Electric fence for 2 1/2 yr old Labrador?

drummer_joe

Hi, I have a 2 1/2 year old Labrador and i have a problem with him rambling. Im thinking of trying an electric shock collar fence, but before i buy one i want some advice. I have been told he is too old and should have been trained on it as a pup. He is a very strong dog and im also afraid he will just take the shock and keep rambling.

Any advice on this?

Toulouse

Personally I don't think they're the best idea for containing a dog. I've seen dogs end up in the pound wearing them. They also don't stop other dogs, dog thieves or children coming onto your property. Also you would want to be sure that you train your dog properly to avoid any behavioural problems arising from you using one.

Why is your dog rambling? Is he neutered? Is he getting enough stimulation and exercise?

In my opinion you are much better off spending the money making your property secure.

dvet

This is a bit of a touchy subject, a lot of people don't really agree with using electric shock collars on dogs. But it's good that you are taking responsibility and trying to stop your dog from roaming at least!

If it's possible for you to enclose your garden or to get an large, enclosed dog run (you can buy them or make them), then that would be the best solution, and possibly not even much more expensive than the collars. Neutering also helps to stop wandering if he's a male.

But if you do go ahead with the electric fence, then be advised that you can't just put a collar on him & let him go. It takes a lot of careful training to get the dog to recognise his boundaries & how not to get shocked. I've seen dogs who have been improperly trained, and end up terrified of going anywhere in their garden, or worse, who run outside of the boundary and then won't allow you to catch them/refuse to come back near the house for any money! With a big strong lab, I'd also imagine he would be a bit harder to contain with this kind of method to be honest.

It would also be a very poor guarantee that he won't roam if there's a bitch in heat nearby - I've heard other posters on here say that their dogs jumped 6ft walls/ jumped clean through glass windows to get to bitches in heat! So the fence wouldn't stop him for a nanosecond. For this reason it would be a good idea to neuter him as well, whether you try the fence or not.

daenerysstormborn3

Obviously it would be more desirable if you had trained him from a pup but that is neither here nor there now.

If you are consistent and firm with your training you should have no problem training the dog.

If you think the electric fence is the best option for you and your dog and you can train him properly with it then that's up to you. I have heard of dogs, my bf's brother's dog for example, going through the fence, getting a shock and not coming back through but that was because they hadn't trained her thorougly. She now does not even need the collar anymore because she has gotten used to her boundaries.

Neutering may be effective as he may be rambling for some lady company. Dogs will do anything to get to a bitch in heat.

If the dog is only left on his own outside for short periods of time you might be better investing in a run of some sort (the electric fence + collars do work out expensive) to keep him in when you're not around.

Discodog

The following organisations oppose the use of shock collars & Wales has now made them illegal

* Dogs Trust
* RSPCA
* Association of Pet Behaviour Councillors
* Association of Pet Dog Trainers
* The Kennel Club UK
* The British Veterinary Association
* Dog Training Ireland
* UK Police

TooManyDogs

I got one for my garden when we moved into the new house. It didn't have a single fence and the cheapest quote we got to fence in half an acre was €11,000!!! So we tossed up between getting a run or radio fence and considering we had 4 dogs at the time we reckoned it'd be less cruel to have the radio fence rather than having them all cooped into a 10 x 12ft run.

To be honest it was a disaster. We had it a year, did the training very carefully and followed all the instructions but one of the dogs in particular would constantly get out. It was simply worth it to her to get a shock going over the fence. A neighbours dog would come in to play with mine and would end up encouraging the others to leave with it. The wire kept breaking so we were constantly looking for the break to fix it. It was always to be a temporary measure and we continued to fence another bit when we had money and now the garden is secure for 4 of the 6 dogs and the radio fence is long gone. The other 2 dogs are regular houdini's and share a zip line. One on the zip line and the other in the house.

Really the only fool-proof way of stopping wandering is a secure fence, a pain but there it is!

Shanao

Very unlikely to work on a retriever to be honest with you. They have extremely high pain tolerance so most wouldn't even register the shock. Knew a guy who had two and the were constantly just walking straight over the fence without a problem.

Not to mention that the results are absolutely horrible if they malfunction.

Whispered

I also know a retriever who just walks through the fence. I'm sure someone will come on to tell me it just wasn't strong enough. It was strong enough for the dog to have badly damaged skin under the little box.

andreac

Put up proper fencing or put him in a dog run.These collars are cruel, unnecessary and not reliable.

Sigma Force

We've a large garden and 3 dogs and to be honest the only reliable fencing is solid fencing there are so many reasons why the elec. collars are unreliable.

Now if you find it expensive to fence off a large garden then you can easily fence off a smaller area, if you don't want to put fencing in you could go with run panels which can be placed on a level surface or grass and you can make the run as big as you like and even increase the size as time goes on esp. if you can only afford say 4 panels to start with every few months you could buy another one and in no time you'd have the equivilent of a decent sized garden fenced off.

cilldara.ie do them and hayses modular or try farm relief services for fencing and shop around the best fencing I've found is timber post chainlink wire (have it 6 foot high for a large dog) or timber post with solid fence panels (they should have a very small gap to let the wind through).

In the mean time do not let your dog outside unsupervised, buy a long lead and take him out and he can run around with the long lead on while you hold it until you can get the fencing sorted. It's not worth the risk letting him run off, and ensure he has an id collar and is chipped incase he escapes in the mean time.

I have cill dara runs and timber post and chainlink..not cheap and also some solid fencing all are brilliant and it really gives you peace of mind.

If he's taken out for walks daily just let him out on a lead for a pee regularly until it's sorted.

olaola

If it's the difference between your dog roaming and getting injured/killed. Then yes, it's a good idea. My brother and his wife had an unfortunate (fatal) incident with their previous dog - so they used it with their new one. It was prohibitively expensive to fence around their home, so this was a good alternative.

Whispered

OP It would be cheaper to build a pen until you can afford to fence properly. It's also much much safer.

IMO a dog who gets killed because it's not properly contained is not just an accident, it's neglect.

Tirna

We use the collars for our 2 dogs a Rottweiler and a German Shepherd. We have a 3 acre area set up and they have never tried to escape and know exactly where they can and can't go, they are both a year old, neutered and walked for an hour a day.

After buying the pack we threw away the wire that came with it and got a stronger one so we would not have trouble with breaks in it (cost about €100 more to cover the area we were looking at, but is well worth it) and we also followed the instructions in training them to it. There are also boundaries around the area with a ditch, post and rail or gate behind the fence all the ways around, so no open ways out

I see it as being no different from an electric fence for Cattle/horses/sheep with all of them being clever enough to know what the consequences are with the responsibility on the owner to ensure they are used and maintained properly

I know it does not work for all dogs but it does for ours

Discodog

The real problem with a fence is that you are not in control of the dog or the shock. Radio remote controlled shock trainers can work but only in very experienced hands because the shock has to be administered at exactly the right time. I know someone who uses one every day & gets dogs referred to him from all over the UK but it only works where there is a specific behaviour that has to be stopped such as chasing livestock.

The big problem with electronic fences is that there will always be situations where the dog gets out & then can't get back in. The "confusion" at not being able to get back without being shocked will upset all the previous training.