Any experience with wireless dog fences?

[Solsken Farm]

We had 2 Pyrs sent up from a Georgia gal who had to rehome them (they were rescues). They are WONDERFUL.

The female is the sweetest angel who spends a lot of time sleeping on her bed in the barn, or jogging to our house to stare in the window (think little match girl).

The male is breathtakingly stunning and the largest peach on the planet, BUT he has the pyr "I want to roam and I won't listen to you as you run in your nightie when it is 0 degrees out trying to get me to stop jumping over the fence and taking off".

So, I have a used 10 x 20 kennel coming tomorrow to put him in (he has been chained up since he proved to be unstoppable getting out of the barn and yard. A real escape artist.

We are thinking of getting the wireless system so we can install it quickly and not have to wait until the spring. We want him to have as much freedom around the barns and yard as possible.

Any experience with this?

Thanks.

I will post a pic of them. Gosh, we adore them.

 

[horsejody]

Sometimes hard headed and determined dogs will run through those invisible fences in a moment of excitement. Remember, they will shock him just as bad when he tries to get back in. I know a person that gave up on invisible fences because the dog would see another dog and run out of the yard. He was oblivious to the shock when he was excited. When he calmed down and wanted back in, the fence actually kept him out. But that's just one person's story. Others have very good luck with them.

 

[Katy]

My sis-in-law had one that worked well for her, but my son-in-law's german shepherd just put his head down and ran through the "fence".

 

[patandchickens]

At one point I boarded my horse at a barn where the neighbor 'rescued' (in this case, read: 'collected') dogs. Who would come across and chase the horses around and run them thru fences. When taken to court on this, neighbor was forced to install a fence for dogs. She chose one of the invisible fence things. It did ZERO good.

I don't know whether the problem was poor maintenance of batteries in the collars, or insufficient training, or (my opinion) the instincts of a pack of ten dogs wantin' to chase some horsies being too strong for some measly fence collar to override.

But I would say, it depends on the situation, they clearly don't work ALL the time.

Pat, who moved out of taht barn a few months later, albeit mostly for other reasons

 

[2468Chickensrgr8]

Yes Love to see the photo's.....We have neighbours down the road that have sheep and a beautiful GPYs and he too likes to come for a visit...stays at a didtance and just watches...

We have an invisible fence for our Retriever about 3 acres is sectioned off.I recommend following the instructions on how to train the dog for the invisible fence. Its worth it if you spend the time to train the dog....some people put the collar on and set the wire up and let the dog go...the dog doesnt understand.....our instructions for our fence reccomended using white flags on wire stakes we made more flags because we had a bigger space....but after all the training he has never gone over the wire. This dog really loved visiting the neighbours dogs who were fed outside ...free meals!!!.We are going to be getting another collar for our black Lab who now loves to visit the same neighbour..

Just wanted to let you know he was only shocked once during his training ..there is a warning beep to let him know when he gets close to the wire...
Also I highly reccomend if you do bury the wire MAKE SURE you doccument were you have buried it....yes speaking from experience..But its easy to put it back together...also sometimes now our dog doesnt even have his collar on and he doesnt leave the property...but real smart dogs know when the collars are on and off...Like our neighbours dogs...who also like to visit for play time...Hope I helped...I love it my dog has more freedom.

Just wanted to also let you know that our neighbour that has two Dobermans have it strung up on the bottom rail of their cedar fencing...about 10 acres....that way they can make it smaller by splicing the wire when their cattle is in the back pasture...and then they would put it back when the pasture is not being used by the cattle.....

 

[spook]

"I want to roam and I won't listen to you as you run in your nightie when it is 0 degrees out trying to get me to stop jumping over the fence and taking off".

Memories....abused lab we rescued and kept...only when in season did we hop snowbanks as she was a big girl.

I was going to make the same comment that horsejody made, I've known of this happening.

If you was place a cable ground level (you and family watch out!!!) so that he can run without getting tangled on a tree or post, give him that "freedom" and soon enough you will be able to allow him off the run. The unfortunate thing is that Maine has a leash law. All dogs much be under control. At this point, he is the alpha, you need to get that spot with voice command and consequences. Pushing down his head towards the ground when he misbehaves, this shows him you are the boss and in dogs that is a big deal. Make him come to you and then push his head down while telling him what you expect.
Using the invisible fence is a good idea especially after he has become accustomed to your property.
Good luck!!​

 

[ChickenToes]

One of my mom's friends used the invisible fencing. It worked great until the dog realized it could jump over the fence without getting zapped. I don't know if this could happen with all brands of fencing or if she had an el-cheapo brand that barely worked.

But I've been told not to waste my money on them.

I have a Bloodhound, I sympathize with you on the roaming dogs.

 

[ZooMummzy]

Ours didn't work. The shock, no matter how high it was, didn't seem to bother the dogs. Their shock collars for barking don't even bother them. I finally just finished ripping out all the wires from it last summer. I'm sure others have had good luck with them but for us, it was a complete waste of money and time. We are putting up an 8ft solid fence.

 

[kbarrett]

Quote:
My story too. Raven would take the shock to go chase cats. When he was ready to come home he would sit and cry on the other side because THEN he was afraid of the shock.

 

[Solsken Farm]

Boy these are all very helpful replies.

He will be hit by a car if we don't do something. He was able to jump over our 5 foot horse stall doors (we have run ins in the barn) and found every nook in our barn to squeeze through.

I WILL spend the 2 weeks training him which they recommend. I agree just putting the dang thing on him, and expecting it to work, won't work.

I agree that the thought of shocking him is horrible, but he will not survive on our road if we don't do something, and living on a chain or even a trolley or even in a kennel all seem like crappy options to me.

I would never use the wireless when we are not home (hence the 10 x 20 kennel), but just cannot stand him being tied up his entire life.

From my reading Pyrs are not known for their obedience and the roaming instinct is a trait deeply ingrained into their 3,000 years of breeding.

Surprisingly he isn't the alpha, the female is, but thankfully she has no interest in going anywhere. Neither of them has any interest in chasing anything at this point, but who knows when predators come near the property.

I know this spring we can reinforce our horse/goat pastures, but not right now as we have 3 feet of snow and we are talking more than 10 acres of wire.

I truly underestimated his need to run. My poor DH, I keep doing these "I love Lucy" schemes to him, causing more complications in our lives. He will not help one iota with this one, so I am on my own....

I do not regret my decision. They are both a joy

and will be a wonderful set of LGDs to help keep our cats and chooks safe, once I work out the kinks.

Thanks and keep your thoughts coming!