Wireless Dog fence from ecollars.com??

[Don Kondra]

Greetings,

I have a rotti/shepherd mix who WILL NOT cross the wire fence when it's working http://www.germanshepherds.com/forum/images/graemlins/default/smile.gif

Max tears down the driveway after a deer and comes to a four wheel skid just before the warning <grin>

It takes him about a week to figure out if there is a break in the wire.

He'll usually only go as far as the road but it scares the new city folk acreage people, sigh...

I live on an acreage in the bush and during the past six years the deer, mice, etc. have broken the wire over 50 times.

With over 1300' of wire in heavy bush it's an outing to find the break, sigh.

I relaid it on the ground and this has stopped most of the chewing, burying it is more of a job than I am capable of....

Just lately the snow plow has actually dug it up twice.

Long story, short. I have decided to install the Pet Safe Wireless Fence system.

Has anyone bought this unit through ecollars.com ??

Pet Safe will only ship UPS, and not to a post office box, sigh.. Ecollars will ship USPS.

And/or anyone have any experience with this type of fence?

TIA, Don.

[Pat Germain]

The problem with "invisible" fences is people don't know they are in place. A friend of mine had one for his Rottweiler years ago. People kept calling animal control to report a "loose dog". Animal control would show up, grab the dog and drag him away from his yard, which activated his "shock collar", and haul him off to the pound. After picking up his dog from the pound multiple times, my friend eventually gave up and just kept his dog inside.

If you are in a more rural area, I expect this wouldn't be as much of a problem. In typical neighborhoods, people see a dog and no fence and assume they're going to be attacked.

[Don Kondra]

Hi Pat,

Well, I'm a third of a mile off the "main" grid road and twelve miles from the city.

Now, does this dog look like he's going to eat you? :)


http://i249.photobucket.com/albums/gg202/donkondra/MaxonstepsMedium.jpg

[Doug Shepard]

That's a cool looking pup. He must be smarter than most. I only know 2 people with invisible fences and neither of them even bother to keep batteries in the collar units anymore. Once they got used to where the line was, all of them (2-owners, 3-dogs) just stop at the boundary now whether they're working or not.

[Pat Germain]

Great looking pooch, Don! No, I don't think he looks like he's going to attack me. However, many, many people assume all strange dogs are viscious dogs. :rolleyes:

You'd probably be fine with a wireless fence in your area. I have two beagles. They'd cross any invisible fence without thinking. Unless you put up a very solid barrier, they just follow their nose...

[Don Kondra]

That's a cool looking pup. He must be smarter than most. I only know 2 people with invisible fences and neither of them even bother to keep batteries in the collar units anymore. Once they got used to where the line was, all of them (2-owners, 3-dogs) just stop at the boundary now whether they're working or not.

LOL, that does work, for a while.

In the winter with snow when the fence is down I can see where over the period of a couple of weeks he goes a little further every day until he realizes he can go to the road :)

Pat - have you tried a fence with your dogs? I tested the shock on my arm and YOWSA, it does get your attention :)

Cheers, Don.

[Greg Muller]

I wonder if that is common with beagles... My beagle just shrugged it off. I tried it on myself back in the fall and I haven't left the yard for quite a while now.

tzzzt...


Greg

[Rich Stewart]

I liked the one about the lady that called Invisable Fence and asked if it would keep skunks out of her yard. The guy says, "Sure, if you can get them to wear the collar."

[Michael Gibbons]

Don, I have a professionaly installed invisable pet fence system that is made by Innotek. The guy came out and was here about four hours. He uses a gas powered rototiller type machine that works like a ditching machine which cuts the ground, installs the wire then covers the slit back up. Then he installed the electronic unit in the basement, hooked everything up charged the collar then we were set to go. He fenced 3.5 acres and it cost us $1000. Well worth the price because at that time we were ticketed for having an animal running at large. Luckily by the time I had to go to court, the system was in and I showed the receipt to the prosecuting attorney and put me on notice that if it doesn't happen again in a year the case will be dropped which it was. What was really funny was that my dog knew that we did something to contain him and he was acting all depressed. The guy garauntees the system and it works. If I read your first post, I get the idea that you laid the wire on the ground. Is that how the instructions told you to do it?

[Don Kondra]

Hi Michael,

No, the instructions do recommend burying. The problem was my dog started wandering mid winter and I needed to get it up and running as soon as possible in the spring.

So I laid the wire by myself as close to the ground as I could get it but the bush is thick enough that in places it would be hung up on a branch, etc. Then the deer would "trip" on it and reach over and bite it...

Burying it is way more of a job than I am up to, physically or financially (1300'), so what I did is built a little jig I could walk behind and push under deadfall, etc. and get the wire right on the ground. This did reduce the breaks but still, once in a while the mice would get at it. And of course the snow plow lately, sigh.

So basically the system is great if installed correctly. I can't do that so I am going for the wireless system.

The order is placed. Just waiting for USPS now :)

[Don Kondra]

So to update.

The wireless fence arrived about a week ago from ecollars.

Good news/bad news kinda story.

It was quite late by the time I arrived back home from picking the package up from town, read the instructions, set up the two transmitters and fit Max with the collar.

I did manage to walk the road side boundary to see where it was, he now has about fifteen feet less than the wire system toward the road but more room on the sides and back of the house.

Supper and to bed early not giving a thought to the fact Max was still wearing the collar.

Around four in the morning he makes a big commotion about "going out", not an unusual occurrence and not something I mind considering the alternative <grin>

So I open the back door and off he goes chasing a neighbors dog. Then I realize he's headed out the driveway with the collar on.

By the time I got to the front door he's past the boundary and sitting in the middle of the driveway looking back towards the house.

Me bad, not the best way to reintroduce him to the system, sigh..

We looked at each other for a few minutes before I whistled, he gingerly slinked through the boundary area and then came running to me.

The nice thing about the new wireless is when the dog is facing the transmitter there is no beep or correction. With the old system if the dog leaves the area, he will get corrected AGAIN when he comes back...

So far one happy customer.

Cheers, Don

[Michael Gibbons]

Don, With the system I have, the dog will get a MAJOR poke when attempting to run through it. At a normal walk towards the fence, the unit will beep him to let him know the boundary is being reached. If he runs at it, the systen overides itself and jolts the dog which will make it do backflips. When you pull in my driveway, you can see the path which the dog knows is it's limit. Though to get the grass grow there.

[Joe Chritz]

He looks just like my wife's rotten shepherd. Her's has been bite trained by your truly and while he is a sweetheart when he was young he could very well eat someone if the situation warranted.

With good dogs, especially trained good dogs it isn't good to confuse kindness with weakness.

If I can find a young Nick pic I'll post it. The likeness is striking.

Joe

[Matt Meiser]

FWIW, we had about 1500' of wire buried for about $300 a few years ago. They came out with a machine that they just walk behind and were done in a couple hours. Of course wire prices are much higher now.

I've been shocked by our dogs collar. I stupidly walked out with it holding it by the end and listening for the beep after changing the batteries. It worked, started to roll the whole thing up in my hand and head back to the house. ZAP! My daughter took it off of him last summer so he could come over to where we have bon fires and got zapped too. Now we know why the dog won't leave the yard. :D

What happens with the wireless system when the power goes out?

[Don Kondra]

Hi Matt,

When the power goes out the system just shuts down....

I've noticed that it can take up to a month before he figures out if the system isn't working, this won't happen with the new system. Touch wood but in 24 years the longest power outage has been four hours...

Michael, Max is the same. He tears down the driveway and comes to a four wheel skid just before the boundry :)

Cheers, Don

[Lee Schierer]

You can stop or at least slow down the breaks and such with heavier wire. The Innotek system I installed around our one acre yard was about $300 and took me about 3 hours in the eveing to install with a lawn edger to cut the slit. Teh wire only needs ot be slightly covered. If the ground is clear they say you can clip the wire to the ground with u-shaped wire pins and the grass will grow over it in a few weeks. The Innotek system has nine levels rangning from a tickle to nearly "stun". Our dog stays put at level 2-3

Our dog http://sawmillcreek.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=77940&d=1198679229
figures out is the system is off by gradually creeping closer to the boundary. if he isn't wearing the collar. He will not even go close to the boundary if the collar is on. He won't even chase a cat across the line.

The only problem I saw with the wireless systems was they had liomited range and made only a round pattern which could be partially obstructed by things in the yard like metal buildings or parts of the house.

[Jim Kirkpatrick]

Hi Michael,

No, the instructions do recommend burying. The problem was my dog started wandering mid winter and I needed to get it up and running as soon as possible in the spring.

So I laid the wire by myself as close to the ground as I could get it but the bush is thick enough that in places it would be hung up on a branch, etc. Then the deer would "trip" on it and reach over and bite it...

Burying it is way more of a job than I am up to, physically or financially (1300'), so what I did is built a little jig I could walk behind and push under deadfall, etc. and get the wire right on the ground. This did reduce the breaks but still, once in a while the mice would get at it. And of course the snow plow lately, sigh.

So basically the system is great if installed correctly. I can't do that so I am going for the wireless system.

The order is placed. Just waiting for USPS now :)

Don, I like the legs on your chair.....did you make those? :D
I love the invisible fence idea....we have one for our little Jack Russell and like others have said, she does't even need the coller on. But she's just a peanut compared to a rotty. Yet a few years back I can remember on a bicycle ride, on a long uphill climb, I came upon 2 rotties in a field where obviously, they had an invisible fence. They barked loudly at me, all the while pacing back and forth where they had actually worn a path down to dirt in the field the whole entire boundary. I was very nervous as it was uphill and I could have never outpeddled them but they never came through. Good luck with yours!

[Don Kondra]

Thanks Jim,

I have a few more of those chairs in stock if you would like to purchase one <grin>

Appreciate all the comments guys, so far Max and I are very pleased with the new system, he has a new beaten path up to the slightly shorter boundary :)

Cheers, Don