Invisible Dog Fence

[JM4CY]

I apologies if there is an extensive thread on this topic that I missed when looking for one.

Here's my dilemma, the roommate recently bought a puppy for the kids as an xmas present (6 pound little barking cat). While the dog hasn't been as big of an issue as I originally planned, the topic of a fence for the backyard is firmly at the center of discussion. I have a fairly large back yard and live in town. A buddy of mine that works in construction gave me a few ideas and basically said my little fence project is likely in the ball park of atleast 4 grand after it's all said and done if I want material that I am not gonna have to replace any time soon. 4K is not a price I can do at this time.

Therefore, what do people know about invisible dog fences? I've heard they don't work well but is this operator error? What do they cost? TIA

 

[1100011CS]

I had one on a ~ .5 acre lot at my last house. Worked very well until the neighbor aerated his lawn and swung out into mine.

That said, I have a fenced in yard now and like it better. No messing with receiver collars, no wires to get cut, no training.

 

[cmjh10]

Was just thinking about doing this with a second dog in the house. I am interested in any tips and suggestions as well. Fence is really out of the equation because my backyard butts up to an alley.

 

[cowgirl836]

IDK how helpful this is but our neighbors put one in a couple summers ago and it certainly seems to work well. Never see the dog cross over into our yard or run out into the street. Think it did take most of the summer to do the training as they slowly started removing flags.

 

[Farnsworth]

I've heard from people that you better just hope the dog doesn't run as fast as he can through, because once they know, they know and will keep doing it.

 

[CycloneVet]

Ours works great. Check into Invisible Fence out of Cedar Rapids if you are close to CR

 

[SCNCY]

Growing up our neighbors had an electric fence for their dog. It did not work at all as the dog was always going across it. Having said that, their dog was a St. Bernard, so maybe it works on smaller dogs?

 

[mdclone]

When I had one back in the day the only thing it did was make sure the dog didn't come back in the yard once it ran through it chasing a rabbit or something. Depends on the your dog really. I had a crazy hunting dog that wouldn't stop for anything once it started chasing something.

 

[NickTheGreat]

My parents had this one that was just a basestation, no wires required. Just plug it in, and you get a 50' radius or whatever you set it too.

Theirs was a big old lab and he didn't get out, as long as his batteries were changed.

 

[HGoat1]

Had one for my yellow lab at my old house. Worked well, she learned pretty quickly and never had any problems for the 5 years I lived there.

 

[somecyguy]

We have one on our acre lot and love it. That said, depending on the size of your yard, an invisible fence could cost similar to an actual fence. We trained our dog at about 3 months, so he has always known it and rarely tests it now.

 

[Farnsworth]

My parents had this one that was just a basestation, no wires required. Just plug it in, and you get a 50' radius or whatever you set it too.

Theirs was a big old lab and he didn't get out, as long as his batteries were changed.

Never heard of this but it sounds like a pretty good idea. We have a fence but our dog isn't smart enough to leave the yard even if the door is left open.

 

[ImJustKCClone]

I've heard from people that you better just hope the dog doesn't run as fast as he can through, because once they know, they know and will keep doing it.

Also, if snow is deep, it can "muffle" the signal. The neighbor's dog learned to escape when there was a foot of snow over the wire.

 

[megamanxzero35]

Are wanting to put the dog out alone with the invisible fence? Or will someone usually be out with the dog? If someone is going to be out with the dog all the time, I'd look into classes where they teach with an e-collar. That's the route we went with out husky. She's a year old now and we go out for potty and play, no leash and she knows not to run after something. Has good recall when something does get her attention.

 

[Isualum13]

Just get one that has a set radius that when the dog exceeds this they get zapped. Dont have to wory about burying anything, and they work well. But, if the dog is excited chasing something, they may not care about being shocked.
Make sure you keep the collar charged though.

 

[mfelske]

My parents had this one that was just a basestation, no wires required. Just plug it in, and you get a 50' radius or whatever you set it too.

Theirs was a big old lab and he didn't get out, as long as his batteries were changed.

This is what I have (from PetSafe) and it works well. Also much cheaper than an in the ground system. Looks like it's around $270 on Amazon now.

Depends on your lot though. It will give you a circular area. It also gets a bit wonky with garage doors or other large metal barriers.

 

[IcSyU]

Our neighbors have an invisible fence. If their lab sees either of our dogs outside the fence doesn't do the first thing in slowing her down from sprinting through it.

We have a shock collar and I much prefer it to in-ground fencing. I can take it anywhere so if I want to take the dog to my parents house I have him under my "control." If I'm outside and the neighbors are ok with our dogs playing I still maintain control 3 lawns over. There are times I'll take the dog on a walk without a leash (shouldn't...I know) but I'll keep his collar on him.

Our older dog gets called and if he chooses to ignore it his collar starts to vibrate. Generally that gets his attention. If that doesn't get his attention, we have options to "nick" him or go full shock at whatever power we want. That gets his attention really quickly with no problem when necessary.

 

[browns4cy]

Petsafe wireless worked well for us. Have 3 Huskies that liked to run. One of them now refuses to leave the yard even though it's been over a year since she had the collar on. Have to literally carry her down the block to take her on walks. The other one likes to test her boundaries so probably need to re train her. Like I said after 1st month they were pretty well trained. My sister uses it on the farm now for their husky.

 

[somecyguy]

Petsafe wireless worked well for us. Have 3 Huskies that liked to run. One of them now refuses to leave the yard even though it's been over a year since she had the collar on. Have to literally carry her down the block to take her on walks.

This is where the training that came with our invisible fence was so valuable. I wouldn't have considered walks and such, but they helped us set up a routine with our dog and only leaving/returning the yard via the same place every time. So he understands when we change his collar to his walking collar and takes the same path each time. Works like a charm.

 

[CycloneDaddy]

Neighbor across the street has a Rot and next time it runs through the invisible fence towards kids on the sidewalk Im shooting it.

Small dog like your roomates is probably fine with the invisble fence or just buy a long metal leash for it and tie it up.