electric fences?

[deepseasnake]

does anyone use the electric fences?
I saw a neighbor use one, after his rotties got in trouble for breaking out AGAIN :roll:

and was thinking about bordering my flowers, pond and waterfall so my goldies stop destroying them.

what do you think?

[gooeydog]

Do you mean invisible fences (the type where you put a collar on the dog and it gets bazited when it crosses the "fence line"), or do you mean hot wired fences (where you use an electrified wire placed along the top/bottom of the fence to keep the dog from climbing/digging out)?

[deepseasnake]

well, either really
but what I saw was like a trip wire that ran in about 5 yard sections with small yellow beacons between each. My understanding was the dog triped it with his foot or leg right below the knee

seems like it was about 8 inches off the ground. the neighbor said the dog never tried to jump it either

just sounded a little, miracle drugish to me, ya know?

[gooeydog]

I've never seen one of those... I would think the dog would get smart and just jump over it. Maybe it's an invisible fence, and the wires are there so the dog knows where the "boundary" is. Is there already a fence around the areas you want them to stay out of? If there is, and it's just a matter of them getting in anyway, a hot wire might the best way to go, or a taller fence. If there's not, an invisible fence might work, but there are a lot of things to consider with them, and they don't work for all dogs. There's also those "dog be gone" sprays that supposedly repel dogs, so you might also want to check them. One more thing that I've seen done is motion detectors placed around, and they emit loud noises when the dog passes through.

[deepseasnake]

well the way the back yard is set up I have two flower/exotic plant "islands" and a pond with a waterfall. If I come home late or they are chasing the cat or even just normal playing around they trash the 3 forementioned areas. I dont want to put a fence up around them, makes the whole thing a little pointless :lol:

so what is the humanitarian point of view in regaurd to these things, do you use them? and are they completely safe? I've yet to do my research on these yet so, as of know I'm still in the dark

[gooeydog]

I wouldn't use one to keep a dog in a yard, but if you have a "normal fence" to keep the dogs in, and just want to use the invisible fence (I'm guessing that's what you mean) to keep the dogs out of where they're not supposed to be, then it should be ok. Some not so good things about them: if the dog is in drive (chasing something, running from something, etc), they will most likely run through the fence. If this happens, they will usually not pass back through, because after the adrenaline from the chase wears off, they are afraid of the shock. Also, they only work for the animals that have the collar(s) on... this means that the neighbors kids, loose dogs, cats, mail people, whatever, can still come into your dogs "area" and do as they please. Some cheaper models have been reported as picking up signals from other electronic devices (remotes, garage door openers, etc) and shocking the dogs. Most (if not all, can't be set at different levels for different dogs, so if one dog needs a different level of shock than the other, you will have to decide what to do about that. Some emit warning beeps before the shock (a certain distance away from the barrier), and if the batteries start going dead, they may not do that, so the dogs may not realize they are going to be shocked until they are shocked. Likewise, the batteries can die or weaken, which will allow the dog to cross the boundary because there is no shock/the shock is too weak to stop them. Also, you can't just buy the fence, install it, and let the dog(s) figure it out themselves (well you can, but it won't be very effective), you should take them out on leash and teach them where the fence is, and teach them that staying "__" distance away from it keeps them from getting shocked. I don't have much personal experience with them, but this is what I know.

[Horsefeathers!]

Deepseasnake, we have an electric wire that runs around the perimeter of any place we don't want the dogs. Mainly, my bully mix. I typically do not like to do any "training" that involves any pain, but this is my exception. This dog is dog aggressive and potentially people aggressive, so it's imperative that we keep her contained. Anyway, we have a regular fence up around the yard (which means nothing to you :P ), but about a foot inside it and about 6 inches from the ground is a live electric wire. It has been the only thing that keeps her from not only digging under the fence, but trying to chew through it. Anyway, here's the part that might interest you. We also use just the plain wire to "fence off" spots in the yard that we don't want her... like where we park the lawn mowers (she will chew the covers off... chewed a whole car cover up once and, gosh, I don't think that car covers and tarps are healthy snacks for dogs). The wire alone is enough of a deterrent. Once she found out that it "bites," she doesn't try to jump it, or crawl under it. I have eight dogs and all of the rest of them are pretty easy to contain, but this particular dog... well, if we can contain her, it must sure enough work. Again, I really hate anything that involves pain (prong collars, shock collars, hitting and such), but with so many children in our neighborhood and an unstable dog, it's imperative that we keep her contained by any means necessary and that electric wire has worked like a charm. I guess this is my exception to the pain rule :oops: . Just to answer your "how effective is electric wire" question. I really don't think it's all that humane, but better than the alternative (having her get out and kill another dog or maul someone)... :( I don't really think I'd do it just to save my flowers, but that's just me. I originally started out just to say how effective the electric wire is and ended up off in left field somewhere. :roll:

I found another sure fire way that keeps her from digging in my flowers and around my pool. I scoop up the poop and put it where ever I don't want her digging. I don't have to just leave it lying there (nothing would ruin the ambience like doggie doo in the broad open), but dig a shallow hole and put it there and loosely cover it with dirt. My dogs will not dig where there is poop. Go figure.

[gooeydog]

That's the hot wire I was talking about... sometimes it's used along the tops of the fences to to keep jumpers/climbers in, too. I've heard that in most cases, the dog only has to touch it once ot twice to get the idea, and that after that, some owners don't even have to keep them on... A problem with a hot wire is that there can't be anything (grass, plants, etc) touching the wire or it will short it out. That might make it hard to use around a garden.

[avaloniaboerboele]

Horsefeathers, my fencing works basically like yours. Ive got a 20 wire fence around the living area of my plot (agricultural holding). All my dogs wont come closer than 1 meter even if they are at full chase!!! From this fence i usually tap a little temporary hot wire to the areas (beds etc) where i dont want 15 Boerboels to hold social gatherings... The wires around those areas are fixed but are only switched on when a newcomer is let loose in the garden. It takes only one to three wake up calls and the dog is educated for life! I must say it breaks my heart to hear them complain - especially the second time :cry: :cry: - but nothing else will work.

So Deep, visible electric fencing WILL work almost 100% - even for the most stubborn dog.

[deepseasnake]

sounds like hotwire is the way to go, I'll look around and see if I can find some good ones

the dogs know not to go into the pond or flowers but when they get excited they forget, so I think it will only need to bite them once before they remember for good.

I think its ok as far as the humane thing goes its only gonna bite em once or twice and it will not leave any permanant damage, besides I had to pay almost 500 dollars when oscar broke my waterfall pump and dug a hole in the plastic coat under the pond! :x

[Guest Anonymous]

Sorry if I read to fast and am repeating stuff...my sister has an invisible fence that is about and inch under ground, for her two labs. They just put it in a few weeks ago. At their old house, they had conventional fencing and the girls had jumped it many times. Never have they gotten out of this one. They have white training flags that you put in the ground where the wire is for them to learn the boundries. They wear shock collars. Maddie had been on one before (age 6) and Belle (age 3) hadn't. No problems at all! They are very happy with no visible wires. It even goes across a crack in their driveway (they caulked it down). The dogs love being on the big front porch :D as before they were only in the back. :(

[Guest Anonymous]

[quote name='deepseasnake']sounds like hotwire is the way to go, I'll look around and see if I can find some good ones

the dogs know not to go into the pond or flowers but when they get excited they forget, so I think it will only need to bite them once before they remember for good.

I think its ok as far as the humane thing goes its only gonna bite em once or twice and it will not leave any permanant damage, besides I had to pay almost 500 dollars when oscar broke my waterfall pump and dug a hole in the plastic coat under the pond! :x[/quote]

Let me assure you the humans will also get 'bit' and so you must make sure that NOBODY with a problem touches it - dicey heart, pacemaker etc
is not a good mix with electric fences.

[deepseasnake]

I'll keep that in mind,
I dont know of anybody off the top of my head that I would worry about

[Horsefeathers!]

[quote name='Anonymous'][quote name='deepseasnake']sounds like hotwire is the way to go, I'll look around and see if I can find some good ones

the dogs know not to go into the pond or flowers but when they get excited they forget, so I think it will only need to bite them once before they remember for good.

I think its ok as far as the humane thing goes its only gonna bite em once or twice and it will not leave any permanant damage, besides I had to pay almost 500 dollars when oscar broke my waterfall pump and dug a hole in the plastic coat under the pond! :x[/quote]

Let me assure you the humans will also get 'bit' and so you must make sure that NOBODY with a problem touches it - dicey heart, pacemaker etc
is not a good mix with electric fences.[/quote]

From the "been there, done that" files...

Lordy, do I know about getting bitten by this thing. I've gotten against it a time or two and, have mercy, it dropped me to my knees. I'm a healthy person with no heart problems, or anything, but I'll tell ya... my heart sure felt like it was out of whack for a bit after that. Of course, I had to be standing in a puddle of water at the time and holding on to a metal fence post at the same time when my leg brushed up against the wire. The jolt went all the way through me. I thought I'd been hit by lightning. Of course, my husband thought it was funny (probably was just laughing at the blue streak of foul language I was hissing). :x

[Guest Anonymous]

We had cows for a while and used electric wire to keep the bull in (I hated that cow!!!) Well one time Koko (our last dog) got bit... and she ran up the hill howling like a banshee, poor thing. She always avoided them after that... in fact any wire at all was a very bad thing in her mind. :o

[avaloniaboerboele]

Horsefeathers, if i could only have been a fly on the wall....... :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

[deepseasnake]

reminds me of when me and the guys on the football team in high school decieded to "taze" eachother with 600,000 volts......wow that was a night to remember :o