Thread: "Invisible Fence" advice wanted

Hey Team,

Gonna have to start leaving my GSP at home more often, instead of upgrading the fence to 6ft thinking about putting in an invisible electric fence to stop the dog wondering when im away. Anyone have any experience?
Heard of sportdog at the local Hunting and fishing store, this any good?

Also does anyone know of any GPS tracker collars for dogs that are compatible with a invisible fence"?

Cheers.

We got an invisible fence for my dog (male entire English staffy) because he's an absolute f***wit at going awol and has causes us all sorts of dramas over the years. It didn't work at all for him, he would get the shock as he got close to it, and then get the progressively bigger shocks as he got real close that would cause him to just run, generally in the direction of outside the boundary. He never seemed to learn either so it was basically useless. Maybe more successful on a "softer" or more intelligent dog?

I use the non invisible version

Originally Posted by MSL

I use the non invisible version

So do we... But my dog is a reincarnation of Houdini..

Mine spends a fair amount of time in the centre of the section these days

Had heard that the new gps collars you could set one up and t would alert you and I've them a zap if they walked out of the area. Haven't looked into it myself be curious where this leads as I might need something for the bach

Originally Posted by 223nut

Had heard that the new gps collars you could set one up and t would alert you and I've them a zap if they walked out of the area. Haven't looked into it myself be curious where this leads as I might need something for the bach

That would work but only if he is also home, to provide the zap. The gps update time is a little slow to operate in a town section scenario, fine on the farm when the dog is aproaching the back boundary and the limit is set to 100 M before.

I seen one in action . A active black lab. He was tennis ball crazy ,but if you biffed the ball over the invisible boundary the dog came to a screaming halt just before the boundary . I set up a visible electric fence around my plastic tunnel house , after one or both of my GSPs chewed a hole through one side & out the other side .(For no reason Man I was pissed ), any how I got two for the price of one . The Bitch got pinged she yelped & that scared the shit out of her partner in crime . Both dogs never went near that tape again

I've used one with my two terriers for six years and it works fine so long as the collar batteries are replaced on time. It's a radio fence rather than the type that uses a wire to mark the perimeter. It works better as they get a zap if the collar loses contact with the base station radio signal, run through isn't an issue as the collar will keep going for up to 30 seconds and increase the power from its initial custom setting, wee bastards learnt in one day and know within a step where their boundaries are. Other benefit is its portable and you can set it up quickly. Cheapest option is on eBay in the US to purchase. Collar batteries last about 3 months at $13 a time, can get them in pet shops.

Kennel and run

You need to train each dog to stop before the fence. Most certainly collars have a warning buzzer as they get close.
So you set up little white flags as they near the noise zone. Then walk them up to this and warn them no. Once past this they would start to get a small shock leading onto......
They work well but you do need to take the time with the training otherwise your wasting your time money and ya dog.
Neighbour here had one with and old black lab....work brilliantly on till the poor dog went def then he would just walk up to the boundary and he was gone once he could not hear the buzzing from the collar it was game over.
Anyway hope that helps.

We've got one for our two foxy/Jack Russell X. The collars work well for them, provided you train the dogs & keep them charged. Our two soon work out when they are flat. We still don't leave them out when we are not home for extended periods, they go in their run. One dog has a very strong hunting drive & has on occasion run thru' it chasing a rabbit, gave a yelp & kept going. He learnt & doesn't do it now. Didn't work at all for the last dog (border collie), she would just run straight thru'. Beautiful dog with a lovely nature but a real knuckle head. She needed more work than we could provide so she was given to a farmer.
We bought ours from MGG & have gone thru' a few collars but the current ones seem to de lasting.

Originally Posted by Hutch

...keep them charged.

Foxies and Jack Russells are borne with a charger ...

Those fences obviously do work for some dogs. The downfall of them for me is they do not keep other dogs out. That may not be a consideration for everyone.

Keeping your dog in a kennel and run when you're not present is the safest model I have ever had.

Neighbours both side of us use these invisible fences to great effect, made more valuable by covenents on our housing area prohibiting physical fences. On the northern boundary we have a beautiful GSP who loves to put his nose to the ground and walk for miles, given the chance. On our south side we have a family with a 6-month-old yappy handbag dog - a Murapara Special, but more suited to Remuera.

We have two Burmese cats.

The GSP occasionally appears on my game cameras and this only requires a reminder to the neighbour to replace the batteries in the dogs' collar. If the system is working then we never see him. The owners of the yappy handbag dog installed the invisible fence two weeks ago and to my delight I've heard it working a couple of times. I say "to my delight" only because the dog now has a reluctance to running through the hedge and shitting on my front lawn. Unfortunately it doesn't stop the yappy handbag dog from yapping. I need a button for that collar in my office.

So yes, they seem to work great. I should think training is essential to help the dog understand the lay of the land and no doubt you'll probably find the occasional dog who just doesn't get it, as experienced by Ryan. I'd not thought about Ruff's point of other roaming dogs - good point... but we don't have that problem here. One thing is for certain though, if I get a dog I'll be buying one of those fences.