Invisible dog fence
 

Does anyone use these down here? If so, who is the company that they use?

Many people in TV use invisible fencing. We have two dogs, one is a 10 lb poodle/terrier and one is a 70 lb Portugese Water Dog. We used Dog Watch out of Ocala, 352-351-3642. They were just great and understood my concerns. I really hated the idea of invisible fencing because I misunderstood the system. I love dogs dearly, and the idea of hurting them is repugnant to me. First of all, I asked the Dog Watch people to let me hold the collar and go through the boundary myself, so I could see what the shock felt like. It isn't painful, just more of a tingle but it's enough of a surprise to get the dog's attention. I also asked Dog Watch for references, and I called some of the people with two dogs, and they all told me the system worked very well for them. Of course, the fencing does not prevent other animals from coming on your property. Please remember that your dogs should always be supervised when they're in the yard.

I learned from Dog Watch that the whole idea of the system is to carefully train your dog so that if the collar beeps (when they get near a boundary), they know to come back onto the lawn. The idea is not to constantly be exposing your dog to shocks. Not at all. The idea is to train the dogs so that they react to the collar when it gives warning beeps, so that the dogs avoid the boundaries and never get shocks.

Dog Watch was great because they helped us train our dogs. It took a week with the beeper turned on and flags to mark the boundaries. During the first week of training, the current to the system wasn't turned on, just the beep. The whole idea of the training is to train the dogs to react to the beep and to avoid the flag boundaries. After a week of training, Dog Watch turned on the current to the fence. Each dog tried going through the boundary and got a shock. And never, never again went near the boundaries. It works like a charm. The collar beeps if they get close to the boundaries, and that is all the warning they need.

Here is the amazing part. If we forget to put the collars on the dogs, (not that I recommend that), the dogs still avoid the boundaries and never go near them. When we leave for Canada for six months, and then return to TV, the dogs still never go near the boundaries. Our house backs on a golf course. There are some little ponds. There are ducks in the ponds, and our big dog loves to chase ducks. But he won't cross the boundary. I realize that there are some dogs, like greyhounds, that may not be trainable to this system. Also, don't even bother getting the system unless you're willing to do the training.

We love the company, it worked so well for us. Evan, the trainer, was great. If anyone wants to see how our system works for our two dogs, just send me a PM and I'll invite you over!

Thanks for the great info, Barefoot. My wife and I considered an invisible fence, but we were reluctant for the same reasons you cited. We couldn't bare the thought of inflicting pain on our little guy.

Was it difficult to train your dogs? Do you think we can teach an old dog (ours is 10) new tricks (or at least to respect the boundaries)?

I wish TV would allow fences. The invisible fence is nice but I have small dogs and it worries me that my dogs would be contained within the fence but it doesn't stop others (dogs or critters of any kind) from coming in after them.

Like Bare, we use Dogwatch. I didn't know much about them but took Bare's advice and we could not be more pleased. Our story is very similar to Bare's. We have two dogs, one big one and one small. When we return to TV after several months away the dogs remember the boundries and stay in the yard.
Great, humane system.

This is my concern as well. We are renting for a month and I'm planning to bring an ex-pen to put the pups in when they need to go out. This is not going to be some kind of violation, is it?

Cappyjon, come over and see how our fence works. Our little dog, Biggins, was ten years old when we got the fence. He weighs ten pounds. So no worries about teaching old dogs new tricks.

It is not difficult to train the dogs, but it takes time and consistency, and is the most important part of the process. We trained every day for a week. I'd guess we trained each dog three times a day, for about five or ten minutes a time. (The invisible fencing is in the front yard as well as the back). I called Dog Watch several times during the week. They knew I was a nervous nelly. And Dog Watch sent Even over as often as I wanted, just to reassure me that everyone was on track.

Even when ducks came up the hill to taunt my big dog LolliPop, she woudn't chase them. If you'd like to see a demonstration of how the fence works, please PM me.

You may be OK for a month, if the backyard is private, because the violation process is driven by neighbour complaints. The neighbours would probably be OK because you're just renting for a month. By the way, your dog avatar is absolutely adorable.

But I seriously doubt anyone would tolerate a permanent dog pen in the yard next door. You'd be much better off in a courtyard villa or walking your dogs on a leash.