Fencing in your pet (Dogs and Cats)

[Handyman]

I bought a Petsafe Radio Fence (Deluxe model) for about $190 at Home Depot and 3 more 500' spools of wire at $25 ea. The system is rated for 25 acres. (I have 5 acres, but want to give Charlie 2 1/2 acres).

Now a few weeks ago I had some issues with him bitting and we had our knock down drag out fights (twice), but since then he has done a complete turn around and I think things will be fine. One of the things I did and didn't waist any time with was installing this remote fencing. Although it is designed to go underground, it doesn't have to be. I talked with the people about weaving the wire or attaching it to the "T" posts along the bottom fence wire and they said it would work great as long as the wire was not higher than his collar as it was for some reason it works better if the signal is closer to ground level.

I have to admit that this system has been a godsend. I can now let Charlie roam the yard while I'm out there. Were before I had to keep him tide up while I was working around the house which I thing he thought he was getting punished. He has room to roam and play and I'm no longer the bad guy for telling him "NO" when he tries to leave the yard on the leash or chasing him down when he's escaped the yard.

The system has been in place for little over 10days now and I finding that I can let him out and he will go do his business and return without me. When he does try out the fence, he returns to the back porch (its his safe domain). I have it set to sound off at 6' and correction at 5' from the wire (less chance of run through). You can set it for as much as 10' of correction distance.

I highly recommend this system for anyone that wants to keep their pets home where they belong and can't for whatever reason put up a chain link or privacy fence.
I have noticed such a change in Charlie that I don't think I ever will have another pet without one of these sytems in place.

[kokopelli]

glad to hear you guys are getting along well.
be forworned about the tone wornings on the electric fences. some dogs are learnig how to kill the batteries, but just sounding off the alert. then they are off on their own till you get them.

good luck

[student101]

We are planning on installing this at our new home but we have two labs I have not done alot of research on this because it is a ways off, I am wondering if you can put two collars on one system?

[Pat]

They are not "keyed", i.e. no handshake or any thing like that. You should be able to have hundreds or thousands of collars workinig with one fence. You can also have different fences in different areas to work with one or more collars(of course you'd want to turn off the other area till the collar was inside and then turn it back on so as not to "force" the pet through while it was active.

Burying the fence wire is a selling feature since it gives folks the option of an invisible fence. Burying the wire is not required for proper function. A couple factors to consider: the fence's max working range will be different whether or not the wire is burried (and how deep) and the slant range is what determines the triggering of the collar not the lateral distance over the ground. The slant range is the shortest distance from the fence wire to the collar NOT the distance over the ground from a position directly below the collar to a vertical line passing through the closest fence wire.

A side note to anyone reading this who thinks training or invisible fence collars are inhumane animal abuse. The animal is not harmed. The shock is uncomfortable but not damaging. Most dogs learn quickly to back off when they get the warning and avoid getting the correction (shock.) On the plus side it makes it practical to have dogs running free over a defined area rather than having to tie them or otherwise restrict them.

I have a friend who has movable electric fences for stock. He rearranges their grazing access almost daily. In general the cattle do not get shocked. They quickly learn to recognize an electric fence and carefully avoid it thereafter. He can have his system off for days wth no problems as the cattle avoid "testing" his fence. He uses a very robust (but safe) charger.



[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[mundamanu]

While I know there are plenty of folks out there who do suggest that invisible fences and other electric fences are inhumane, it seems pretty silly to me.

After all, I am stupid enough to forget the fence every now and then. BzzzZZ!!! [img]/forums/images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] Yow!!! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] Certainly no harm done, except maybe to my ego when I realize I am not even a quarter as smart as a horse and less than half a goat.

Actually, now that I am thinking about it, the worst shock that I ever got was one time when I was a kid I was exploring how neat it was that rubber would protect you from the fence current. So there I was, holding the fence pole for balance with one hand while I ran the rubber sole of my canvas sneakers right on top of the wire. Nothing! Kinda neat, right? Yep. Sure was. My dad was standing right next to me. "Dad, look. I'm not getting a shock." "Yeah son, neat." Well, I left my foot there as we looked over the pasture and at the goats. Of course, I absent-mindedly dragged my foot slowly off the wire. The rubber ended at the toes where it met the canvas. Well, you remember how I mentioned I was holding onto that fence pole right? WOMPBBBBZZZZZ!!!!! The pole was metal! The current went right through my body and out my hand. The convulsion from the shock nearly knocked me over (I was about 10). The feeling of that one huge convulsion is still as clear as day.

Anyway, just an old memory this thread jogged.

Also, it sure doesn't take much of a shock to train an animal does it? In the middle of winter it takes me about fifteen seconds to work up the courage to touch a doorknob when I am in my socks and on a rug. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Fred]

</font><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr />
some dogs are learnig how to kill the batteries, but just sounding off the alert.

[/ QUOTE ]

And some dogs just like a good fight.

I know someone that told me her neighbor's one Soft Coated Wheaton Terrier will fight with the invisible fence. She said he will approach it, start barking, get closer, get jolted and come back for more snarling like he is fighting another dog. I've met the dog and he seems sound. I guess he just doesn't like the fence. I've had several people tell me that this dog and their other one, also a wheaton, are always running around the neighborhood. I don't know if the owner has the one with the warning signal or just the old shock first style.

[Pat]

mundamanu, Juat what is a mundamanu anyway???

OK, I'm back... In winter or anytime the air is dry and static sparks are a bother (we used to have a car with clear plastic seat covers, WOW!), You can use a piece of metal like a coin or car key or whatever to touch knobs and things with first. You will see and hear the snapping spark but there is little or no sensation of being shocked.

When I was in high school our baptist church had carpets that were a pranksters delight. Just skuff your feet a bit and come up behind someone and touch their earlobe. ZZZZZAP!!! A key or similar protected the prankster.

If it weren't for the PG to R ratings there is sufficient material for a separate thread on humorous (to the observers) practical jokes relating to electric fences, automotive spark plugs and such.

As a kid I used to use my gun (shotgun or .22 with wood stock) to depress the hot wire while steping over an electric fence and if not armed I'd pick up a stick to use as an insulated depressor. Needless to say I have had the experience of picking a damp stick and ONCE let the hot wire touch the screw that held the wood to the gun. OOPS!! The stick only passed a tingle as it was just barely damp and only a so so conductor of current but direct contact to the hot wire with metal (the gun) gripped in both hands made a fair path for current flow to the dew wetted grass.

Like a dog at an ivisible fence, you learn to do what you have to do to avoid the shock. The invisible fence's warning-on-approach feature, to my way of thinking, elliminates humane concerns as it provides a training aid and constant reminder to the animal that it is entering the DANGER ZONE. Only a truly retarded or otherwise undesirable dog would be getting shocked much.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat

[egon]

Pat:

When a young fellow with all the world ahead I just used to jump over those fences. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Egon

[Pat]

Egon, I hope you don't continue to advocate jumping over fences while carying a gun! Besides, the fences are much much taller now!

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[ericinok]

"...as long as the wire was not higher than his collar as it was for some reason it works better if the signal is closer to ground level."

I just bought this same system to keep my dog in our yard. We have a 4-rail vinyl fence, and it was my hope to put the wire along the bottom rail and thru the posts instead of burying the wire.
What happens if the wire is higher than the collar, which in my case it would be in some places? I would think it would work the same regardless. Maybe even better if it's not buried in the ground.