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Contributor
Posts: 69
Registered: ‎04-03-2010

Anybody use electronic fencing to contain their dog? I have a beautiful fenced in back yard but one of our dogs, Lola, jumps the fence, terrorizes the neighborhood and won't come home. I must leash walk her now, but I wish she could get better exercise playing in the yard. I am considering electronic fencing, the kind that you bury or I may just run it along the bottom of the fence. I am thinking that it may be helpful since Lola is very clever and will learn quickly. Maybe she will only require a couple of shocks to get the message. Anybody want to share their experience with this?

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Posts: 25,929
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

We installed one and the first day I took the dog out with the collar set at the high setting because she was a large dog and that was what the instructions said. Well, she got shocked twice and after that refused to go back out. I called the trainer and he said I would have to take the collar off a few days and try again. What we ultimately found was we only needed to set it at the lowest setting and set the warning beep at 6 ft. So after that when she would hear the beep she would stop flat so she was not getting shocked again. We did have a issue with a neighbor kid who thought it was great fun to grab the dog and drag her or call her over the line so she would get shocked and yelp. When her dad noticed this he took the collar and put it against her arm and made her walk over the line and get the shock - that ended that.Our dog quickly became border trained by the beeps and we stopped putting the collar on her.The folks who bought our house are using it now though.

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Posts: 21,845
Registered: ‎10-03-2011

Knowing our dog's disposition (wants everyone he sees to be his friend) and his predisposition to chase and run (has a little history of that before we got him), I thought we would need an electronic fence. Talking DH into it was a different story. He wasn't about to spend that kind of money, especially after he saw how trainable our dog is. We opted for a collar and hand transmitter. It's been an effective tool for us. We've used it a couple of times in the house, to end undesirable habits/behaviors and were amazed at how well it worked, and how quickly he learned (after we tried other methods for a couple of months and were unsuccessful). Outdoors, we boundary trained him with a leash. Then, using the e-collar and transmitter, we were able to reinforce it when he was off leash and tempted to go beyond our yard, to chase something, greet guests or deliverymen, etc. After just a few times, using the transmitter on a low to moderate setting, he has learned not to chase anything beyond the property line. Even if he sees a squirrel in the neighbor's yard, he stays home. Because he learned so quickly, I was glad we only spent the $250 or so on the collar kit rather than over $1,000 to do the fence. If you're interested in checking out e-collars, take a look at the Dogtra website. It was recommended to us by our trainer, who is a professional that trains German Shepherds for competitions and police K-9 units.

One thing that needs to be mentioned....used correctly, with an accompanying verbal command and praise for doing it right, most dogs will learn quickly. Using them incorrectly, randomly zapping the dog for every little thing, and w/o the verbal, w/o the praise for correct behavior, IMO that's when it turns into abuse because the owner-operator is just letting out their frustration and not really training the dog. Used appropriately, it won't be a very long time that the collar needs to be used.

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Posts: 4,148
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

I would never use them. Your dog may not leave the yard but that will not prevent other animals from coming in the yard. I think dogs should have a secured fenced yard. I think the better solution would be to worth with her to not jump the fence you currently have.

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On 7/7/2014 RedConvertibleGirl said:

I would never use them. Your dog may not leave the yard but that will not prevent other animals from coming in the yard. I think dogs should have a secured fenced yard. I think the better solution would be to worth with her to not jump the fence you currently have.

Some housing developments, subdivisions, whatever you want to call them, don't allow for fenced yards unless the homeowner has a pool.

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Posts: 69
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On 7/7/2014 RedConvertibleGirl said:

I would never use them. Your dog may not leave the yard but that will not prevent other animals from coming in the yard. I think dogs should have a secured fenced yard. I think the better solution would be to worth with her to not jump the fence you currently have.

My yard is fenced in completely so no other dog can come in--unless it jumps over the fence to get in!! After reading the other posts, I think it would be wise to use
the collar and hand transmitter and work with her on not jumping the fence. It is critical that she does not go over the fence because she wont come back and she may terrorize a child or another dog.

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Posts: 4,148
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On 7/7/2014 JeanLouiseFinch said:
On 7/7/2014 RedConvertibleGirl said:

I would never use them. Your dog may not leave the yard but that will not prevent other animals from coming in the yard. I think dogs should have a secured fenced yard. I think the better solution would be to worth with her to not jump the fence you currently have.

Some housing developments, subdivisions, whatever you want to call them, don't allow for fenced yards unless the homeowner has a pool.

Then I would either only take my dog out on a leash, or I wouldn't have a dog. I lived in a town home without a fence and my dog only went out on a leash. We then bought a house for her with a fenced yard. I think there are too many negatives with invisible fences.

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Posts: 69
Registered: ‎04-03-2010
On 7/7/2014 JeanLouiseFinch said:

Knowing our dog's disposition (wants everyone he sees to be his friend) and his predisposition to chase and run (has a little history of that before we got him), I thought we would need an electronic fence. Talking DH into it was a different story. He wasn't about to spend that kind of money, especially after he saw how trainable our dog is. We opted for a collar and hand transmitter. It's been an effective tool for us. We've used it a couple of times in the house, to end undesirable habits/behaviors and were amazed at how well it worked, and how quickly he learned (after we tried other methods for a couple of weeks and were unsuccessful). Outdoors, we boundary trained him with a leash. Then, using the e-collar and transmitter, we were able to reinforce it when he was off leash and tempted to go beyond our yard, to chase something, greet guests or deliverymen, etc. After just a few times, using the transmitter on a low to moderate setting, he has learned not to chase anything beyond the property line. Even if he sees a squirrel in the neighbor's yard, he stays home. Because he learned so quickly, I was glad we only spent the $250 or so on the collar kit rather than over $1,000 to do the fence. If you're interested in checking out e-collars, take a look at the Dogtra website. It was recommended to us by our trainer, who is a professional that trains German Shepherds for competitions and police K-9 units.

One thing that needs to be mentioned....used correctly, with an accompanying verbal command and praise for doing it right, most dogs will learn quickly. Using them incorrectly, randomly zapping the dog for every little thing, and w/o the verbal, w/o the praise for correct behavior, IMO that's when it turns into abuse because the owner-operator is just letting out their frustration and not really training the dog. Used appropriately, it won't be a very long time that the collar needs to be used.


Thanks so much for this suggestion - I think it may be the perfect solution. This way, at least we will be able to play with her in the yard and let her get some exercise and train her not to jump the fence. I may not be able to leave her out there alone though.

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Posts: 21,845
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On 7/7/2014 bozismydog said:
On 7/7/2014 JeanLouiseFinch said:

Knowing our dog's disposition (wants everyone he sees to be his friend) and his predisposition to chase and run (has a little history of that before we got him), I thought we would need an electronic fence. Talking DH into it was a different story. He wasn't about to spend that kind of money, especially after he saw how trainable our dog is. We opted for a collar and hand transmitter. It's been an effective tool for us. We've used it a couple of times in the house, to end undesirable habits/behaviors and were amazed at how well it worked, and how quickly he learned (after we tried other methods for a couple of months and were unsuccessful). Outdoors, we boundary trained him with a leash. Then, using the e-collar and transmitter, we were able to reinforce it when he was off leash and tempted to go beyond our yard, to chase something, greet guests or deliverymen, etc. After just a few times, using the transmitter on a low to moderate setting, he has learned not to chase anything beyond the property line. Even if he sees a squirrel in the neighbor's yard, he stays home. Because he learned so quickly, I was glad we only spent the $250 or so on the collar kit rather than over $1,000 to do the fence. If you're interested in checking out e-collars, take a look at the Dogtra website. It was recommended to us by our trainer, who is a professional that trains German Shepherds for competitions and police K-9 units.

One thing that needs to be mentioned....used correctly, with an accompanying verbal command and praise for doing it right, most dogs will learn quickly. Using them incorrectly, randomly zapping the dog for every little thing, and w/o the verbal, w/o the praise for correct behavior, IMO that's when it turns into abuse because the owner-operator is just letting out their frustration and not really training the dog. Used appropriately, it won't be a very long time that the collar needs to be used.


Thanks so much for this suggestion - I think it may be the perfect solution. This way, at least we will be able to play with her in the yard and let her get some exercise and train her not to jump the fence. I may not be able to leave her out there alone though.

That's right. I don't ever leave our boy out alone unless I'm just going in the kitchen for a second and then right back out there. IMO, they shouldn't be outside very long in this weather anyway. I don't know what the weather is like by you, but when it's pleasant to us our dog can get hot fast. Imagine if we had to sit there with a fur coat on.

Contributor
Posts: 69
Registered: ‎04-03-2010
On 7/7/2014 RedConvertibleGirl said:
On 7/7/2014 JeanLouiseFinch said:
On 7/7/2014 RedConvertibleGirl said:

I would never use them. Your dog may not leave the yard but that will not prevent other animals from coming in the yard. I think dogs should have a secured fenced yard. I think the better solution would be to worth with her to not jump the fence you currently have.

Some housing developments, subdivisions, whatever you want to call them, don't allow for fenced yards unless the homeowner has a pool.

Then I would either only take my dog out on a leash, or I wouldn't have a dog. I lived in a town home without a fence and my dog only went out on a leash. We then bought a house for her with a fenced yard. I think there are too many negatives with invisible fences.


I finished fencing in the yard so Lola would be able to play outside safely. I never dreamed she would jump the fence. She is not very tall so we were very surprised. My neighbor has a huge yellow lab and he does not jump the fence. So right now I do leash walk her. I already have the dog so I must find a workable solution. I want to be able to let her play ball and Frisbee in the yard and get some good exercise which she is not getting on the leash. I am definitely going to use the e-collar and hand transmitter and after a few attempts of jumping the fence, I think she will learn quickly and just enjoy her playtime in the yard as well as her walks on the leash.