Wireless Fencing - does it work?

[DeeCee]

Hi All,

We have an 11 month old Wheaton Terror-ier and need help with keeping him in the yard. We WERE using a long dog rope for him that ran from the back door to the yard for him to go out & do his thing, but had problems with it. Number 1 -- we can't have any patio furniture out at all, or he's constantly tangled up in it and hauling the furniture all over. Number 2 -- he just snapped the rope TWICE tonight, and doesn't come when he's called unless you have a handful of hotdogs.....

I did some online searches & found wireless fencing (which is about the only thing that would work, due to constraints with trying to place wires under the driveway, etc etc) but I have no idea how well those things work.
The one I keep seeing is a PIF-300 from PetSafe that is selling right now for $269.95 all over. I think that's pretty pricey, but worth it if it will work right -- Any suggestions or comments?

DeeCee

 

[squirtsmom]

With training it can keep the dog in your yard, but it will not k eep other people's animals out. That can be an issue with some dogs. Good luck.

 

[Maxy24]

Some dogs still run right through it if they see something they particularly like (cat, squirrel, dogs, rabbits, people) and like squirtsmom said other dogs and wild animals and people can walk right in to your yard. Can you fence of a portion of your yard with regular chain link fencing?

 

[DeeCee]

Thanks, I wondered about the dog running through the wireless fencing - especially since Tucker is a bit headstrong. I really don't know what his reaction would be to a jolt. I certainly don't want to hurt him, but I don't want to lose him either. There's two new dogs next door that wander into the yard occassionally and I don't know how hard Tucker would try to follow them out of the yard - and yes, cats & squirrels would be a temptation too.

The only way to fence the yard is to also cross the driveway with a fence, so that's not an alternative at this point, unfortunately. The best option seemed to be the wireless fencing, but I've never really paid too much attention to how well they work.

DeeCee

 

[Barb04]

My neighbor has 2 dogs; one of them always goes through the wireless fencing. They are getting a fence installed.

Maybe you could install a gate where the driveway is to open it up for your cars. Could you put he fence back further so it doesn't interfere with the whole driveway?

 

[Notes]

I asked the same question a few weeks ago. General consensus was that I should go with chain link.
We had the same problem with the driveway, and it took a lot of thinking to figure it out. Not sure where you're located, but a gate across a driveway doesn't sound like a very good idea to me when there's a bunch of snow.
I bet there's a way around it. (no pun intended)

 

[mjb]

We have several people with Invisible Fences in our neighborhood. Only one has quit using it, and they said it was because they never had time to train the dog on it and were not comfortable. The dog never went through it, though. The other 2 families have had it for years, and the dogs have never come through it. None leave their dogs outside for extended times. They let the dog out for its business and then back in, and one of the families has their dog outside when they're doing yard work. The dog is outside with them, but doesn't have to be tied up or watched constantly as the fence seems to work fine. The negative is that, because dogs and people (who might want to take a dog) can easily come into your yard, my friends don't feel like they can just let their dog go outside alone for long periods of time alone.

I don't know if Invisible Fence is the same thing you're talking about, though.

 

[FoxyWench]

ive seen dogs run right through it...
it doesnt work well for headstrong breds who will run right through in chase and then not want to come home because it THEN rembers itll get zapped.

my other worry with them is it doesnt keep stray dogs and other animals out...

personally id save yourself the money in the long run and just put up a solid fence, either attatch it to the house of just fence a section of the yard (so you dont have to deal with gating the driveway) or put in a good gate.

 

[Sweet72947]

I have an electric fence, and it works fine for us. The only reason we got one though is because the homeowner's association has rules against regular fences. We don't leave our dogs out for long periods, we just let them out to go to the bathroom, maybe play some frisbee, and then go back in. Our dogs don't go through the fence. If I throw the frisbee wrong and it goes outside the boundaries, Daisy will stop in mid-run and just stare at me until I go and get it!

Benji has a high prey drive, but even cats don't entice him out. He just sits at the edge of the fence line. Our dogs are never left outside unsupervised because there are little kids that live on either side of us and we wouldn't want one of them to run into the yard after a ball and get rushed by our dogs. That would be scary for them!

 

[Romy]

If you don't plan on leaving her for hours then maybe a chain link kennel would be best? You can get the panels and put together some pretty massive ones, I've seen some people make them 20' x 30' for a single dog. You wouldn't need to fence the entire yard, and it would give her a safe place to do her "business" and not have to worry about other animals atacking her.

 

[IlUvMyAnImAlZ05]

We have a wirless fence. You don't have ANY wires. So, you don't have to worry about wires around the driveway.
We have two dogs, a Hungarian Vizsla who is 30lbs and an Alaskan Malamutemix that is 50lbs. It has worked great! We've had it for about a year and a half now and have had NO problems with it and they stay in the area.
It covers our half acre in the backyard and some of the front yard, then we want to take them on a walk or take them on a car ride we just take off the collars that work with the fencing and take them. Our Alaskan Malamute mix is more strong willed, but it has worked well with her too.
Good Luck!

 

[DeeCee]

Awesome -- thanks! I know I've gotta do something -- Quickly too. Today I went out to untangle Tucker & the new metal chain tangled around my legs & I tripped & the chain ripped into my ankle pretty well. Lucky it was me and not one of the kids though. I'm going to go ahead & order the wireless fence today & see how that goes. We never leave him out for long; most is about 20 minutes now, and it will probably be alot less once it starts getting really warm out - he hates the heat!

Thanks for the replies everyone!

DC

 

[Brattina88]

There's a house a couple blocks away that has flags in the yard that say Invisible Pet Containment system (or something like that, idk). Every time I walk Missy over there, the dog barrels through it, with its blocky collar on and all. Luckily, Missy is friendly. If she wasn't, I think they wouldn't be aloud to use it anymore!

 

[Boemy]

I would block off a portion of the yard with regular fencing . . .

 

[mjb]

Some of the pet containment companies guarantee their product, so you could get your money back if it didn't work out.

 

[FoxyWench]

after seeing a Chihuahua run through one...i just dont trust them. if a toy breed with low drive can stand the zap, then a larger breed seeing somehting it wants...i just thing real fencings safer.

 

[DeeCee]

Well, this one supposedly has 6 different levels - you're supposed to put flags up at the border & boundry train your dog while increasing the levels, from what I understand. I have no idea how well it will work -- I'd definitely get a real fence if I could -- the dogs next door just ran through our planter & knocked some of the stones down........... ::sigh::

DC

 

[Notes]

Some fence systems give the dog a warning sound when it gets "X" feet (you can adjust it) close to the boundary. Others give a mild electrical shock which intensifies the closer to the fence the dog gets.
You might want to investigate the success rates of both and see if there's a difference.

 

[FoxyWench]

theres only one system common around here "invisable fencing" it offeres 10 levels of intensity, flags for "boundry training" and a beeper system to let them know when there getting too close. i worked for a pet store and we worked with the invisible fence people, they offered me a job and i whent to a few of their clients, i saw the chi run through on level 4 (anythhgin higher could have caused serious damage) he ran into the street and was hit by a car, he was lucky to survive. i then saw a terrier mix run straight through level 10 after a squirrell, the intial shock didnt phase him but he wouldnt come back because he knew it would hurt. both dogs had been trained to the fencing for over a year a peice.

i also worry about other animals/people comming in.

 

[HenryTheGreat]

im just curious if you did get this fencing and how its going?

my parents good friends are invisible fencing dealers and offered to give us a good amount at cost. As henry ismy dog and my parents are particularly happy about him living with us (they are very much cat people) they don't want to put up and actual fence, we live in the country and it would ruin the view...which i agree with! im toying with the idea, but our currently system works well too...i also think hen would just run through it if he saw a squirrel.