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Electric Fencing..

2K views 10 replies 9 participants last post by  1vegan 
#1 ·
What's everyone's opinion on invisible fencing that you put beneath the ground and if your dog wanders out of the area, it gets shocked?

My parents have purchased some for their dog, Otto. They think they are doing out of love for him but really it's because they are just too lazy.

I can see how this fencing would be useful in problem dogs who are really at risk of getting into serious trouble because they wander too often. But Otto is only a year old, still basically a puppy and he has so much potential, he is really smart. If anyone knows corgis, they know that they are really smart responsive dogs. I NEVER see anyone from my family out there training Otto to stay out of the road (it is a rarely traveled, quiet road might I add) If you look at him, you can see in his eyes that he wants and needs someone to guide and teach him.

He runs accross the road a lot to the neighbors and occassionally chases cars short distances. When he does this my parents get all mad and discouraged. But of course he does this...he's a dog, he doesn't know how to live in the human world, he has to be TAUGHT.

But they choose to electrocute him instead

LL
 
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#2 ·
We automatically turn down almost everybody who applies to adopt a dog and plans to confine them using an invisible fence.

It can work for some dogs, and I don't think it's necessarily cruel, I just don't think it's very successful all of the time. The only time I would support it is if your neighbor zoning laws prohibit above-ground fences (which is sadly becoming more and more common in upper-middle class neighborhoods). Too many dogs would run right through it, regardless of the shock level, if they saw something interesting enough on the other side that they wanted to chase. But for some dogs, certain breeds, with no history of running away, it can be okay, if the owner is willing to spend countless hours training the dog.
 
#4 ·
My parents got the invisible fencing for their dog, but it has yet to stop her from going out of the yard. She constantly jumps the fence to chase a butterfly, bird or whatever. I think that if my parents just worked with her every day on boundry training, she would be fine, fence or no fence. But it is pretty funny to watch CoCo (the dog) take off after a leaf into the neighbor's yard and my dad chasing after her screaming at the top of his lungs.
 
#5 ·
Call me old-fashioned, but we have a real fence. It does not cause any discomfort or pain whatsoever, and it's got a 100% success rate so far (she's 7 years old now, so not bad).

I don't think an electric fence would even work for our dog. She's a jack russell terrier, and I'm pretty sure she'd endure any amount of temporary pain to go chasing something down the road.
 
#9 ·
I've only had to use electric fencing on one dog of mine, a border collie, but it was the bare wire kind with a transformer that we strung over the top and around the base of a chain link fence, not the invisible kind. We simply had to do it because this dog would NOT stay inside the fence at all, spending every waking moment trying to dig out or climb over the fence and through the barbed wire around the top. A couple of bites from the electric wire stopped him quick, though, and I didn't even have to plug it in anymore after about a week. He wouldn't even get closer than a foot or so to the fence.
 
#10 ·
kpickell, I think the reasons my parents are choosing this type of fence is because they think the standard fencing is unattractive. I would prefer the standard fencing anyway, its much more humane and safer.

Quote:
It's much better than boundry training a dog and hoping he will stay in the yard on his own accord.
But don't you think this should at least be tried first before you automatically choose the shock method? IMO, if you are going to get a dog you should be prepared to take time to train them.

I don't know, the invisible fencing just seems so cruel...especially since my parents talk and act like this dog is their son, it's funny and cute but would they shock their real son? I know, I know dogs aren't as smart and need different training methods...but I really think that other options should be tried and the shock method should be left as the last resort.

Thanks for all opinions.
 
#11 ·
Quote:
Originally posted by Tova

I don't know, the invisible fencing just seems so cruel...especially since my parents talk and act like this dog is their son, it's funny and cute but would they shock their real son? I know, I know dogs aren't as smart and need different training methods...but I really think that other options should be tried and the shock method should be left as the last resort.

Thanks for all opinions.
I see it as cruel too.

If you take a pet, well ok, but also take responsibility for it.

Take a regular fence or teach the pet to behave, put some effort in it. It just doesn't seem fair to me
 
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