Invisible Fence

[greg deegan]

Been thinking about one for my 6 month old setter. BUT. How do you get the dog to "leave" the yard for a walk or down the road fun/training session?

[Whispering Hills]

You can keep your pup from being confused about when it's "safe" and when it isn't, by putting him/her on lead when you get ready to cross the fence boundary. Be consistent - always slip a lead onto your dog when you walk him out of the yard.

He will easily learn that the only time he can cross the boundary is with you next to him, on lead.

[greg deegan]

You can keep your pup from being confused about when it's "safe" and when it isn't, by putting him/her on lead when you get ready to cross the fence boundary. Be consistent - always slip a lead onto your dog when you walk him out of the yard.

He will easily learn that the only time he can cross the boundary is with you next to him, on lead.

OK, now I am really confused> The instruction for the e fence is to have the dog on lead and when it get near to the field charge pull and run back into the yard and maybe say a command.

On lead both times????

[Whispering Hills]

Sorry if that sounds confusing, and I hope this reply isn't too late for you. I haven't checked back since I wrote the first one.

I would strongly recommend you don't use the lead to pull the dog back when introducing him to the fence. That would indeed confuse the dog, and the worst part of it would be that it might teach your dog that when he sees you with the leash it means something bad could happen. Your dog might associate the leash with the fence charge - and that will make him shy of the leash, and may also cause him to mistrust you. I understand the manual says to do it that way - but I have to say that's bad advise. Whoever wrote that instruction doesn't understand how dogs learn.

Your dog will figure out immediately how to aviod the fence charge without you pulling him away from it. In fact the first couple of times he "discovers" it, he will likely run back to the house and be hessitant to go anywhere near the place where he got shocked.

Save the leash for taking him out of the yard. That will teach him that the leash is a "safe" thing. He will associate the leash with "safety" and going on an outing.

[greg deegan]

sounds good to me. Yep, the fence companies don't quite address the lead/out of yard behavior.
Solid advice THANKS
ps- am kinda leaning toward just a pain old plank or 2x4 wire mesh fence but that will have to involve a driveway gate- aaaarrrrggggg- might have to settle for 1/2 the back yard fenced.

[Whispering Hills]

I personally don't think much of invisible fence. I've seen dogs that can just grit their teeth and charge through it. If you live in a neighborhood setting, invisible fence can be bad for neighbor relations. Some dogs will charge toward people walking on the sidewalk - makes the pedestrians mad, makes some kids learn to tease the dog.

If you opt to put up a physical fence, I find the 2x4 wire mesh is good stuff (the woven type - not the lightweight welded type). Looks better than chain link if you install it right, and it holds up well. I have thousands of feet of it on my property, including my kennel exercise yards. I use 48" high with a top rail between posts so the mesh fabric can be stretched tight. I add a hot wire around the top perimeter and around the bottom perimeter (about 8" off the ground). Keeps the "sport digging" away from the fence, and it keeps the jumpers and climbers off the fence and safely contained.