Invisible Dog Fences

Keeping your dog contained with out fences is not that difficult to achieve, you just need the right tools for the job!

You know by now that one of the best ways to keep your dog safe and healthy is to keep him from running off. Keeping your dog on your property can protect him from cars, getting lost, eating toxic materials, and running into aggressive dogs or other dangerous animals. It can also protect you from the liability you have for any damage your dog might do to a neighbour’s property or, in a worst-case scenario, an injury he might cause a person.

While the most traditional and some say, the most effective way to keep your dog in your yard is with a ten-foot fence and a locked gate, that's not always an option. Buried (or electronic) fences are becoming a popular solution, but they're also a bit controversial. Seen by some as a catchall answer to straying dogs and by others as cruel and unusual punishment, these fences have both advantages and disadvantages.

Here’s how it works
Underground fences were first developed nearly 20 years ago, and they've been proven over time to be reliable. Their installation is usually very straightforward; it simply involves running a wire ‘antenna’ around the boundary of your property or the area you wish to protect from your dog. While it is recommended the wire be buried just below the surface for safety, this is not always necessary and depends on individual installations.

Your dog wears a collar that receives a signal from a transmitter in your house or garage, via the antenna. When he approaches the wire, the collar makes a noise to startle him. If he keeps walking toward it, two metal connectors in the collar will give him a mild static shock, or behaviour correction.

Pros
Underground fences require less maintenance than the traditional kind. Bad weather or an overly enthusiastic animal can’t damage an underground fence.

It also doesn't have gates that can be left open by accident.

Dogs can't dig under an underground fence. Also, dogs that are jumpers can't jump over one without receiving a slight correction.

Your back yard looks much more open. The cable can block off pets from a specific area of the yard, such as a garden or pond, without blocking it from view. Also, buried fences may be an option for homeowners who can't build a fence due to neighbourhood restrictions.

Cons
With the underground fence, you still have to train your dog. The fence is not meant to train your dog not to leave your yard. You are supposed to train your dog not to leave the yard; the fence simply reinforces your training.

You begin training by putting up a line of small flags where the cable is buried, (usually supplied as part of a kit). You then put a cover over your dog's collar so he won't be ‘corrected’ and walk him around the yard. When he comes close to the cable (and the flags), the collar will emit its warning sound. When you hear the sound, say "no" and lead the dog away, showing him that the sound means he should move away from the flags.

Once your dog has learned to associate the warning sound with moving away from the flags, you can take the cover off his collar and let him try wandering outside the perimeter. If he ignores the warning tone, he'll get a small correction to remind him.

The fence doesn't necessarily protect other people or animals from your dog. An underground fence will not keep people from coming onto your property. Children in your neighbourhood could easily wander into your yard to play with your dog, as could neighbours' pets.

The fence generally doesn't work on dogs under six months old. Any dog that has a hard time learning commands, whether due to age or cognitive disability, will probably have a hard time learning to stay away from an underground fence.

Some owners object to "shocking" their dogs. Though manufacturers maintain that the electrical stimulus from the collar is a lot less than the static electricity you might pick up from a doorknob, some owners feel that a traditional fence is more humane. The correction causes no injury, however, and on some models it can be adjusted to a dog's size and comfort level.