# invisible fence



## mkewish (Sep 2, 2008)

Just looking for everybodies success (or failure) stories with electric fences.

We just bought a house and no fences allowed. Our Golden Retriever did fine with an electric fence. But GSD's are much more 'driven' than most dogs.

Thanks!


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

Works for some, doesn't work for others. I know of a prey driven dog that has killed many animals but has never challenged his fence. I've heard of another dog that charged right through, jumped off a bridge and killed a person below.


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

I would never trust it. Especially not with a dog who has high drive and a hard temperament.

I made the mistake of selling 2 pups into homes with invisible fence (2 different homes). One has blown through the fence multiple times going after wildlife, but so far all has ended well. The other wasn't so lucky. She was hit and killed by a car when she blew through the fence chasing a deer.

I will never, ever sell to a home who uses invisible fence exclusively again. It can work fine if dogs are out for short periods and supervised. But too many people just turn their dogs out for periods of time without supervision, trusting the fence alone to contain the dogs. For many dogs it will. But for the few it doesn't work, it can quickly end in tragedy.

The other downside is that even if it does keep the dog contained, it does not keep people, other dogs, or other animals OUT as a real fence would. And that brings more potential for disaster.


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## weber1b (Nov 30, 2008)

Our last dog (non GSD but a large dog) who LOVED to run figured out she could handle the quick jolt of pain for the great rush of freedom. We ended up just putting in a fence anyway.

There is a house down the street who uses one and their dog does not cross (large Lab). The dog is a little aggressive and it always gives me pause going past there, but it does work for them.


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## littledmc17 (Apr 9, 2008)

Works great!!
My Lab huge prey drive got the next size up collar with in 2 weeks 
she was trained.

Brady Never passes the boundry. I love it and I trust them totally 
theyy are never outside unless one of us are home.

Also in the morning I let them out no collar and they DO NOT go pass the line.


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## mkewish (Sep 2, 2008)

Thank You for the input.

Most definately the dogs (puppy is coming around christmas ) would never be left outside for any length of time unsupervised. 

I'm going to make sure I train them very well, the pup will do fine as she will be raised on it, Jake on the other hand will need lot's of training.

We also plan to plant tree's as markers for the fence so they have visual reference to the boundary.


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## aubie (Dec 22, 2008)

I wouldn't use the system on a puppy under 6 mo of age...it's mostly about understanding and training, something they don't really "get" until after 6mo or so.


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## zyppi (Jun 2, 2006)

I've used with multiple dogs in more than one location and have yet to see a GSD breach on when properly trained and using the brand name invisible fence.

I've seen breeds like bassetts wander through it and I've seen dogs challenge the generic home installed fenced.

I never leave my dogs out when I'm gone whether in an invisible fence or the real thing.

Oh, and I never walk my dog off the property once fence is it. Crazy as it sounds I put them in car and drive out even if collar is off and I'm parking on the street to go for a walk.

I just think it best they never think they can walk out collar or no.


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

The aforementioned dog that ended up dead was:

On professionally installed Invisible Fence brand invisible fence.
Had been raised from puppyhood with the invisible fence.
Had gone through a ton of training initially, plus lots of maintenance training. To the point where the owner had to use something other than the usual surveyors flags for tracking because the dog wouldn't go near one (they were what was originally used to stake out the boundary for the invisible fence).

Yet dead she ended up, just shy of 2 years old.









To me it is just not worth the risk.

If a real fence is impossible, then this is the only option. But always be out with the dog to supervise, never get complaicent and leave the dog unattended, make sure the collars are charged and don't get lax about putting them on (dogs DO become collar wise), etc...


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## littledmc17 (Apr 9, 2008)

Brady was Trained at age 4 months he got zinged 2 x's and never went over again until we saw a coyote on neighbors property 
the collar he had wasn't working so had to go up to nect size


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

What about a nice tie-out? This is what I used for Coke before I put up the fence. It was a nice one, not one of those cheap spiral stakes. The tie line was nice, did not tangle on the dogs' legs or wrap around the tie-out stake. It stretched onto the porch so I could attach it indoors. Like learning an e-fence, he learned the length of the tie and did not jerk his neck hitting the end of it, but unlike an e-fence, if a deer or rabbit came close enough he did not have the option of taking a zap in favor of a good chase.

Because of where I live, I absolutely cannot NOT have my dogs physically contained. Maybe they are trainable, maybe not, but we live half a block off one of the busiest streets in the state. Our yard borders the parking lot of a large mall, and around the edge of the lot is a busy street that circles the mall. Just for my own peace of mind, I need the dogs physically restrained. Once we got Nikon, the fence was a much better option, since the dogs can play without tangling lines, but if fences were not allowed, we would have kept the tie-out.


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## mkewish (Sep 2, 2008)

> Originally Posted By: zypI've used with multiple dogs in more than one location and have yet to see a GSD breach on when properly trained and using the brand name invisible fence.
> 
> I've seen breeds like bassetts wander through it and I've seen dogs challenge the generic home installed fenced.
> 
> ...


Thank you for the mentioning the bit about the car .. I thought I would do the same thing!


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

We have one in the front yard~ Invisible Fence brand. Onyx and Kacie were trained on it by the IF rep. They never wear the collars, I don't have any use for the batteries they keep sending and we only installed it as a security blanket in case the back gate or garage door was not latched. Onyx will not venture out of the garage and Kacie is very reluctant to go out without coaxing. I just have to say the word BACK and Kacie will go into the garage.
That said, she is a high prey driven dog and I know she would bust thru to get at our neighbors sheltie(who they both hate). 
Onyx would probably bust thru to get at the next door neighbors on the other side screaming children(who they both hate) if she could get away with it. I don't trust it at all. It was very expensive and we never use it. I thought it would be nice if I was doing yardwork to have them out with me, but it won't stop the sheltie from taunting them or the neighbor girls from screaching, both situations would bring up the drive on my dogs. I was just thinking about this yesterday, what a waste of $$...
Karlo is fine with everyone! He has never been trained on it and has great recall so far. 
Thanks to Chris and Tim for the best lil GSD in my world!!!!


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## mrc100 (Sep 24, 2009)

Hi,

I'm new to this forumn and have my first GSD and he's now 6 months old.

I was very much against the invisible fence for many reasons, the biggest being I didn't think it would work and secondly I didn't like the idea of electric shock. BTW - I tested it on myself and had them turn it down to the lowest setting. What a jolt. Anyway, after chasing Jake around the neighbors yard a few times my wife and I were desparate (he was playing keep away). So at around 4 months we called in the invisible boys. To my astonishment Jake was trained in about two days. As soon as he hears the beep he backs off big time. He has not left the yard or even challenged the fence once in the two months it's been up. 

I really did not think it was going to work at all for this big ox but it did. I wonder if starting him out young (4mo) helped, probably.

Good luck.

Mike


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## Denman (Jul 6, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: onyx'girlWe have one in the front yard~ Invisible Fence brand. Onyx and Kacie were trained on it by the IF rep. They never wear the collars, I don't have any use for the batteries they keep sending and we only installed it as a security blanket in case the back gate or garage door was not latched. Onyx will not venture out of the garage and Kacie is very reluctant to go out without coaxing. I just have to say the word BACK and Kacie will go into the garage.
> That said, she is a high prey driven dog and I know she would bust thru to get at our neighbors sheltie(who they both hate).
> Onyx would probably bust thru to get at the next door neighbors on the other side screaming children(who they both hate) if she could get away with it. I don't trust it at all. It was very expensive and we never use it. I thought it would be nice if I was doing yardwork to have them out with me, but it won't stop the sheltie from taunting them or the neighbor girls from screaching, both situations would bring up the drive on my dogs. I was just thinking about this yesterday, what a waste of $$...
> Karlo is fine with everyone! He has never been trained on it and has great recall so far.
> Thanks to Chris and Tim for the best lil GSD in my world!!!!


I'll take any extra batteries you have!~

I have had invisible fence installed for 5 months now, Ginger ( 13month old GSDX) will not test it at all. We had the IF people come out to do the training, I was amazed at how fast ginger picked it up... I have let her out there without the collar numerous times, while I am home... She wears the collar if I am inside and she is out, but as soon as it beeps she turns around and heads for the house... On top of that she rarely gets close enough for it to beep... She has a high prey drive, but if she sees a squirrel or rabbit outside of "her yard" she leaves it alone and finds one inside the yard to chase...

My problems with the tie-outs are folks get to comfortable with those too, they don't prevent others from coming in and harassing your dog, people could, animals could etc... My main concern comes from something that happened to my friend, he left his dog on a tie out, was home and heard his dog yelping for the stars, went out there and found his dog being attacked by raccoons, 

Would a invisible fence stop this no, however with the invisible fence, your dog can get away, with a tie out, it only has so far to run, which could be disastrous

All in All I am very impressed with the Invisible Fence, and will promote it any chance I get...


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

If you are contracted with Inivisible fence(brand), don't they just send you batteries? If you haven't received any in 5 months I would call the company and ask about it. They automatically send us batteries,(I think every season we get them sent) we don't pay for them.


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## Denman (Jul 6, 2009)

> Originally Posted By: onyx'girlIf you are contracted with Inivisible fence(brand), don't they just send you batteries? If you haven't received any in 5 months I would call the company and ask about it. They automatically send us batteries,(I think every season we get them sent) we don't pay for them.


They do, I think I only signed up for two years of battery service up front... Then you pay per year or something like that... So the more batteries on hand the better... 


Another Thing I wanted to mention

The Invisible Fence trainer around here is also a OB trainer as well as owns a boarding kennel... Her entire boarding complex is surrounded by Invisible fence, she will only take dogs trained on the system as well... she has been doing this for 10 years and has never had a dog run out on her... She has had one dog fail training, but the owner decided he could do all four classes in four consecutive days, which is clearly not going to work...

About 5 minutes ago Ginger was on the deck and barked a few times, which is rare, I went out there and there were 2 rabbits and 2 squirrels moving around right by the garden, I let her out, and they all went separate ways outside the Invisible Fence, ginger didnt even get close to the line... She is getting daring, but if she hears the beep she turns around right away...


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## rockhead (Jul 8, 2007)

I have a Dogwatch system. My neighbor has Invisible Fence. I've had no failures in 7-years. My neighbor seems to have problems every time there is a lightening strike nearby. His control unit has been replaced several times. I replaced a 5-year old collar receiver (~$40)after I cracked the housing while changing a battery. 

With that said, and like many others have already mentioned, it comes down to _properly training a dog who is able to understand the training._ A 2-month old puppy <u>cannot</u> begin to grasp the concept, yet Invisible Fence will sell you a system for an 8-week old; they tried to tell my aunt that her 8-week old Golden Retriever was ready. Also, any system is *NOT* a replacement for supervision, and I do not condone leaving the dog outside alone while physically uncontained. Remember, other dogs, prey, and predators can still get in. 

I trained Eich at 6-months with help from the installer. He had high prey drive but respected the system perfectly. In all honesty I cannot think of a single time he went through the line. The local deer even learned that he would not get to them and they stopped running. Of course, I would occasionally help Eich out with a few beanbag rounds from my trusty Ithaca Featherlight









All in all, the system is worth every penny. I could relax by the pool and let Eich have the whole yard, listening/looking for him every so often rather than keeping him tied up or fenced in. It's also nice to be able to have him go out on his own to eliminate in bad weather. 

Rookie is now just over 5-months old and I was tempted to start him on the system last week, but after reviewing the training guide I decided I did not have enough time to keep him on-lead for 5 days following installing the flags, especially since I'll be Lab-sitting for my sister-in-law this weekend and things will be a little nuts. I'll wait another week or so and do it properly rather than take a chance.


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