# Are "invisible fence" systems inhumane to dogs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 28, 2009, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-invisible-fence-systems-inhumane-to-dogs/501220 "2009-06-28T00:29:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-invisible-fence-systems-inhumane-to-dogs/501220/41 "2009-07-01T02:39:07Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Kinda a different spin - when my BIL had an invisible fence installed, they marked it with little flags. _(His yard is fenced, but their dog regularly jumped it. So they had the IF installed to discourage the jumping.)_ He eventually took the flags down, but hung on to them. > > Some time later, he reseeded a portion of his backyard, and used the little flags to demarcate the reseeded area so his kids would stay off it. After a couple of days he realized that his dog habitually avoided the seeded area - it appeared as tho she still associated the flags with the electric fence, even tho they were in a different location/formation. 😛 So…you’re not going to bash in my large-ish dog’s square head with a bat because he barks at you while completely contained within an electrified fence? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-invisible-fence-systems-inhumane-to-dogs/501220/42 "2009-07-01T04:06:34Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > My issue with them is that they are are discourteous to humans. It can be quite disconcerting to have a dog come running towards you barking, with no visible barrier between you. This is especially common when you are walking a dog on a leash. You have no idea where the boundary is behind which you hope the dog will stop. And this is why I have an ACTUAL, PHYSICAL fence between my dogs and people outside their pack. And if I don’t, my dogs are CHAINED. Placing faith in electronics is something I abandoned professionally LONG before it claimed it could control my dogs. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-invisible-fence-systems-inhumane-to-dogs/501220/43 "2009-07-01T13:28:47Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Just that it isn’t an argument against an invisible fence in particular - if any dog escapes his containment when you aren’t looking, the fence isn’t doing that much good. If he got out of a traditional fence, he can get back in. Not an invisible fence. That’s my point. > [@](#): > > I guess the one advantage of a traditional fence is that the dog can come back quickly and show up on your doorstep before you notice he’s missing without getting the shock. He can come back anytime. It doesn’t have to be quickly. And he won’t be shocked when he tries to get back in. > [@](#): > > But from the neighbor’s dog chasing I’ve done, it doesn’t seem like most dogs show back up again quickly. And you can turn off the fence when you notice the dog is gone. And we’re back to square one, making my point again. If you notice he’s gone, sure. I was talking about dogs that were in the yard unobserved. Dogs that went missing _un_noticed. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-invisible-fence-systems-inhumane-to-dogs/501220/44 "2009-07-01T14:10:57Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > So…you’re not going to bash in my large-ish dog’s square head with a bat because he barks at you while completely contained within an electrified fence? IMO you - and many if not most IF owners - are being rude and un-neighborly for focusing on your economics and personal preference, with insufficient consideration for the impact on others. I have no idea what your property is like. If you do have a large lot, I see no need why you must extend your invisible fence to the front yard, not to mention all the way to the street/sidewalk. Again, to do so is IMO selfish and un-neighborly. And I acknowledge that I did not perceive it as a joke when you originally said you derived amusement from your dog rushing up to passers-by. I thought it a dickish thought, and said as much. I’ve had that happen way too many times from the passers-by POV, and I do not find it at all amusing. I have to desire to beat any dog (or person), but if a dog comes charging at me and my dogs, I am certainly prepared to do whatever it takes to minimize the harm it does us. In the past, I have had a dog that I KNEW would never harm anyone - bite 2people on 2 separate occasions. I have no idea what set it off, but I learned that I can never trust ANY dog to act 100% the way I expect/want it to. Someday you may find the same WRT your “100% effective” (except for when it is not :rolleyes:) IF. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-invisible-fence-systems-inhumane-to-dogs/501220/45 "2009-07-01T15:08:04Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > IMO you - and many if not most IF owners - are being rude and un-neighborly for focusing on your economics and personal preference, with insufficient consideration for the impact on others. I have no idea what your property is like. If you do have a large lot, I see no need why you must extend your invisible fence to the front yard, not to mention all the way to the street/sidewalk. Again, to do so is IMO selfish and un-neighborly. Well, I don’t have neighbors on three sides of me. One side there’s a guy and his wife and their two dogs (which like to talk to my dogs when they are all four outside together), the other side is an empty overgrown lot, in the back is the woods, and in the front is the street. I only have like six houses past me on my street and it is a cul-de-sac. My entire yard is fairly steep, sloping towards the house and finally flattening out near the treeline in the back yard. Most of the people walking their dogs past my house either live way father on up the street or live on one of the streets adjacent to mine and they just like to walk their dogs on my street. I wanted the entire lot (excluding the woods, which I own a portion of) to be included in the invisible fence because I want my dogs to have the run of the entire yard, and to be able to really exercise themselves. The Boxer is very energetic and needs his exercise, especially since he spends the day in a crate while the wife and I work (destructive chewer). I don’t believe that it’s dickish to have my front yard included in that. The dogs serve two purposes: to love and be loved, and to bark at strangers that enter my yard or come to my door. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-invisible-fence-systems-inhumane-to-dogs/501220/46 "2009-07-01T15:56:42Z")
> [@FoieGrasIsEvil](#): > > I **wanted** the entire lot (excluding the woods, which I own a portion of) to be included in the invisible fence because I **want** my dogs to have the run of the entire yard, and to be able to really exercise **themselves**. The Boxer is very energetic and needs his exercise, especially since **he spends the day in a crate while the wife and I work** (destructive chewer). **(emphasis added)** As I said, you are comfortable with your personal preference trumping any unpleasantness imposed upon passers-by. (Not to mention your keeping an energetic dog despite needing to cage it all day, and your desire to have your dogs “exercise themselves.” :rolleyes:) > [@](#): > > I don’t believe that it’s dickish to have my front yard included in that. The dogs serve two purposes: to love and be loved, and to bark at strangers that _enter my yard or come to my door._ Not at all surprised that your opinion differs from mine. You previously mentioned, tho, that your dog also “serves the purpose” of provinding you amusement by scaring folks “walking by” your place. ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-invisible-fence-systems-inhumane-to-dogs/501220/47 "2009-07-01T16:08:05Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > **(emphasis added)** > > As I said, you are comfortable with your personal preference trumping any unpleasantness imposed upon passers-by. (Not to mention your keeping an energetic dog despite needing to cage it all day, and your desire to have your dogs “exercise themselves.” :rolleyes:) > > Not at all surprised that your opinion differs from mine. You previously mentioned, tho, that your dog also “serves the purpose” of provinding you amusement by scaring folks “walking by” your place. I have to be honest: I didn’t want the dog. My SIL has a breeding pair of Boxers and they wanted to give us one from a recent brood as a housewarming gift, and my wife overrode my initial negative reaction. We already had one dog. I didn’t want another. Yet we got him, basically without my consent, and he’s really grown on me. And, as these things often go, I became the feeder, the poop-picker-upper, the letter-outter, the guy who plays with the dog, etc. I deal with his epileptic seizures when he has them. I have grown fond of the dog. However, he has (while a pup), eaten our original mortgage paperwork, done shit like this if left uncrated: [http://i427.photobucket.com/albums/pp360/sgenetti77/Riley007.jpg](http://i427.photobucket.com/albums/pp360/sgenetti77/Riley007.jpg) So spare me the rolleyes about him needing exercise. He needs it. We have to keep him in a crate while we are gone. Look carefully at the picture. He chewed up some picture frames and the glass inside them. He chews glass, this dog! And if you really think I spend my time looking out my front window while the dogs are outside desperately hoping my dog will scare someone for cheap laughs, you’re wrong. I already said I was joking once before. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-invisible-fence-systems-inhumane-to-dogs/501220.md?page=2)