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ForumsGerman Shepherd Dog > invisible fences do they work? (16 replies)
invisible fences do they work? by Berniemac on 05 August 2011 - 19:23 |
| Hi everyone, I was going to ask this question on my other thread but thought that since it is a totally unrelated topic, that I should make a new one. So, does anyone have an invisible fence? Do they work? what has been your experience with it? Do you reccomend them? Appreciate any input before we make a decision on this. Thanks. |
Berniemac by Donnerstorm on 05 August 2011 - 21:29 |
| I don't have one, I also don't recommend them. The biggest reason is it might and I stress might keep your dog in but it does not keep anything out. If your dog is outside without you, you are still subjecting them to possible dog fights from strays that wander into your yard, or the neighbors cat that has god knows what. Not to mention it depends on how badly your dog wants what is on the other side of the invisible fence as to whether it will keep them in or not. |
Donnerstorm by rollinginit on 05 August 2011 - 22:00 |
| I'm a pretty new poster so I hope it's okay if I give my 2 cents. I've been exploring the site. I have the wireless fence. 3 GSD's on it. I love ours. It was very easy to train each of my dogs. Took a few days. I can take their collars off and they still won't pass the line unless I command them to. I should state...I live out in the middle of nowhere so I'm not sure I would trust them solely. |
by danbee on 06 August 2011 - 02:37 |
| I have the Invisible Fence brand. Love it! First tried the do-it-yourself version and that was a disaster. Invisible Fence has kept all the dogs in & they guarantee it works or they'll buy it back. I never leave dogs out when I'm not home though, just to be safe. And as PP mentioned, it won't keep people/dogs out but we're surrounded by corn fields so that's not much of a concern for us. |
by Berniemac on 06 August 2011 - 02:59 |
| I would never leave him outside on his own. Just wanted it so that when I am outside with him I don't have to constantly have him on the leash. The thing that worries me is that I am near a mobile home community which seems to be infested with cats. When he sees one when I am walking him I tell him to leave it and he instantly turns away and ignores it. I worry that he may not just leave it if he knows there isn't a leash attached to him. Again, I wouldn't leave him alone ever, I'm way too much of a worry wart for that. He has a little pool that I let him go in and cool off in, but I have to still hold the leash so that he doesn't run off. That leads me to another question, does it matter if the dog is wet? I mean, can he still have that collar on? |
by Donnerstorm on 06 August 2011 - 03:33 |
| Hi rollinginit !! Welcome, I obv didn't ask the question but of course it's ok if you put your 2 cents in!! I'm glad you guys like your invisible fences. Like I said I never tried one because I was never worried about my guys leaving the yard, I was worried about keeping everything else out of it. Bernie if you are worried about him not having the leash on the first couple of times you put him outside, put a long line on him. You don't have to hold the long line just let him drag it. That way until he gets used to it he thinks he has the leash on, and if you do need to catch him due to a cat you can just grab the long line or step on it so he can't go any farther. Since I'm fairly new too and don't really know a lot of people yet if you don't mind me asking what is your guys name and how old is he? |
by windwalker18 on 06 August 2011 - 04:31 |
| Depends on the dog, depends on the training etc.... I've seen people put a heavy coated dog with minimal pain sensitivity in that kind of enclosure.. and the dog basically gritted his teeth and just walked thru it. Also dogs who run across the yard and are outside the shock area before they realize it, and won't return to the yard for fear of getting shocked. The Vet I worked for has several acres along a major road, he put in the fencing for his Lurcher (Greyhound/whipet and border collie). It did great for the dog... there was one area where he'd take the dog out to go hiking in the fields beyond, and would pause there and remove the sensor collar, sticking it in his pocket before proceeding thru the fencing.... *WEG* he failed to fold the collar across the contacts however and got royally zapped in the family jewels!! |
windwalker18 by rollinginit on 06 August 2011 - 08:04 |
| Berniemac....It doesn't matter if they get the collar wet. Each of my dog's are a little different. So the adjustment levels varies on their collars. My oldest male is almost 5....and his is set to only beep to alert him he is to close. My female is 3 1/2. Hers beeps and gives a mild buzz. My youngest male is 2..and his is set near the highest level. He does like to push the limit. Sometimes I think he walks along the invisible line to test the weakness. (kind of like the dinosaur's in the Jurassic Park movie) I just make sure I check his battery all the time. It's not hard to train them. My fence came with a DVD. I made sure I watched that and pretty much followed it exactly. We use to have the wire one. What a pain. Especially when the the line would break somewhere underground and we had to find it....in 15 degree weather. Our nearby neighbor has that except a company installed his. I think his covers about 7 acres. |
by GSDtravels on 06 August 2011 - 13:36 |
| There are some that have "run through protection". If they get through, they keep getting zapped until they go back. |
GSDtravels by Berniemac on 06 August 2011 - 15:31 |
| Donnerstorm, My pups name is Ryder and he is 6 months old. I was outside walking him one day, and he spotted my male cat which he loves to just lye on top of. Well, I wasn't paying attention and I didn't notice the cat. He took off and the leash just flew out of my hand and he chased the cat into the forrest right in front of the house. I called for him to come and he stopped and looked back at me and then was just looking around for the cat which by that time was no where in sight. I called again and he came to me and looked annoyed that the cat got away. I just said, "lets go", and took him into the house. I didn't talk to him for awhile after that and he kind of looked like he was feeling guilty. I didn't yell or anything, I thought if I had done that, next time he wouldn't want to come back. I'm wondering if the fence was there, would it prevent him from chasing the cat or would he just go anyway. Someone mentioned wireless fence. Does that actually mean that no wire exists at all? What is the brand? |
by Sunsilver on 06 August 2011 - 15:57 |
| In my previous home, I installed an Innotec invisible fence. I did not use it to keep my dogs confined on the property, but to keep them from digginug up the flowerbeds and foundation of the house. I would not use an invisible fence to confine my dog, for two reasons. One, if the dog sees something that is just too tempting, it can run right through the fence, then not be able to get back on to your property for fear of being shocked. Secondly, and even more important, the fence does not protect your dog from humans or stray dogs who may come on to your property, with the intent of hurting your dog. Thirdly, the wires can break or be damaged, or the batteries can run out on the collars, and unless you test the fence and collars routinely, your dog will be unprotected. I installed the fence myself. It was much more difficult than I'd expected, even though I ran most of it along the existing fence, rather than burying it! You can read all about it (and have a good laugh, too) here: (There is some good advice about the fences in this thread as well.) http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/german_shepherd_dog/bulletins.read?mnr=108198#108207 |
Sunsilver by jmopaso on 06 August 2011 - 23:34 |
| I have used Invisible Fence on our farm for over 15 years. I have about 5 acres in invisible fence. We are on the national Invisible Fence site for a testimonial from a veterinarian. We have kept everything from a rat terrier to mixed breeds, Great Pyrenees to many GSD's safe inside the fence. It keeps them out of the horse pastures and in the "common" areas and around the house. A common complaint that the fence will keep your dog in, but not others out has not been a problem for us. Our fence starts about 500 feet off the road and that seems to give any "errant" dogs plenty of time to think about whether they really want to bring it on and face 4 or 5 GSD's waiting for them or not. Thus far they have decided "not". I keep 4 or 5 out in the invisible fence all the time. It is easy to train them to, they do not challenge the fence, unless there is a problem or their batteries are low and it will take up to a week for them to challenge it if their battery is out or the fence is dead. In 15 years, I have had none of my dogs outside of the fence fewer times than I can count on one hand. For us the fence has been great. |
by sueincc on 07 August 2011 - 01:05 |
| I wouldn't have one for the reasons stated by others, keeping people and animals off my property. I do have a question for those who use invisible fencing: Is the shock different from that which is delivered by an above ground system like a hot wire? I know people who have tried using above ground hot wires, and I've seen epic failures, from Afghan Hounds who just don't give a shit and walk right through it to other dogs that normally are respectful but when it comes to giving chase (deer, cats, other dogs, etc.) will run right through it. Of course with a hot wire, the dog can see it and therefore avoid it, but as I said, I've seen dogs just sort of deal with the shock and keep right on going. So I wondered if maybe the correction was different with the underground system because obviously many people have a lot of success with it. |
sueincc by jmopaso on 07 August 2011 - 01:37 |
| The correction with a real Invisible Fence is two fold. First they receive an audible correction and then if they proceed they receive a correction that is not a shock like a hot wire, it is a radio wave and is more like the correction of an e-collar. The fences you can buy at hardware stores or pet stores are miserable failures. Most of them do deliver a shock like a hot wire, which like a hot wire for livestock, pulses, it does not deliver a continuous opportunity to shock. What the dogs learn to do with that type of fence is the opportunity to get out between the pulses. The real Invisible Fence is only activated when the dog approaches the boundary. There is no opportunity to "get out"between pulses. the correction is there when it is needed. I hope this makes sense to you all. Again, I have had great success for over 15 years. I am in a bit of a unique situation, in that I have a large area (5+ acres) situated in the middle of a 22 acre farm, far off the road and a stable population of neighborhood dogs, most of whom are in their own Invisible Fences. The wildlife learn where they can go. We have a large flock of turkeys who know just exactly where the dogs cannot go, the deer as well. We also have coyotes who do not come onto our property, they know as well just how far the dogs can go. As long as everyone knows the boundaries, we all do very well. |
by sueincc on 07 August 2011 - 04:10 |
Thanks for the explanation! It makes sense to me. |
by rollinginit on 07 August 2011 - 08:42 |
| The brand I use is PetSafe Wireless Containment System. No wires to use at all. Just plug and go. There are a ton of other brands out there now. Like the person said in the post above....over time it seems like all the animals that live around us KNOW where the line is. Even the deer that pass in your backyard have a trail that runs beyond the dog's invisible line. My neighbor's cat comes over sometimes. He sits right in front of the line and teases the dogs. The shock feels more like a static electricty shock. It doesn't hurt. Just startles. My dogs usually don't get to that point. The warning beep usually works for them. One negative that I have.....the collars are expensive. You get one collar with the system but you have to buy additional collars if you have more dogs. I think I paid around 130 a collar. Sometimes the collar bands wear out....but I found that there are sites that sell really good replacement collars for around $8-10 dollars. (this is just for the collar band...not the reciever box) |
by deltasierra on 08 August 2011 - 15:08 |
| Howdy everyone. First post. Just a note, if you are planning on competing in Schutzhund, note that the perimeter flags in your yard resemble the tracking flags in the field. It took me a week to get my girl to distinguish between the two. We got the invisible fence to keep her in the yard, not to keep others/other things out. You couldn't drag my dog across our perimeters, and that is exactly how I want it. Kids walk by the house, people walking their dogs, and she is fine and happy. But that is a temperment issue and that has to be taught/inherent in the line. With regard to what brand to use, do a google search locally to see what is available in your immediate area, and then invite the companies over to your house for a free estimate. Good luck. |
deltasierra
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