Fencing a dog

Question
QUESTION: Not sure if this question is apprpriate for this section, but I could not find a more relevant one. The last time I owned a dog, underground fences were not common. This Christmas, my wife and I will be getting a family dog from the local Animal Shelter. We live in a neighborhood that frowns on above-ground pet kennels and fences. When I shop for underground electric fences, What do I need to consider?

ANSWER: I am happy to hear you are adopting a shelter dog. More than half of our dogs and cats were rescued.

There are a couple of concerns about the radio fences. (buried wire).  Just last week we and a lot of other drivers were herding a wayward dog (Shepherd) that had an electric fence collar. The closest neighbor I know of with one is over a mile away, so obviously it didn't work.  There is a training period but if the collar is not fit properly, or the dog is just determined, it will run through it.  The second concern is it does not keep other animals out. So it doesn't protect your dog as a physical fence would. Not to say you should not get one to meet your needs.  

I prefer to have a dog that doesn't need a fence. It knows to stay in the yard by being trained to stay in the yard. The fence keeps other dogs and critters out - well a few rabbits have gotten onto the 5 acres and gotten a surprise visit while here. A lot more mental comfort to know my dog doesn't want to run the streets or otherwise get in harm's way. That is done with basic obedience and fence line walking. Teach the dog to stay in your yard and not wander off.

There is currently an infomercial pushing a "mother dog" type training. Unfortunately it is near worthless. The secret is they use  plastic and cheap rope to do what a regular prong collar is made to do. When the mother dog trains its puppies, it grabs it gently by the scruff of the neck. The puppy feels mom's teeth on its neck and stops whatever it was doing. Proper use of a prong collar does the same thing and costs $90 less. So a few hours walking the dog with the right training collar might save you a lot of $ for the radio system. On the other hand the radio fence may be the answer in your neighborhood. Depends on the dog and the neighbors. Most of my neighbors have dogs cats etc. When we bought the kennel 15 years ago the fencing was near worthless, missing, and covered in poison ivy and shrubs. That kept the kennel dogs in the kennel and the neighbors dogs out. Over the years we cleaned up the property, removed the old rotted fencing and put in new fencing. The neighbor kept saying, "my dogs won't bother your kennel or your dogs."  My reply was, "its not your dogs I'm worried about, its the strays and not all the customers dogs are trained not to run off."  

We've had owners that had untrained dogs or ignore the signs that read, dogs must be kept on leash and the fencing keeps the running dogs inside the main kennel area if they get loose. Yesterday an owner had a big dog that broke its collar as it was leaving the gate. The dog ran straight to the highway, down the road to the neighbors to visit his dogs. Meanwhile my house dogs were in their play run area and could have easily run after the other dog. Yes, we got the dog back quickly and I took a few seconds to tell the owner they had the wrong collar and needed a heeling collar, not a training collar, explained the difference and the owner bought one and left happy.

Regards,

Henry Ruhwiedel
Westwind Kennels LLC


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: I guess I was unclear about what I want. I am trying to find out what product features/qualities to consider before buying any particular fence kit. I am assuming they are not all the same. At this point, all I know is that I need enough wire to surround 1/2 acre. Thanks for the speedy response.

Answer
Except for some 'one of' products, such as Kennel Odor Eliminator, I rarely recommend any specific product. Anyone can Google research products and then pick a product that meets their needs. My suggestion might be based on criteria that are similar or different than yours.  My selection criteria is usually based on how long the ocmpany has been making the product, service and extended warranty (for this at least 3 years or longer) where I have to go for customer support. Price may be a criteria and the most expensive or least expensive products are usualy not the best value. The collar part needs to be durable and the batteries easily replaceable but can't be chewed out of hte box by the dog if it gets it off.

Regards,

Henry Ruhwiedel
Westwind Kennels LLC