Our relations in USA have electric fences, I feel sorry for the little dog as the collar he wears is huge, ok the house looks nice with no fence around but the big dog they have had found there's rabbits under the deck and pool so has killed a couple of those, you could put a normal fence around there so other animals won't get hurt. Saying that the house who's garden backs onto theirs has electric fences and 2 pit bulls who never go near the fence so the kids can happily play though there's always a chance of an electricity power cut and it'd be all hell break loose. Living in UK I'd never have one and I only own a Chihuahua!!!

I use a combination of chain link fencing and electric wire strand fencing in a field of several acres. The strands are placed sufficiently high off the ground so as to not affect most wildlife but close enough that a large dog will get a shock should they try to climb through. It works a treat and allows the dogs great freedom as well as preventing them from visiting neighbours livestock.

I am not keen on 'invisible' electric fences that rely on a collar; it's a far harder concept for the animal to understand plus it does nothing to deter other animals from visiting their territory. As for my lawn, why would I try and keep the animals off it? - they love it and spend far more time there than I ever will.

I can`t think of a better way to confuse and disorient a dog. The dog has to get shocked in order to learn where the boundary is. You would get the same effect if you hit your dog every time it went on the grass. In other words you are training with pain, and I am shocked that you are contemplating this for the sake of the price of a normal fence.

I wouldn't want to use an electric fence because it could harm small animals and children for that matter, but an electronic fence which works on a radio signal can be used without inflicting any pain. Most of them have a setting that just uses the beeps (no shock) and this could be used in conjunction with training to keep the dog off the grass. There's also another setting with just vibration and I would have thought this might also be effective alongside proper training.

I don't think I would want to use a shock to keep my dog off the grass as I think the dog would get terribly confused but if your garden has no boundaries and it's impossible or cost prohibitive to put a fence in, then this is a good alternative (as long as your garden's not so small the whole thing is in the electronic zone). My parents had one in a 3 acre garden which worked very well for the most part but the problems came when the dog saw a cat/fox and raced out of the garden (at that moment he didn't care if got zapped) and then couldn't come back because he'd get zapped again. So they're not 100%.

If an electric shock wasn`t at the very least uncomfortable it wouldn`t work. Think about it. It has to hurt to be effective.
So they use the shock + beep till the poor creature associates the beep with the pain. Then just the beep works and the owner can feel smug.

Sorry - I still think a simple fence would be kinder.

I have house sat in a few places which have used this under ground electric sock fencing and shock collers....

Before i had any experience of it my reaction to it was same as many others on here- cruel, how will the dogs understand etc......

But i have to say in all the places I saw it used-......it worked!!

The dogs understood very well- they are smarter than we think!!
The sock was very mild and in most cases the dogs only tested the boundaries once before they got it......this might initially seem cruel but in many of the cases stopped the potential loose dogs getting into traffic and all types of bother without limiting them to being stuck in the house.

happy dog, safe dog, happy owner ......

p.s all places i saw it used in where large country houses with big gardens....not sure how/ why would be used in more urban settings?

I have to agree. My dogs are never in the garden unattended. How many dogs get stolen that way each year? My dogs go for walks instaed. Every day.

[QUOTE=tabsmagic;1818487]......but in many of the cases stopped the potential loose dogs getting into traffic and all types of bother without limiting them to being stuck in the house.
happy dog, safe dog, happy owner ......
QUOTE]

Sorry but I disagree.

I trained my dogs wiht a simple "stay" command to wait on the patio until I was happy for them to go on the lawn areas. Thwe reason was that at the time I couldn't afford any proper fencing and the quotes I had ranged from £1600-£4000 to fence off the grassed area.

My dogs stay when I ask them to and will come on the grass when invited. I was training htem anyway so to train them to stand or sit and wait until I called them wasn't difficult.

My dogs are certainly NOT confined to the house. They get plenty of walks on lead, lots of time in fields and the park off lead adn attend shows, training and other events where there are other people and dogs.

They are happy dogs. I don't allow them into the garden alone. They can't get to the grass unless I open up the fence and when they want to go out onto the patio I now go with them at ALL times since what happened to Yiannis.

I don't see the relevance of using a so called training device that is known to cause discomfort at best and at worst, pain. I wouldn't want o hurt my dogs and I don't understand anyone else who would consider putting their own dog through something like this.

I would much prefer my dogs ot stay away from boundaries because I've trained them myself, ralther than because I've hurt them and they don't know whent he next shock is likely to come.
After all, what if tehy're NOT trying to get out of the garden and are wearing these collars with the electric fencing but are just playing boisterously. If they get too close, they get shocked. So they learn to associated playing with each other wiht the shock.

I think there are so many scenarios that can show how using these can make a lot of problems both for the dog and owner that it's just not worth considering such a device.

JMO of course!

Laura xx

as has been said a normal fence cant be used

wolfdogowner- you are lucky you dont have to keep them off you grass, this is my parents home so it is this or we are going to have a problem, and i dont get animals just to get rid of them, hence trying to come up with a solution.

ATD x

[QUOTE=Stumpywop;1818518] As i said, my opinion of this fencing was low until i had seen it so well used,
No one said it would be used instead of training and i never saw it used with young dogs.
You ate obviously a great dog trainer but there are people out there that love their dogs very much but do not have the capacity to train them to this standard, but they make great owners nontheless.
All the examples i reference meant that the dogs got to roam massive gardens freely and were very happy as a result. it was not used to replace walks or anything, just let the dogs have more freedom at home.......