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  1. #1
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    Invisible Fences

    Just wanted to put this out there for anyone who might be thinking about one.

    They are WONDERFUL! Piper is almost two and a half and could never be outside unless she was on a lead. It was a long lead and it was functional but it wasn't great. Still, it was better than her running away as fast as she could (with periodic checking to see if we were following of course) smelling the rest of the world.

    Finally I talked my husband into the invisible fence this summer. Okay, fine, I did it when he was in Minnesota seeing his Dad...details, schmetails She trained to it so easily, now she can go out without it and does just fine. Granted, I don't want to test it too much but one time her boxer friend (he breaks free ALL the time) came to the back door to play and when I called her over to let her out, brain-dead me took her collar OFF instead of on and let her happily out the door. When Joey's owner drove over to get him, Piper just sat in the driveway and watched them leave, didn't even try to follow.

    Then, this weekend we had a little bit of snow so she was outside playing with Jada and her friends (labs are SO good with kids) and when they had scrapped every flake off of our property,the kids moseyed over to the other house to find what snow they could. Piper just sat at the edge of the driveway, head hanging, waiting for her friends to come back....After laughing at her poor pitiful self for about 15 minutes (such a drama queen she is) I called her in and gave her a cookie.

    So for anyone thinking about it, I HIGHLY recommend the invisible fence. It has changed all of our lives for the better!

  2. #2
    Senior Dog arentspowell's Avatar
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    My in laws can't have fences in their neighborhood so they have an invisible fence for the dogs. Since Daisy spends a lot of time over there, they got a collar for her too. I agree, it's great to let them run around without having to worry so much. Daisy has only crossed it once and it wasn't on purpose, we were over the line without realizing and called her over. Their dog Beau has NEVER crossed it and worn get within 3 feet of the borders. The funny part is, it's on the lowest setting, for little dogs! I'm not sure he'd even feel a zap lol

  3. #3
    Senior Dog doubledip1's Avatar
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    My back fence sits against a very busy commuter road so unfortunately I can't take the risk here nor would I want to see all those cars go by.

    My parents have very private and secluded 16 acres in the Adirondacks, it would be perfect for them if they had dogs. I still like the physical fence so other animals can't get in (I have a huge vegetable garden) but so glad it works for you!
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    Abulafia (01-06-2016)

  5. #4
    Senior Dog dxboon's Avatar
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    I think they are great for some dogs, but not for others. It also depends on your neighborhood. Some dogs are more stubborn and will run through the shock from the fence if they want to get to something outside the perimeter badly enough. Also, it doesn't stop other creatures from getting into the area, so if you're in a place with loose dogs or coyotes, which is the case in my area, they are free to come into your yard. Glad it works for you. I have an intact dog, and with the coyotes, etc. a traditional fence is a better choice for my circumstances.

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  7. #5
    Senior Dog CraftHer's Avatar
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    We have about 3 acres of invisible fence for Mocha. He knows where the fence is and won't cross it. If we throw a ball over it or my FIL comes over (he lives behind us on the other side of the fence), Mocha will sit and wait (not patiently, but he does wait).

    We don't let him out unsupervised and still need to watch out for other critters, but I'm so glad we have the fence. Even without his collar, he will not cross. I don't think he's realized the shock comes from the collar and I want to keep it that way.

    Sometimes, though, we do want him to cross the fence. My FIL lives behind us and we'll go visit. So I'll take off Mocha's collar and then play with him a bit so the doesn't connect no collar with no shock. Then I take a blue towel and lay it over where the fence is (it doesn't matter where I lay to towel since he's not wearing the collar, I just wanted to be consistent). We've taught Mocha the towel is "safe". So, he knows he can only cross on the blue towel. Once we take up the blue towel, he won't try to cross.

  8. #6
    Real Retriever PinkDragon14's Avatar
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    I really wanted to get an invisible fence for Murphy. We had one for Katie and it worked great...except for one problem (but it may have just been her "way of thinking")

    She was a great dog and listened well. With the invisible fence, she knew her boundaries and knew not to cross the line to argue with the neighbor's dog, chase an animal, etc. The only problem we had with it was, whenever we'd go to take her for a walk, she wouldn't want to go down the driveway (since the fence stopped a little before the end of the driveway). In order to get her to go down the driveway for a walk, we'd have to drive her in the car up the street a little and start the walk. This was no big deal to us, but that's why we're trying not to get one for Murphy.

    I'm not (and wasn't) mad at her for this. I'm happy she wanted to follow her boundaries! It's just I felt bad that she didn't trust going down the driveway without getting a shock LOL

    But I really do like the invisible fence. It's a great way to let the dog run around in a "supervised" area without the traditional fence look
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  9. #7
    Senior Dog arentspowell's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by PinkDragon14 View Post
    I really wanted to get an invisible fence for Murphy. We had one for Katie and it worked great...except for one problem (but it may have just been her "way of thinking") She was a great dog and listened well. With the invisible fence, she knew her boundaries and knew not to cross the line to argue with the neighbor's dog, chase an animal, etc. The only problem we had with it was, whenever we'd go to take her for a walk, she wouldn't want to go down the driveway (since the fence stopped a little before the end of the driveway). In order to get her to go down the driveway for a walk, we'd have to drive her in the car up the street a little and start the walk. This was no big deal to us, but that's why we're trying not to get one for Murphy. I'm not (and wasn't) mad at her for this. I'm happy she wanted to follow her boundaries! It's just I felt bad that she didn't trust going down the driveway without getting a shock LOL But I really do like the invisible fence. It's a great way to let the dog run around in a "supervised" area without the traditional fence look
    You can train a visual cue for them to know it's safe to cross. For example, lay a towel over the boundary and have him walk over.

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  11. #8
    Real Retriever PinkDragon14's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by arentspowell View Post
    You can train a visual cue for them to know it's safe to cross. For example, lay a towel over the boundary and have him walk over.
    Ugh, I wish we would've known this back then.
    ~Alyssa
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  12. #9
    Senior Dog Meeps83's Avatar
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    We've had invisible fences in three locations, including our current. We've used it with Alaskan Malamutes as well. It's always worked well for us and Maverick doesn't wear his collar half of the time. We always have the dogs a "door" that they could cross if we had them on leash. I would like an actual fence, but we can only do a three sided fence due to property restrictions......so I'm not sure if it's even worth it.

  13. #10
    Senior Dog Doreen Davis's Avatar
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    We've trained 6 or 7 dogs on IFs over the years with great success. We're in the country on about 2 acres. I don't leave them unsupervised for any length of time but it works well for us.

 



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