My shepherd and the invisible fence

Question
Hi, I have a 9 month old Shepherd, after 4 months of using the invisible successfully he now knows the shock is not "so" bad and will run through. I have the collar on tight, his neck is shaved and the fence is at its highest level. I have Dog Watch, which collars would I be able to use with this system that will give a stronger correction. My system is 12 years old and works well, we never had a problem with our last Shepherd. Thanks so much, Johanne.

Answer
Unfortunately, Johanne, it might not be possible for you to use the invisible fence to contain your dog if he has already figured out that he can run through it, in such a short time and at such a young age. Most of the time, the reason dogs figure out that they can escape the invisible fence, they were not trained properly to begin with.

I have never heard of the system that you have, so I cannot recommend any collars that might work with it. There might not be any. You may have to consider having a new system installed. I know that the newer systems have strong collars that are especially for stubborn dogs.

The key is to not allow him to escape ANY MORE, which may mean you need to keep a long line on him when he's out there, and you'll need to stay out there with him (I don't think it's advisable for you to ever leave him out there alone again) so that if he gets too far, you can pick up the end of that long line and check him as he hits the correction zone.

You probably ought to make the correction zone larger, at least for a while, so that if he >does< start through it, he will not be able to get to the 'other side' before you can get ahold of that line.