e-Fence

[buenavides]

What are your thoughts about these GPS dog fence? Is it a good alternative to the usual fence? Also, how does the shock collar system work?

[AvocadosBeforeMortgages]

There is no way on this planet that I would use such a system.

The electric shock delivers pain to your dog's neck if it gets too close to the boundary. The trouble is that this can result in a fearful dog. Think of it as an automated version of giving your dog a kick every time it goes too close to the boundary - I hope you wouldn't think that was acceptable.

If a dog simply runs through the pain and ends up on the wrong side of the fence (for instance, if single mindedly chasing a squirrel) then it will receive an electric shock every time it tries to cross the boundary back into the garden, and will end up trapped outside.

Invest in proper, traditional fencing.

[PrayingandHoping]

Friend had one. The only time she knew it had broken (which is did fairly frequently as wild animals would break the Wire) was when her dogs escaped and once resulted in a dog run over and killed. Would never use one

[OverFedStanley]

Would never use one and are now illegal due to ban of electric collars in the whole of the UK

[missbattenburg]

Whenever I see them I am reminded of a story Sarah Whitehead tells in her book (Clever Dog) of a saluki who was an escape artist and so the owners used this fence to contain her.

Within a few weeks she refused to leave her bed because she had not been able to tell the difference between the beep that threatened a shock was coming with all the other beeping in the house. She spent her days in fear a shock was coming and never knowing how to avoid it.

They rehomed her, in the end, rather than put her through the stress of staying in that home any longer.

I'd rather strap the shock collar to myself than Battendog.

[yetwig]

I wouldn't use one they're cruel, a 6 ft fence and watching your dog when in the garden is what I do 🙂

A vet once told me about a case of a dog getting repeatedly shocked by a collar and had burn marks around its neck, saw pictures it was a very bad and resulted with months worth of treatment.

[Nesssie]

e fences were not included in the UK ban so are legal.

I would get the help of a behaviourist to ensure that you are using it correctly though.

[OverFedStanley]

Not in wales and Scotland and a case going though England legal system now

[AvocadosBeforeMortgages]

Just because they're legal doesn't mean they're a good idea. Various welfare charities expressed sadness that electric collar fences were excluded from the ban.

No good behaviourist will help you to use an electric collar fence properly, because they shouldn't be used at all - plus the qualified ones will have signed up to a code of practice that prohibits the use of such things. I wouldn't trust any behaviourist who didn't tell you to just put up a proper fence.

[Nesssie]

Is the Op in England? e fences are very common in USA where gardens are too big to fence in.

[fivedogstofeed]

They don't work. Where I live stray dogs are regularly picked up wearing electric fence collars.

Apart from being cruel and difficult for dogs to understand, one of the issues is a dog is likely to break out through it in the excitement of chasing a cat/ squirrel/ person, but then is too scared to go back home because they've been shocked. Horrible.

[Wolfiefan]

Cruel and ineffective.

[JamieFraserskneewarmer]

Take everything you hear from people who have never actually had one or seen one in action with a pinch of salt. Worth noting that most of the above commentary is anecdotal at best. We have one and it has kept our regular escape artist safe from a nearby road where he was previously injured. Can't understand people who say that they get broken by wild animals since ours is buried nor the burn marks. This sounds more like incorrect installation and use. We did a fair bit of homework before we had ours put in and went with a reputable long-established company. Never had any issues with it but then we are very careful to ensure that the collar is used within the recommendations provided at the time it was installed. DDog therefore has his collar on and off a number of times a day and that really wouldn't be an easy job if he hated it. Appear with the flea comb in hand and he is off! Electric fences are commonly used for horses and other livestock and this isn't really that different.

[missbattenburg]

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3474565/

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4153538/

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S016815910300248X

pdfs.semanticscholar.org/102b/27809b4512582df0090d52596048db7aa8af.pdf

Some links to the science, if anecdotal is not what you were after, OP.

[PrayingandHoping]

@JamieFraserskneewarmer not anecdotal at all. Was a good friend of mine who had one and I trained their horses and was at their property a lot!

They had it installed professionally, but when you live in the countryside animals burrow under hedged etc and break wires quite easily! It happened several times and as I said, ended in a dead dog.

Would never use one. And I have my horse surrounded by electric fence, it's not the same at all.

[Doggydoggydoggy]

Definitely not.

There are some tools that are considered ‘aversive’ that I am in support of but electric fences are definately not one of them for these reasons:

• if it malfunctions the dog could be electrocuted over nothing
  
• if the dog is massively aroused by something, a squirrel for example, they can actually run through the shock and not really feel it due to adrenaline then be too terrified to return back home because they are anticipating the shock.
  
• I think there is a risk of the dog associating the shock with the wrong thing, eg if it suddenly lunges at the fence in friendly excitement at seeing a child and gets shocked it might wrongly associate the shock with the child instead of crossing the boundary.

[Wolfiefan]

Agreed Doggy. I use a dogmatic which some people consider aversive but I can manage how it is used. I wouldn’t use an e fence.

[Booboostwo]

They are very common where we live in France and they are awful. They can easily terrify some dogs and give the wrong signals to other dogs. For example, our neighbors got a rescue puppy to keep on their unfenced farm. Of course the puppy started running all over the place including the road which was a problem so they put a collar on him. One of the first times he had the collar on I walked past with my dog whom he had already met and played with, so he run to play with my dog again and got zapped. He associated the pain with my dog and is now very aggressive towards him. This after just one association.

[buenavides]

Thank you all for the suggestion and tips on how e-fence work. I have decided to go for a wired fence instead since it won't harm my dog and he can immediately be familiarized with his boundary.