<p>Dogs that have been trained on the electric fence will not cross it. I’ve seen my dog many times chase a ball and if it lands outside of the area of his fence he will stop dead. He’ll chase bunnies right up to his fence. The UPS guy carries biscuits and occasionally throws them short and they land on the outside of the fence. Our dog will sit there and stare at the biscuit until someone comes along and throws it to him.</p>
<p>I have a 75 pound mutt who lounges around the house pretty much all day. I work 5 hours/day so he goes out (in our fenced backyard) before I leave for work. Then he has the house to himself until I get back home and let him out again. He prefers being inside to our large fenced yard and can be quite the barker when his preferences are ignored. Hence he is king of the castle. He has apparantly has a bladder the size of a camel because even when I’m at home all day he’ll go for many hours without asking to go outside (he scratches on the back door when he needs to go). When we go on vacation, he stays at home and a neighbor comes over twice a day to feed him and let him out in the yard. He’s pretty low maintenance.</p>
<p>kathiep - our next door neighbor’s dog ( a lab) was trained on the electric fence and did fine for years. As he got older, he started to escape - just a few times - but enough to get our neighbors concerned. They checked the fence and the collar and everything seemed to be OK - he wouldn’t chase a piece of meat thrown over the barrier. Well, on his last escape, he trotted over to the turnpike and tried to cross (not too far from our house) - he didn’t make it. He was eleven. Our poor neighbors…we felt so bad…we have a lab too and can’t imagine how awful this would be. These fences are not fool proof for ANY dog.</p>
<p>I must have the same dog as Garland…“My dog has a super-bladder and can stay at home all day, which can be 8-9 hours. We believe he goes into “doggy suspended animation” while we’re gone, and then comes out of it and happily “dogs” our footsteps when we’re home. He doesn’t bark much, chew things, or have accidents.”</p>
<p>He also gets very upset if I ever have to kennel him, when I have to travel, I pay $20 a day for this wonderful couple to come, love and rough him up, walk and run him, and just spend some time with him. My roommate is here the rest of the time, but my dog just ignores him, but at least he has “company”.</p>
<p>And a couple of times a month I take him to the office with me.</p>