Dog Electric Fence

psychic34

Hi there I have a three year old sheep Dog X breed who keeps getting out on me, I'm thinking of getting an Electric fence for Him to keep him in, But like a bit of advice first. Has any one tried one of these for a big dog are they any good, I don't want to spend a lot of money on one and for it to only to last for a week or so.
Any advice appreciated.
Thanks.:)

SillyMangoX

You would be better off investing the money in securing normal fencing, a dog with as high a herding instinct as a collie is going to want whatever is at the other side of the fence and a little shock won't matter, though if will make it less tempting to come back home again.

RubyGirl

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056885784

It was only discussed here last week op.

Jany131008

Hi,

I have a 10 month old male Springer Spaniel. I live in the countryside but along a main road. We have put up chicken wire but he eventually finds a way to burrow under. He hasn't strayed out onto the road as we have walls and a gate, but I'm afraid he would wander into neighbouring fields and stress the sheep or possibly run away, as he is still in training with recall.

I am really considering getting the electric fencing, as I don't want my poor puppy stuck in the house or in his pen all day. I do not have the money to fence a 1 acre garden, but I will spend a decent amount on an electric dog fence.

I know alot don't agree with them. I'd like suggestions from people with positive experiences of the fences.

Thank you!

ShaShaBear

Jany131008 wrote: »

Hi,

I have a 10 month old male Springer Spaniel. I live in the countryside but along a main road. We have put up chicken wire but he eventually finds a way to burrow under. He hasn't strayed out onto the road as we have walls and a gate, but I'm afraid he would wander into neighbouring fields and stress the sheep or possibly run away, as he is still in training with recall.

I am really considering getting the electric fencing, as I don't want my poor puppy stuck in the house or in his pen all day. I do not have the money to fence a 1 acre garden, but I will spend a decent amount on an electric dog fence.

I know alot don't agree with them. I'd like suggestions from people with positive experiences of the fences.

Thank you!

No offense, but if you only took the advice of people with positive experiences of things, you would find yourself disappointed quite a bit. People who have negative experiences with electric dog fences clearly didn't disagree with them when they bought them, and had a frightful or detrimental experience with them that made them change their mind.

On a neutral side of things - regardless of anything, this is electric. Like anything electric, you know it isn't full-proof. Power outages, wear and tear of wiring or damage to the collar the dog is wearing can stop it from working. Never mind the fact that, like people, all dogs have a different pain threshold. If there was a sack with €5000 on the side of the road outside your house, and you were welcome to take it if you could withstand the electric shock you were going to get, you would suck it up, take a deep breath and make a run at it. You're really going to want it, and by golly you will get it. Now, you're standing there, on the road with your big bag of cash and you're told you will get another shock when you try to re-enter your house.

Not as tempting now, is it? :rolleyes: Maybe you'll go visit your mum for tea, or maybe you'll grab a bus somewhere to spend your hard earned money. Chances are, you won't attempt to brave the shock again until you feel you have no other choice (and in the case of the dog, it might already be too late).

bluecherry74

Jany131008 wrote: »

I am really considering getting the electric fencing, as I don't want my poor puppy stuck in the house or in his pen all day. I do not have the money to fence a 1 acre garden, but I will spend a decent amount on an electric dog fence.

What size is his pen? As long as it's not tiny he will probably be ok in there, once he gets a good long walk every day. My two setters are fairly high energy and spend their time in their pen while I'm at work, with a selection of toys to keep them occupied. They get an hour long walk every day and spend the evening and night inside with me. I also do a few minutes training with them each day.

If your routine is something similar then your dog will be just fine and a secure pen will bring you a lot more peace of min than an electric fence!

angeldaisy

Don't have experience of the electric fences for gardens, but where we live, the farmer has electric wire fences put around his land. I realise that the intensity of the shock may be different but our collie has got shocked on a couple of occasions, and each time has been traumatised for weeks. Refusing to walk anywhere near the wire and on one occasion, he got shocked accidently by my dad who touched the wire and was holding him and he refused to go near my dad for a long time:o

We also have a large back garden and we are currently saving to get it made dog proof - buying one roll of wire at a time!

kylith

Jany131008 wrote: »

Hi,

I have a 10 month old male Springer Spaniel. I live in the countryside but along a main road. We have put up chicken wire but he eventually finds a way to burrow under. He hasn't strayed out onto the road as we have walls and a gate, but I'm afraid he would wander into neighbouring fields and stress the sheep or possibly run away, as he is still in training with recall.

I am really considering getting the electric fencing, as I don't want my poor puppy stuck in the house or in his pen all day. I do not have the money to fence a 1 acre garden, but I will spend a decent amount on an electric dog fence.

I know alot don't agree with them. I'd like suggestions from people with positive experiences of the fences.

Thank you!

First bury the wire a foot or so under the ground. Then lay slabs along the inside of the fence. Unless he can dig through the slabs your garden will be a lot more secure.

fredweena

We have a fence for a collie terrier cross. He's a bit mental but he took to the fence grand. He has a lot of room to run around inside it (1 acre) and seems happy. He knows exactly how far he can go before he hits it. Before we got it we had to keep him in a lot as he's mad to chase anything and he was pretty unhappy. We got the fence and if he didn't like it we had a home lined up for him. That was 5 years ago and he's never looked back. He's an outside only dog and can be left alone all day if needs be.

andreac

fredweena wrote: »

We have a fence for a collie terrier cross. He's a bit mental but he took to the fence grand. He has a lot of room to run around inside it (1 acre) and seems happy. He knows exactly how far he can go before he hits it. Before we got it we had to keep him in a lot as he's mad to chase anything and he was pretty unhappy. We got the fence and if he didn't like it we had a home lined up for him. That was 5 years ago and he's never looked back. He's an outside only dog and can be left alone all day if needs be.

This attitude amazes me. So If your dog didn't like the fence you were going to rehome him, it just gets worse it really does.

fredweena

So better to keep him even though he'd have to be locked in his run all day? We weren't going to put him in the pound or put him down. The man we got him off had agreed to take him back. He was not being thrown out. We realised that if he didn't like the fence or was very scared of it, keeping him would be unfair on him. We couldn't put up a wire fence due to cattle occasionally grazing the field and balers coming in and such. Anyway, he's very happy now. We've had dogs for years, all the same type and he's the first to chase stock so persistently.

Jany131008

bluecherry74 wrote: »

What size is his pen? As long as it's not tiny he will probably be ok in there, once he gets a good long walk every day. My two setters are fairly high energy and spend their time in their pen while I'm at work, with a selection of toys to keep them occupied. They get an hour long walk every day and spend the evening and night inside with me. I also do a few minutes training with them each day.

If your routine is something similar then your dog will be just fine and a secure pen will bring you a lot more peace of min than an electric fence!

Thank you!

His pen is about 12ft X 12ft, so it's not huge. Yes, I walk him everyday for about 30 minutes (he's not able for much more than 30 minutes). I'd just love to let him have freedom of the garden, especially in the summer months.

Jany131008

ShaShaBear wrote: »

No offense, but if you only took the advice of people with positive experiences of things, you would find yourself disappointed quite a bit. People who have negative experiences with electric dog fences clearly didn't disagree with them when they bought them, and had a frightful or detrimental experience with them that made them change their mind.

On a neutral side of things - regardless of anything, this is electric. Like anything electric, you know it isn't full-proof. Power outages, wear and tear of wiring or damage to the collar the dog is wearing can stop it from working. Never mind the fact that, like people, all dogs have a different pain threshold. If there was a sack with €5000 on the side of the road outside your house, and you were welcome to take it if you could withstand the electric shock you were going to get, you would suck it up, take a deep breath and make a run at it. You're really going to want it, and by golly you will get it. Now, you're standing there, on the road with your big bag of cash and you're told you will get another shock when you try to re-enter your house.

Not as tempting now, is it? :rolleyes: Maybe you'll go visit your mum for tea, or maybe you'll grab a bus somewhere to spend your hard earned money. Chances are, you won't attempt to brave the shock again until you feel you have no other choice (and in the case of the dog, it might already be too late).

I understand what you mean, but what other options are you giving me?

A friend of mine has 8ft walls around her garden and her dogs can easily jump them!

Do you suppose I leave him in the pen all the time?

ShaShaBear

Jany131008 wrote: »

I understand what you mean, but what other options are you giving me?

A friend of mine has 8ft walls around her garden and her dogs can easily jump them!

Do you suppose I leave him in the pen all the time?

I'm simply explaining that it is a bit silly to say you only want to hear from people who had good experiences with the fence.

And since I'm not an advocate of leaving a dog outside 24/7, I couldn't recommend that. If you want some advice, why don't you take your pet dog inside? Or if you absolutely can't handle a pet dog inside your home, there are these cool contraptions that you twist about a foot into the ground and they have a nice long cable attached (we got two cables attached together) and my dog uses this with his harness when we're outside playing. It gives him 50 foot of leeway, and he can't chew through it or get off it. Obviously it's only suitable for someone who is outside interacting and socialising with their dog, as they could hurt themselves on it if they were left alone.

Once a dog works out how to escape from an environment it's trapped in, it's likely going to keep attempting it. The trick is to change the way the dog must react with his escape route (eg, chicken wire at the top of this 8 foot fence that the dogs can jump over). Or try more exercise with the dog, because any dog that puts that much effort into getting out off a fully-fenced garden is either bursting with energy, or not very happy where they are. And he's also clearly not being supervised

littlebug

We did this


and also planted lots of "stuff" in front of the wall which has now grown so high it almost masks that addition. My dog hasn't tried to jump it in nearly a year. Digging underneath isn't an issue as it's all stone or concrete all the way round.