Anyone have one? I think my older dog would be OK with it but maybe not my 4 year old who still acts like a puppy. Both are around lab size. Older dog is Aussie Shepherd mix , younger dog is red tick coonhound.
Don’t do it. It could work–dogs learn fast not to cross the boundary. But then when they do cross the boundary, for instance in hot pursuit of a squirrel, they don’t want to come back.
Invisible fence might keep your dogs in, will not keep other dogs/animals/children out.
Your dogs can still alarm people/other dogs walking by your property who will not realize your dogs are behind an invisible fence, if they happen to be out there barking.
Since they can learn a boundary, teach them the boundary some other way. Lots of youtube videos providing step-by-step instructions. (Some dogs are more compliant than others.) Or get an actual fence.
I think some people put up signs that they have an invisible fence. Most likely I will get a wood fence.
What Hilarity N. Suze said, AND if one or both of your dogs is smart, they can also learn that when the battery in their collar dies, or when the electricity is out, the ‘fence’ no longer works. Our neighbor’s Lab figured that out pretty quickly and was all over the neighborhood when those things happened.
A regular ol’ fence is a much better idea.
Hound dog gets a scent and nothing but a stout physical barrier is going to keep them in. Sometimes not even that. Herding dogs understand what’s their territory and tend to stick around home but hounds literally follow their noses when the mood strikes them. Also, those invisible fences only do so much and when I was a delivery person a dog got overwhelmed enough by the need to come bite me that they ran right past all those cute little flags and I had to jump in my van right quick to keep from being chomped. Wouldn’t trust one of those deals on a bet nor a dare.
I think the reason to not get a wooden fence can be either cost or property boundary location or both.
One set of friends had a 1 acre semi-rural lot on a busy road and it would have been very expensive to put up any sort of a fence, plus fencing themselves in so they couldn’t be part of the forest around them would defeat the purpose of moving to the country.
They had 2 yellow labs and got an invisible fence for their back yard. Their experience was exactly as Bijou Drains is frets about: Their older dog (maybe 7 or 8) never crossed the fence boundary, their younger dog (14 months) had zero issues with crossing. Unfortunately, their younger dog was hit by a car and never saw 16 months.
Another set of friends with a golden retriever have one for their large suburban front yard. They like to sit out on their porch and be part of the neighbourhood and watch their kids play, but their GR chased squirrels or cats and sniffed other dogs. No desire to add any fence to their front. Their dog was maybe 5 when they got it and it works wonderfully. Zero issues.
Bottom line Bijou Drains, you’re correct: is it does depend on your dog’s personality. My advice would be to check with your supplier they may be able to offer breed and age specific guidance. Also, find someone who has one (or see if the supplier can provide you with a reference) and take your dogs there and see how they react.
If you get a wood fence, make sure your dogs can see through it somehow (I’ve seen holes cut out. I’ve seen plexiglass windows…) Nothing makes a dog bark more than a noise they can hear from a source they can’t see. And aussies & heelers they need to be in control.
I’ve got a large chain link fence and no complaints.
I walk my dog around our suburban neighborhood daily. I think it is extremely rude when people have invisible fences in their front yards and leave their dogs out unattended, with the result that a large dog rushes towards passersby while barking, with no apparent barrier. Even tho the dog generally stops and I’ve never been attacked in such manner, I think it incredibly un-neighborly to inflict that uncertainty (and possible fear) upon people simply passing by on the public sidewalk.
The problem with invisible fences is that people get them, and then don’t follow through on the training. It’s not the fence that keeps the dog in; it’s the training. Optimally, once the training is reinforced you could take the collar off/turn the fence off and the dog would stay put.
But people put the collar on, set some flags out, and and expect that zap to do the rest of the work.
Like others have said, probably really depends on the dog and the initial level of training. You can’t just throw the collar on them and expect them to figure it out.
I’ve used them at two different properties on three different dogs and had zero issues.
My sister used it for her two dogs on her property and had zero issues.
Takes a bit of conditioning the dogs over the course of a few weeks using a slowly disappearing visual barrier (little white flags), walking the perimeter with them on a leash, letting them wander towards the audible “warning” zone and showing them how to retreat by pulling them back into the safe zone by the leash, letting them try to retreat on their own and getting a warning zap if they don’t, etc. etc.
Once conditioned enough the dogs would even stay in the boundary area without the collars.
We had invisible fence for three dogs - a single then two togetner. It worked perfectly even when it was out of commission. Once the dogs knew the boundary they wouldn’t even come close to tiggering the warning. They were standard poodles so they learned fast, but you do have to train them for more than one afternoon with is what some people tried.
One difficulty is the dogs did not understand that when I took the collars off to go for a walk they were free to go. I either had to use a gate in a side fence, or more commonly drive them a bit then get out and walk. That wasn’t really an issue as our street was impossible to walk them on in any case.
Once I drove the two out for a walk. We sarted past another house which had invisible fence apparently on the same frequency. The dogs stopped and wouldn’t budge. I didn’t know what was up until I heard the collar buzz. I took the collars off and they still wouldn’t walk past the house. We had to cross the street to continue. On the way back still not wearing collars they refused to go in front of the house. So apparently one time was enough for them to learn the boundary.
Another possible negative is that the dog might learn to associate someone walking on the sidewalk near your yard with being zapped, causing him to bark more or become more aggressive when people are near your yard. (The logic is this: he sees people coming and happily wants to meet them, approaches them, they both meet near the boundary and he gets zapped, ouch, strangers are bad/scary/painful.)
Yes. Once trained properly they are conditioned to avoid the boundary set. They make the connection to being zapped that area, not the collar. I made it a point to never cross the boundary with the dog even with the collar off as to not confuse them. Because these were set up strictly for back yards anytime we left the property with the dogs it was through the front door.
I had a golden mix who chewed through a wooden fence to get out. After I fixed the fence she did not try again. I don’t know where she went but when I got home she was on the front porch.