by Matthew Penrod
I remember growing up in the country. Everyone around us owned a dog, and there wasn’t much traffic to worry about. There was a lot of space between homes and plenty of fields and woods for roaming. That’s why you could see your neighbors’ dogs all around the area over the course of the day. A lot of the dogs seemed more like they belonged to the neighborhood than to any one person, but they all knew where to go for dinner and bedtime. When I started driving at age sixteen, I even picked up my dog about a mile away from home. It was obvious that she’d had a great day running through the woods and getting into trouble, but she was also pretty tired and happy to see me.
I do have some pretty happy memories of those times, but I also understand that it doesn’t work like that today. Our streets are far busier than they used to be, and people are a lot more concerned about other people infringing on their space. Dogs may no understand clean street laws, leash laws, and property rights, but people do. Irresponsible dog owners mean that we even have to worry about lawsuits about our dogs. This is why most areas now have laws that say owners need to have a way to reliably keep their dog in the appropriate space. Even though I have some great memories of times when this wasn’t the case, I have to admit it’s not a bad thing.
There are many options available to achieve this containment goal. The obvious include traditional fencing or just keeping your dog on a leash every time he is outside. Some people choose outdoor pens or tying the dog to a cable. There are benefits and drawbacks to each of these methods. Finally, a method that is relatively new on the scene uses a radio frequency to establish a boundary for your dog (a.k.a. wireless fences or invisible fencing).
Let’s take a look at each method and see what it’s good at and what its problems are.
Traditional fencing – These are very effective against dogs that don’t clime or dig, but if the gate is accidentally left open, they become ineffective. This option is also relatively costly in most cases, and limited to back yards only.
Outdoor Pens and Cable tethering – This is very restrictive to the dog and the cable option has the potential for harming the dog if he gets tangled. In most cases that I’ve seen the dog stays in one spot in both of these situations, even when the pen is fairly large or the cable is long. Extensive use of these methods can cause stress to the dog that often translates to a variety of behavior issues.
Wireless fencing for pets – Fairly basic technology is used to allow you to train your dogs to know where the boundaries are and encourage staying in the right area.
We all know how the traditional methods work, so let’s take a look at the newest one and how it functions. Here are some common questions about wireless fencing.
Why A Wireless Fence?
There are lots of reasons that you might decide to go with this option for pet containment. In some parts of the country, you may not be allowed to have a traditional fence because of decisions made by your neighborhood association. Even in areas that do allow traditional and chain link fences, wireless fences may be a useful option for pet owners. It’s not possible for dogs that are contained using this method to dig under or jump over the wireless fence. Front yard access can be given, and there are no gates to leave open.
The way this technology works is that a radio transmitter is installed inside the house. The dog is wearing a collar that that knows when it is within the user set boundary. When the collar senses it is about to leave the “safe” area it gives a warning tone and then an electric stimulus if the dog doesn’t choose to move back towards the radio transmitter. With proper training, the dog quickly learns his boundaries and decides that he doesn’t want to receive the electric stimulus. It’s that simple. Naturally, with any electronic device, there are a myriad of options and features that can be had, but the basic concept remains the same.
A lot of people have questions when they learn about this new technology. The first one is whether or not it really works, and the answer is yes. The majority of companies producing this kind of technology report around a ninety-nine percent rate of success.
The next question is whether or not using electric shocks to encourage staying within boundaries is cruel. The answer, for most people, is no. The stimulus must be unpleasant to work, and a dog that has been trained properly will receive this shock only a few times over the course of his or her entire life. Most of them happen during the first week of training. A handful of negative experiences will teach your dog to stay where he or she should and will help avoid the possibility of death or serious injury from a car. Your dog won’t have to feel like he or she is in prison, unlike with a pen or cable.
The next most common question is whether or not this technology is of value to people who already have traditional fences. While you may not need a wireless fence if you’re in this situation, there are a number of reasons that you might get some benefits from it. Some dogs don’t run away when gates are left open, and don’t need this kind of method. However, many of them see even a closed fence as a puzzle that needs solving, and find out how to get out. I once owned a dog that could get through any fence by digging, climbing, or even pulling apart a chain link fence! Traditional fences may or may not contain your dog. Even if one does, wireless fences will allow front yard access and will keep dogs from running through open gates.
There are lots of things you need to think about when you own a pet, and safe, successful containment on your property is one of the most important. Opening the door and allowing your pet to run where he or she pleases could be really dangerous. We need more today to be responsible pet owners than we used to, and a wireless fence can help.
About the Author:
Matthew Penrod is an expert on dogs and has a
pet gate and dog fence website. If you are seeking a pet containment system then look no further than the PetGateLTD.com. You can find an assortment of pet supplies including underground dog fence products and
invisible dog fence equipment.
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