If you have a dog of your own, you logically have to take him or her outdoors several times a day, on a leash. Other than just taking them out to relieve themselves, dogs also need to be able to run free and exercise.
If you have a fenced-in yard, you don’t particularly have to worry about your dog running into the street or running away from your home. However, some dogs are intent on digging underneath fencing or trying to jump over it. What if local zoning laws don’t let you erect a fence? What is a dog owner to do?
An underground dog fence is an alternate solution to this problem. The first thing that is so great about them is that because they are invisible, they won’t obstruct the view of your home. Perhaps we should take a minute to talk about the concept behind them and how they operate.
An underground dog fence is made up of three main components: a transmitter, dog fence wire and a special collar that your dog wears. The wire is buried 1-3 inches deep, around the perimeter of your property. The wire defines exactly the line that you do not wish for your dog to cross. The transmitter is placed indoors, or in another weatherproof location. The collar is fitted snugly around your dog’s neck.
It takes a couple of weeks to train your dog on an electric dog fence. Here is how he learns. When he approaches the boundary zone, which is a predetermined measurement in front of the wire, he will hear a beep through his collar. This acts as a warning, to let him know he shouldn’t come any closer to the border.
Should he continue going forward and approach the wire, he will receive a mild, static shock through the two metal contact points attached to the collar. This correction lets your dog know that he has gone too far.
You may be wondering if this is safe for your dog. The answer is yes. Here is what it feels like to him. Run across the carpet in your socks and touch a doorknob. You feel it, but you wouldn’t exactly call it painful, correct? It just grabs his attention.
The dog remembers the consequence of what happens when he crossed the boundary. Serving as visual cues, there are also training flags placed every few feet around the border. This is another reminder to your dog of the areas that are off-limits to him.
The good news about an electric dog fence is that it will save you big money over erecting a traditional fence. The only exception to this is if you hire a professional company like invisible fence® to come and install the fence for you. This is quite an expensive undertaking.
A far better solution is to buy a do-it-yourself dog fence kit. Companies like Perimeter®, PetSafe® and SportDOG offer systems that work equally as well as the invisible fence® company. You can expect it to take a day or less for you to install your electric dog fence for yourself. As a reward, you will save yourself about 65% over what you would spend having invisible fence® come and install their system for you.
And there you have it, a viable solution that will let your dog enjoy the freedom of running off the leash.