How do you feel about invisible fences?

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Member Since
12/31/1969

Barked: Tue Oct 9, '12 11:47pm PST


	A friend of mine is thinking about getting one. But i told him that they can cause some real damage. I work as a vet tech and i've seen some pretty nasty wounds when they've been left on too long. What do you guys think?

my posts

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Dolly- Mixture

1197343

Barked: Wed Oct 10, '12 6:57am PST


	Personally I hate them, if a dog sees a cat or other animal to chase they don't feel the shock of the collar because they are so hyped up, when they want to get back home they can't because they are no longer hyped up and can feel the shock. Other animals can get into them and attack them, there are a lot of dogs that have been attacked because they don't keep other dogs out. I once came across someone on anaother forum who used this type of fencing, she came to get advice about one of her dogs who used to bite people as they went past her property. After asking a lot of questions it seemed that this dog only bit when he had the collar on because he got a shock when he ran to the people. She was in danger of being told to pts her dog but still she couldn't see it was the invisible fence causing the problem. They are very expensive, that money will go a long way to putting up a fence to keep your dog in, the fence doesn't have to be fancy, stock fencing will do the job and that isn't expensive. It will depend on the area you are fencing but dogs don't need a large area. Too many people think dogs will exercise themselves, they don't, the will hunt at times but are more inclinded to sleep, us humans have to make sure that they are exercised.

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Titus

Cave canis- vigilo omnis

Barked: Wed Oct 10, '12 7:42am PST


	They can be a great way to augment a structural fence, but success depends entirely on the owner's knowledge of their dog, training, maintenance, and supervision. Failure in any of these areas can cause problems and I really don't recommend e-fences for that reason. They aren't for every dog or every owner. I have to say though, that if there are physical injuries from an e-fence/collar, the owner is absolutely incompetent - dogs, collars and fences need to be checked daily.

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Tilly

916869

Barked: Wed Oct 10, '12 8:00am PST


	Sorry I don't agree with you, mainly because you haven't taken into account the sudden impulse a dog can take which is out of caracter and unexpected. No matter how well trained a dog is there is always the chance that they will always see something the other side which they will lunge through for. It doesn't matter how good an owner you are, how well you check and maintain the fencing, how well you know your dog, it can always happen.

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Sanka

The ground is my- newspaper.

Barked: Wed Oct 10, '12 8:02am PST


	Lots of people use them in my neighborhood, and they work great for them. You just have to look at the individual situation. Not sure what "damage" it could really cause though. Not everyone can put up a real fence nor does everybody want a real fence for their yard. An invisible fence can be a great alternative if they don't want to deal with tethers and tie outs.

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Tyler

Whippy- The- Whipador

Barked: Wed Oct 10, '12 10:04am PST


	I don't know about physical damage, but there was only a thread started the other month about a posters Pitbull who had become terrified of entering the garden after an invisible fence was installed. So, for some dogs they can certainly cause psychological damage. I guess that would be my main concern, especially with more sensitive dogs.

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Titus

Cave canis- vigilo omnis

Barked: Wed Oct 10, '12 10:11am PST


	As I mentioned, one must know and train one's dog. If a dog is challenging the boundary, it hasn't been trained well enough, isn't being supervised, or isn't suited to an invisible fence. They aren't meant to replace a structural fence or direct supervision.

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Squ'mey

too old to eat- any more KD

Barked: Wed Oct 10, '12 10:18am PST


	Titus..I totally agree Like any tool, an invisible fence requires knowledge about it to correctly use it for your purposes. Myself? I would not use one, but many folks do use them, quite successfully. I am curious as to the "wounds" the OP referenced? What exactly did you see? As Titus mentioned..checking all equipment is vital, so I would see this as owner negligence, not a failure of the fence. Edited by author Wed Oct 10, '12 10:19am PST

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ARCHMX Asher RL1X RL2X RL3X RL

we will dance in- the ring without- words

Barked: Wed Oct 10, '12 12:35pm PST


	Sadly, one can not know how an individual dog will respond to a shock until that dog has experienced it (and maybe until that dog has experienced it several times). As a PP has noted, there are dogs who learn to fear the entire area. I know a pair of dogs who learned to continuously make the collars beep a warning till the batteries ran down and they were free. There are dogs who will blow right through the shock and wind up on the other side of the fence with no way to get back in. If something (or someone) threatening were to enter the area, the dog may not be able to escape. Because you are not in control of when the shock is delivered, you can not accurately predict what (or who) the dog will associate with the shock and there is no way to predict how the dog will react to it either immediately or over time. I would add this: http://www.dogexpert.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Electro nic-fences.pdf It seems to me that most people buy these fences to give their dogs a chance to "enjoy" being free, but if that enjoyment comes at the cost of pain or fear and has the potential for fallout like fear or aggression, is it worth it?

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Trust me...I'm a- beagle

Barked: Wed Oct 10, '12 3:41pm PST


	It's a tool, and a tool is only as effective and "good" as the user makes it. So many people use this system without properly implementing it, there's really no wonder why it's gotten such a bad reputation. We all know that there are many dogs that are not well suited to the invisible fencing system - most of these dogs taking no note of or otherwise risking the shock to get to the other side. But there are dogs that are quite easily trained to respect the boundaries with little to no consequence. Such is the case with my 3 dogs (or was, as I have since moved with 2 of them). We lived out in the country, little to no traffic and a large spacious yard. Unfortunately, our yard was not "made" properly and the fence had a nasty tendency to sink quite low. Without spending a ton of cash on redoing the yard, my parents purchased an invisible fence. All 3 dogs held the utmost respect for this boundary line. Admittedly, Cobain and Rigby stopped using their collars for this. I've personally witnessed on several occasions Cobain chase a squirrel (his most favourite thing to chase) right to the edge of the boundary and come to a dead stop - this is without any sort of collar on. Oz has to wear his at all times as he knows that the minute it's off, he is free to roam. And "shockingly" none of my dogs have intense issues as a result nor are they physically harmed, certainly not to the point of requiring a vet visit. It isn't a choice I would have made personally. Nor is it something I would condone in a city or more suburban situation. But my point is, there are situations where the system does work. And again, a tool is only as effective/harmful as the user makes it to be.

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