About Barks And Bytes
Thank you to every one who entered the Barks and Bytes blog hop last week and made the first week such a great success.
The winner of the $25 Amazon gift card is Time For Poodles. On behalf of myself and my co-hostess Jodi of Heart Like A Dog…congratulations and enjoy!
I enjoyed reading the wide variety of posts last week. I shared a couple of posts that I thought my followers on facebook and twitter would enjoy. I would have liked to share more, so I think going forward I will continue to share one or two posts from the hop each week.
Just to be clear, everyone is welcome to hop along. You don’t have to have a blog about dogs, or even a pet blog. All we ask is that you display the badge or display the linky or link back to this blog or to Jodi’s blog…just something to let people know that you are part of the hop.
About Invisible Fence
Whenever I mention that we have an invisible fence, I always get a lot of questions and comments about it. It has worked very well to contain our dogs, but we put in the time to properly train them to the fence. I think people run into problems when they buy a less expensive do-it-yourself system or they don’t follow the training protocol suggested by the manufacturer. Also, you have to replace the batteries on the collar regularly or the collar will not function correctly.
Before Thunder we had a Golden Retriever and he never ever left the yard. All we had to do was to show him his boundaries and he never ventured past them. However, a high drive Chessie puppy was a very different animal from a docile full-grown Golden Retriever, so we had the fence installed when Thunder was a puppy.
We had a trainer from Invisible Fence come out to train us to train our dog to the system. If you are not familiar with Invisible Fence, it is a containment system that uses an underground wire and a receiver collar worn by the dog. The collar emits a tone when the dog enters the fence’s field. If the dog stays in the field, the collar will activate to give a mild static-like shock.
Training the dog to the fence involved walking the dog on lead and wearing the collar up to the perimeter of the yard which had been marked with flags. When the dog enters the fence’s field, a tone sounds. At that moment, you should gently pull the dog back from the perimeter with the command “back, back”. For this part of the training the collar prongs are covered so there is no static shock. You want to show the dog the entire perimeter and you want to do this at least two times a day for about two weeks.
After a couple of weeks, you will notice that the dog understands that the tone means move back into the yard. At that point the dog is nearly trained and you can remove the caps that cover the prongs. Someone, preferably not someone who lives with the dog, should go on the other side of the fence just to proof the training. The dog may be tempted to break the fence and if the dog does, then once again you use the leash to gently pull the dog back into the yard with the command “back, back”. Normally it only takes a time or two for the dog to understand that they are not to break the field and if they do, they should move back into the yard.
Sometimes the collar has to be adjusted and calibrated to a shorter time between the sound of the tone and the time the collar activates. Sometimes a dog needs a stronger correction or longer prongs on the collar. The trainer can make any necessary changes based on how the dog reacts.
Once the dog is trained, it is important not to take the dog through the perimeter to enter or exit the yard. Normally you would remove all of the flags gradually over a couple of weeks once the dog is fully trained to the system, but we leave a few flags out because in our yard there are no visual markers to help the dogs. We have found this works well as a visual cue.
None of our dogs have ever broken the fence, not even to chase a squirrel or a bunny. We can have them out in the yard without their collars and they still respect the fence; however, they tend to push the line. At that point we just make sure they wear their collar for a bit as a refresher.
The big drawback is that the fence cannot keep other dogs out of our yard so we do not leave our dogs out unsupervised. We have fenced dog runs so they can stay out without having to worry about who might come into our yard. The system was not inexpensive, but it has been worth it to give us piece of mind that the dogs can run in the yard without worrying that they will run into the street.
Tomorrow…come back for Fit Dog Friday to see what the brown dawgs have been doing to try to stay in shape during our long cold winter.
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Haha I missed that you had a invisible fence I thought your dogs were really well yard trained. Excellent explanation once again. Thanks for the hop.
Well they are yard trained to the fence…lol.
We know quite a few people in the countryside that uses those because of wildlife and shooting that goes on. Great idea for open spaces. Have a tremendous Thursday.
Best wishes Molly
Glad it works for them.
Hi Y’all!
Hope y’all get some warmer weather. I HATE this cold! It isn’t much better at the shore where they had a terrific ice storm!
Great barks!
Y’all come by now,
Hawk aka BrownDog
We are supposed to get a bunch of snow again this weekend!
We know they do work for most dogs, but there is also the problem that if they break out, they can’t get back in. Our biggest issue is that Mom just doesn’t have the nerves to trust it no matter what kind it is. She is nervous when we are in the regular fenced yard, but we are fine with that since we have a nice fenced yard to play in. The invisible fence is great for those that have the nerves to trust it as it seems to work well.
Maybe I did not explain the training well enough, but they can get back in. That is what the training is all about. Should they get out they should be trained to understand to go back into the yard and not forward out of the yard. But you are right, it isn’t for everyone.
I pretty much agree with Emma. All it takes is getting out once, as a friend of our found out the hard way. As my friend was heading out the door to see what was going on – some kids taunting the dog – the dog ran through the fence, into the street and was hit by a car. I’m glad this works for you and your dogs. Though we live on acreage in the country, we’re close to an interstate, so made the backyard a big 2 acres for the dogs.
Sorry about your friend’s dog. That is a shame. You are right, it is not for every one. You have to be dedicated to training and retraining and proofing the training. You also have to be dedicated to up keep on the fence and keeping the batteries (which are not cheap) current. We also do not let our dogs have access to our front yard. Our fence is pinched so they are only in back. If they break to the front, there they will still be in the barrier. But we still don’t leave the dogs out without supervision. The fence can only do so much as you say.
Totally agree with you. Unfortunately, I think a lot of dog owners don’t “get” the need for training and supervision 🙁
My sister has used this for years with her dogs and swears by it like you. Luckily, in CA almost everyone has a fenced yard, so I’m always able to keep them in…and others out. Thanks for the explanation though, this is a good option for folks who can’t have a physical fence.
Glad it is working for your sister. Our city wanted a park like look so that is the reason they don’t allow fences. Dumb idea because you can’t even have a safe yard for kids, let alone pets. But that is the way it is, unfortunately.
I love this hop! Thanks so much for joining with me on it!
I’m glad you addressed the issue of other dogs coming into the yard and the need for constant supervision. Our neighbor at our old house had an e-fence for her dog and another dog did come into the yard and bite her dog on the face. It is never a good idea to leave a dog unattended in a yard whether it be with an e-fence or a regular fence. You just never know what could happen.
True you really have to keep an eye on the doggies when they are outside. I know people who give their dogs free access to the yard with a doggy door. I am too paranoid to do that I think. We leave them in the runs, but they are fully enclosed.
Kudos to you for training your dogs so well. Way too many people think that just having the equipment is enough, and the training really does take time. Dogs are superstitious creatures and may come up with their own ideas about why they are being corrected unless they get the proper training. I knew someone whose dog thought the beeps from the collar meant “Run faster,” so he would bolt through the property line.
I think that issue could be corrected with a trainer coming out. We also retrain periodically. My brother had a dog that he got when he and his wife divorced. She wanted the dog, but he ended up with it. Eventually he remarried and the new house had invisible fence. The dog kept breaking the fence. I suggested that he get one of their trainers out and the trainer was able to help him retrain the dog to the fence. That dog never again broke the fence when it had been an almost daily thing. That dog could also escape from real fences. he was quite the escape artist…lol.
i have walked in areas were dogs were behind an invisible fence. They seem pretty effective.
They can be with correct training. 🙂
My in-laws had this fence with their Danes for years. Occasionally, though, the dogs would be left out in a storm and charge right through the fence, only to be found miles away. Owner responsibility is such a big part of this fence. You’re so right about the training. It’s not a magic border.
You are right they are not magic. With storms and fireworks I take the dogs out on lead.
We are lucky to be able to have a large fenced in yard. I’m not really a fan of the invisible fences for myself, but I know they work great for lots of people, including my sister who has two beagles. I liked how thoroughly you explained the training though, because it’s a little different than what I thought.
I would rather have the real fence myself. Invisible fence is a good alternative since they are not allowed here, (which is stupid).
Since your neighborhood doesn’t allow fences, this sounds like a good alternative. One of my neighbors uses it for his dogs. If I walk by with Maya or Pierson when their dogs are out, those dogs will only get as close as they can without triggering the invisible fence. Amazing. The neighbor is always out with them, though, which I think is a smart thing to do.
They can figure out the line pretty well. Plus ours gives a tone if they enter the field so they know to jump back if they want to avoid the collar activating.
I get that places want that “park like” look… but personally I don’t want to see what my neighbors are doing in their yard. What’s that saying about good fences make good neighbors??
Anyway, glad this is working for you. Luckily our yard was already fully fenced when we moved in. Some folks in our ‘hood don’t have fences that go down into the canyon, but we do. We are lucky it was built long ago, so it’s grand-fathered in, because you are no longer allowed to build a fence in the canyon.
I totally agree. It seems with all the newer subdivisions in this area, they all go for the park look. I don’t get it, but that is the way it is. Glad your fence was grandfathered. I am a big fan of as little regulation on people’s property as possible. 🙂
I love reading about people using an invisible fence responsibly! Personally, they make me too nervous, but I think they work well for people in situations like yours. We have a privacy fence, but one dog is a MAJOR fence hopper – she doesn’t even want to run away but thinks hopping fences is a sport. She never went far but she has no respect of the street and who knows what she can get into even in the minute she would dash around the neighbor’s yard before coming back, so we proofed the fence with an e-collar. It worked immediately and she doesn’t even need to wear it these days. I figured we were already doing the “responsible” thing with a fence and it still wasn’t working, and it was a life threatening situation so I think the ‘manual” invisible fence thing worked for us!
Interesting. I bet that dog would have taken to Invisible Fence well because it really is similar training to using the ecollar and they cannot jump over….lol. Glad it worked out.
Great post! We have a stockade fence and have never tried an invisible fence. Sounds like they are great if the owners train their dogs appropriately and if the owners are responsible!
I would love to have a stockade fence. 🙂