Dog Fence

I remember the first time I found out that electric dog fences existed. I was at a friend’s house (this was many years ago) and my dimwitted friend explained that his parents had bought an invisible fence that, when wearing a special collar, his dog would not cross.

I didn’t believe him right away. Eventually he convinced me by putting the collar on his own neck and dashing across the yard. Needless to say, when he crossed the invisible fence, he gurgled and fell over. Continuing to sputter and moan, he crawled back towards invisible safety and me. To my amazement, invisible electric dog fences did exist and apparently they work pretty well.

Obviously, my friend wasn’t that smart, and chances are, your pet will learn not to cross the fence on purpose. The invisible dog fence is more of a Pavlovian teaching system than a punishment tool.

Dogs have an excellent concept of space and they know which boundaries not to cross. If they do try to cross the invisible plain, they will get a shock strong enough not to do it again, but not strong enough to injure them.

The fences even go one step further. If the dog is approaching the fence, a small almost inaudible warning tone will sound. This should be enough to prevent your pet from going any further. If it is not, they will receive a small shock.

To give you a sense of how strong the shock is, the dog fence emits a pulse that is one fifth as strong as a cattle prod and one-twentieth the strength of a stun gun. However, if you have a dog that is mentally unstable or very timid, you might want to try another alternative.

Any regular fence, if high enough, will keep your dog on the property. However, the real appeal of the invisible dog fence is that it will not impede human traffic and it won’t ruin your precious landscaping scheme.

Always remember this. A regular fence is almost guaranteed to keep your dog out of harm's way. An electric dog fence has no such guarantee. If the dog is not wearing the collar or if there is a malfunction, man’s best friend could become that great friend that man used to have.