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Anyone experienced with invisible fence for stubborn dog?
merlin
279 replies4 threads Junior Member
We have adopted a 6 year old rescue dog, a Labradoodle from a kill shelter in Tennessee. I am concerned that, unlike other dogs we have had, the invisible fence will never work for him. He has escaped four times. After the first two escapes, we replaced the collar and transmitter with a stronger system for stubborn dogs. We have done the training for nearly 2 weeks and he has experienced the strong zap while leashed. It has been tough to do the training because he is so reluctant to go near the perimeter of the yard. Doodles are pretty smart and usually learn quickly; we also have a a 10 year old doodle --Old Dog.
However, when in my presence and not leashed, New Dog has twice run through the fence with the highest zap setting on. Each time, DH has felt that the collar may not have been tight enough. This dog has a shaven, skinny neck; he is very tall--28 inches at shoulder. I think the collar has been tight enough and suspect that he just runs through the zap when he sees something of extreme interest, such as another dog. Today he was tethered to an Adirondack chair while I worked in the garden, a few feet away. A man and dog walked by and New Dog flew out like lightning, tipping over the chair, dragging his tether, wearing his zap collar.
We expected to do a fair amount of training with a New Dog, but I am also thinking that we may just need a physical fence. Four escapes were four messages to New Dog that he can get out if he chooses. DH wants to keep training to the invisible fence so New Dog can ultimately have a larger space to roam with Old Dog, who doesn't need the zap collar to stay in the yard.
Is the invisible fence training worth pursuing?
Please do not flame with opinions that disagree with the concept of invisible fences. A zap is better than being hit by a car and allows compliant dogs to live safely.
42 repliesHowever, when in my presence and not leashed, New Dog has twice run through the fence with the highest zap setting on. Each time, DH has felt that the collar may not have been tight enough. This dog has a shaven, skinny neck; he is very tall--28 inches at shoulder. I think the collar has been tight enough and suspect that he just runs through the zap when he sees something of extreme interest, such as another dog. Today he was tethered to an Adirondack chair while I worked in the garden, a few feet away. A man and dog walked by and New Dog flew out like lightning, tipping over the chair, dragging his tether, wearing his zap collar.
We expected to do a fair amount of training with a New Dog, but I am also thinking that we may just need a physical fence. Four escapes were four messages to New Dog that he can get out if he chooses. DH wants to keep training to the invisible fence so New Dog can ultimately have a larger space to roam with Old Dog, who doesn't need the zap collar to stay in the yard.
Is the invisible fence training worth pursuing?
Please do not flame with opinions that disagree with the concept of invisible fences. A zap is better than being hit by a car and allows compliant dogs to live safely.
Post edited by merlin on
This discussion has been closed.
Replies to: Anyone experienced with invisible fence for stubborn dog?
Hopefully someone here will have some ideas for you. Good luck.
By the way, no flames from here for having an invisible fence! Dog owners who rescue animals, then care enough to purchase the fence and do the training are admirable. Good luck.
Some dogs just aren't meant for those fences.
I don't think some dogs can even feel it, frankly. :eek:
He's 11 years old now and is still a "special" dog. Thankfully he has a sweet disposition, and since he's old he sleeps a lot now, but is still strong as an ox. He pulled D over a couple of weeks ago, and he's pulled me down too. And he wears a special leash that supposedly "hurts" if he pulls.
When we had the system installed, one of their employees did the training, and claimed they have never found a dog they couldn't train to the system by adjusting the warning distance and the 'shock' level. Well, of course they would say that...
Good luck.
If you haven't yet done so, I'd drive over to the company to verify that the battery and collar both work. Since the batteries need replacement a few times per year, perhaps you just were given a "lemon" battery by mistake.
If it's a recent installation, they should come to your property to verify that the collar fits the dog properly. It might be in a service contract.
Are you absolutely sure the wire's not been cut, for example during a gardening session or with a lawn tool? Or, as we did once, cut it ourselves while burying a guinea pig
I wish you luck because these invisible fences give big dogs a lot of freedom.
We have small dogs. When we tried to train them to our fence one of them, after being shocked, decided that she would just be a porch sitter...thought we were going to have to take her to a do shrink there for awhile she became so nervous. What was worse is that we discovered there was one room in our house that the wire must have been just a bit too close to. Poor dog got shocked in the house...we gave up, however, before doing so I had the joy of experiencing that little jolt....carried a colar across the wire one day and just as I did that it swung up and shocked me on the wrist....OUCH...don't understand how a dog would think it was worth it to run across that fence knowing that was coming....
BTW...I think they are great inventions when they work.
We have a wireless invisible fence giving the 3 huskies (not the most intelligent breed and very determined runners) a half acre perimeter. No wires to bury, and the transmitter just sits on the counter in the kitchen. We have had it for just over a year and it works like a champ. We did have to play with the shock levels so that the more determined among them was effectively deterred. We did have the oldest dog go for the shock when a moose walked up the path from the lake, but you can hardly blame her for that!
Ours did stay on the deck for a few weeks after being shocked but now are very well aware of the perimeter and stay on their side.
The very tiny toy dog next door also knows where the limit is! Very cute to see him stand there and bark at the big dogs while they lounge inside their own "territory."
I highly recommend this wireless kind and do encourage sticking with the training. It worked for us!
So, is there any adjustment in your system for the range in which the warning tone is emitted? Or the volume of the tone??
Good luck to you with this! I hope it works out. And bless you for rescuing this dog!
Even before the debacle with the two shock fences (one wired, one not), we had tried a physical fence and he could dig right under those. When we got the first invisible fence, he merely turned the collar around to put the prongs on the back of his neck which was well protected. Caught him doing that, so had to pay to get extra prongs put on the collar so no matter how you turned it you had something at the throat.
He was a Snoopy looking dog and lived for 19 years. He died after escaping our yard here when he was arthritic, diabetic, blind and deaf, his last hurrah. He died as he lived. Oh yes, his final laugh on us was when I called the police to report him missing, and was describing his ailments. There was absolute silence on their end of the line when I answered their question as to what was his name. His name was Lucky.
Vandygrad, we load dogs in the car with their collars on and they don't get zapped. I always assumed the rubber tires of the car served as insulation and eliminated the zap. Hmmm....
I do understand your feelings of guilt, though. I was holding Dog in the yard one day (so she wouldn't bark at the neighbors who were walking in front of the house) and walked too close to the line and dog got a good jolt due to my error....Poor girl....
P56 - Funny story. A friend with a golden retriever told me his dog ran through the fence every night, and every morning the dog was waiting on the other side of the fence to be let back in.