electric fence, dogs?

[ISC]

This post specifically addresses the tactics of property defense and training my dog.

I have a chocolate lab mix that is very athletic. She's a great guard dog but hates the nieghbors' cats and the squirrels and birds that taunt her just out of her reach. I keep her in a 18' leash which is on a pully on a 30' run. she gets loose about once a month (she is very athletic and crafty) then she jumps the fence and chases squirrels and birds for awhile then waits for me in my driveway.

My back yard is 1/4 acre and fenced in with a 4' chainlink fence which she climbs easily when she gets off the leash.

I'm thinking about running a single strand of electric fence wire on top of the fence to keep her in my yard and let her have more space than the trolley set up gives her.

The added benefit of discouraging people from jumping my fence is a bonus.

I understand that after a few shocks she probably will not try to jump the fence any more and I can turn the electricity on only when I feel a specific need (ie my paranoia or a pattern occurances makes me increase my individual threat con.

I'd like to hear some comments and precautions I should consider in this decision and installation.

[Shane Tuttle]

I think by this time she's going to be sly enough to get through that. If anything, I'd get Invisible Fence or a comparable quality one. It has more juice to it compared to the off-brands you see in PetSmart. Also, it's better made. It goes underground and easy to install. I'd bury it about 3 feet shy of the fence line. That way, if she tends to get a running start to jump the fence, the aural warning will set off first.

My strongest of suggestion is to crate train your dog. This is the best solution.

[Scattergun Bob]

I think the electric fence is a sound "target Hardening" idea. The idea of disrupting your adversary and training your dog at the same time is beautiful.

I used electric fence on my springer and it worked with no ill effects on her.

Good Luck & Be Safe

[Bill DeShivs]

It will work great, but use the stand-offs that clip into the fence wire and run the electric wire inside your fence, a little below the top.

[Casimer]

Just be sure that you don't create a hazard for your dog such that she could become trapped a/o entangled in contact w/ the wire - that can eventually kill an animal.

Also how much juice are you planning to run so that it will ward off a human?

[Capt. Charlie]

Hopefully, this will stay more on the topic of home perimeter defense and less on dog training .

Assuming you're talking about a commercial livestock fence charger (don't laugh; I've heard of several people actually trying this using 120 VAC ), keep in mind that these chargers send out a several thousand volt pulse every second or so, so it's possible that a jumping dog can brush the fence between pulses and still get out.

Using these to discourage unwanted folks from getting in isn't a bad idea, as any farm kid can tell you , but bear in mind that some communities have ordinances prohibiting them. You might want to check that before you do this.

If you get the go-ahead, use a plug-in charger rather than the solar models. It's been my experience that the plug-in's bite a lot harder than the solar powered jobbies, especially if the ground's wet.

[dipper]

For my dogs, I just had to build a high enough fence---over 6 ft. with a ledge on the top so they could not get over it.
My dogs quickly learned to " take the hit" of an invisible fence---they would just run through it and learned that the shock did not last long---it only works a few feet in either direction ---that is if they are in or out.
A good fence that they can not get over or dig under is your best bet and there is nothing electronic to fail ---like batteries in the collar or the buried line that sometimes fails.


Dipper

[tennesseeNick]

We had the same types of problem - we had a golden retriever that could climb anything with holes in it (chain link fence, wooden-slat fence, etc.) We ended up just having to keep her on a run like you described. She was pretty lazy, never had problems with it.

Neighbors had an invisible fence and a yellow lab; he would get a running start and take the hit, like dipper described. I'm not a fan of an invisible fence for larger dogs, I've seen quite a few charge out because the reward outside is greater than the pain from the shock. Also with this setup, once the dog is out, he won't want to take the shock to get back into the yard. Keeps them trapped outside your yard and running around.

[ISC]

Will the fence always have to be left on or can the dog be conditioned to think it's slways on?

What she does is get a running start and jump until her front legs are over the fence, then she scrambles her feet on the fence until she's over the top.

I was thinking about putting up some barbed wire, but I don't want my place to look like stalag 13.

I also have to decide where and how many signs to place.

I have noidea what kind of charger to get, but Hershey weighs about 65 pounds (she's very lean).

I've got a picture of her stuck in a tree that she climbed chasing a squirrrel. She is about 6 feet off of the ground and confused about how she's ging to get down. I think she was up there a couple hours before I got home.

[ActivShootr]

I had one of those radio fences that are buried in the ground. The dog just ran outside the wire and wouldn't come back into the yard until I took his collar off. What a waste that was.

It might work better in your application along with the fence though.

[geterdun444]

Where I live here an electric strong enough to deter a human would get you into trouble besides there are enough trees to easliy climb and jump the fence. Dogs on the other hand are welcome.
I have a lab american bulldog that runs are yard here I have a fenced property with 8' chainlink anything smaller and my dog is gone running the mountains till he gets tired. he barks at anything and would gladly chew your leg if you come over the fence. He however wont wother you if you come with myself or my children in the yard. He makes it easy for me because sojmeone is almost always home and if you get in myhouse chances are I know you if the dog is still alive. Alot easier to figure out who was here

[rickdavis81]

My dad did the electric fence when I was a kid but the dog dug under it. I now have a pet safe invisible fence. You have to have it set high enough to convince your dog. My husky takes a 4 and my greyhound a 3. It goes to 5. They even have stubborn dog collars. I talked my parents into it and they love it also. Now the can bring there dog to my house and throw her in the yard and shes does fine. No fence to mow around or weed eat. I have it covering my whole two acre yard front and back. I ran it under my driveway so if somethings not right at my front door my husky can be there. Since you already have a fence you just have to clip it to the existing fence and you set the range it goes off from the wire.

[geterdun444]

Rick I tried the same kind of fence.. set it on high after going threw the settings with the proper training for the dog as per instructions.
My dog would just walk to the fence line and piss on it then walk right threw. You could see the muscles twitching on his neck as he was pissing on it then he just walked right over it.
As another has psoted he would just go run and do this thing then wait for me to get home.
I felt is was boderline abuse on the dog so I threw it in the trash can and put up a real fence.
I might mention that my dog is real hard headed also. It might have been a different story if I had tried the fence when he was younger tho.

[Hornett]

My dogs quickly learned to " take the hit" of an invisible fence---they would just run through it and learned that the shock did not last long---it only works a few feet in either direction

+1
My golden retriever would do the same. except it didn't seem important enough to ge chocked coming back into the yard. I would come home and he would be laying there just a few feet from the where the wire was buried so I could take the collar off and let him back in.
Some of those collars will beep first then if the dog gets closer give it a shock. That was very bad for my neighbors dog, because it learned that you could test the collar by listening for the beep. THE DAY (and I think the minute) that battery got weak the dog was out and gone.

[pax]

Hopefully, this will stay more on the topic of home perimeter defense and less on dog training.

Closed, because it failed to do so. Sorry guys -- Tactics and Training ain't about tactics for training your dog!

pax