E fences

[jakeandrenee]

I have a very serious question regarding electronic fencing.

I am at a fork in the road. The property that I live on backs up to the woods and is very natural the front and sides and subdivision-ish. There are by laws that state we can't fence higher then 48" and there really isn't a nice way to fence....we would have to a lot of clearing and we like half of the back left natural.

I have figured out a way to fence with vinyl on front and sides and using a black coat link in the back where the woods are. The fencing isn't to keep Jake IN, as he will never be left outside alone, but rather a way to have a perimeter for him to understand. I want to be able to play with him, throw balls and garden knowing he is staying on OUR property. To make matters worse we just learned our neighbors HATE dogs so you can imagine their thoughts on a GSD.

Like I said I can only go 48'' and cost is around 6 to 7k for fencing a very small area, when the fencing salesman came to walk the yard he is the one who really suggested a good E fence. He doesn't even sell them but is a dog owner and likes them and thinks it is a way better fit.

Do you have an E fence? Pro and cons???????

I just don't know what to do and I would like to have something done in a few weeks and I am looking for some good advice.
Thanks....

[Whiteshepherds]

The electric fences work great as long as you have a dog who doesn't like the shock. Our first shepherd stayed well within the boundries. Harley liked the buzz apparently, he'd run through it and not even flinch. Never tried it with Annie she'd have been traumatized for life. (drama queen)

Both dogs are now trained to stay in the front yard with no fences, but we did build a 3 rail fence in the backyard, it's just about 5' high. (we have 5 acres, only did a smaller area) We used pre-treated lumber and posts and stapled wire fencing to the back. You can't see the wire from even a short distance, it blends in with the woods behind the fence. The cost of the wood, wire fencing and posthole digger was around 2400.00.

[Denman]

I have a Invisible Fence brand E Fence and it works great for my dog... The biggest part with an E Fence is to train the dog the right way... When I had it installed I had I.F send a trainer out a few times so I could get the jist of it and then trained Ginger the rest of the way myself. She never tests the fence, I don't think I have had her collar on her for the past 6 months and she has had zero issues. She did run through one time, but took the shock to come back in and has never ran thru since.

[Whiteshepherds]

Originally Posted by Denman

She never tests the fence, I don't think I have had her collar on her for the past 6 months and she has had zero issues. She did run through one time, but took the shock to come back in and has never ran thru since.

That how it was with our first shepherd, eventually we just shut the fence off. Actually, I think we shut it off during a thunderstorm and then 2 months later remembered we hadn't turned it back on.
The time she ran through it I felt horrible because I called her back. I forgot she'd get a shock coming back in.

[Denman]

Originally Posted by Whiteshepherds

That how it was with our first shepherd, eventually we just shut the fence off. Actually, I think we shut it off during a thunderstorm and then 2 months later remembered we hadn't turned it back on.
The time she ran through it I felt horrible because I called her back. I forgot she'd get a shock coming back in.

Well they do need to learn that if you leave, you will get a ZIP when you come back in...

[jakeandrenee]

Any brand better then another?

How hard is it to train them? Does it take months? Sorry for so many odd questions, as I just want to make the right investment the first time.

[Courtney]

We have the Invisible Fence brand and had them professionally install it. We would have to literally take down 8-9 HUGE trees for a privacy fence and opted for the IF. We have a large piece of property and ours backs 50+acres of protected wetlands (we're in the sticks!).

When we brought our little guy home at 8 weeks we already knew how we were going to train him with yard boundries. We NEVER let him cross into our neighbors yard, even on leash or if we took him for a walk it's ALWAYS down the driveway-never through the yard. By doing this he learned his boundries quick-which made training him with the IF much easier. We were doing this in preperation for the IF. We had it installed when he was 4.5 months old. It's a training device, not a replacement for a physical barrier like a privacy or chainlink fence. We worked with him everyday with the boundries on leash and slowly went from there. He respects the boundries, but the rule is he's NEVER aloud outside alone-but we also spend alot of time outdoors.

His collar setting is set pretty low, but I know some people who have to always have their adjusted to a higher setting-I think most of those are training issues, not the fencing or collar.

[jakeandrenee]

Courtney,
Thank you for the info....our land backs up to the woods, a pond and then farm land. Jake is 7 months old and he is never outside with out a leash and because our neighbor hates dogs we always stay away from that side of our property.

I assume I F is going to run me about 2k? Were they helpful in training?

[GSDSunshine]

Another option to try, and you might be able to get Doc in on this one is a normal remote collar like a Dogtra, or tiptronics (sp?). You said you never would have him outside without you, so with you controlling him and having control over the level and when he gets shocked, there would be no shock upon reentry, if he left. And I don't like the idea that if something came in that threaten his or your safety, that he would be shocked if either one needed to escape. (With this I am referring to wild animals or weirdos). The collars would only run you a few hundred max.

Something to consider.

[Whiteshepherds]

Originally Posted by jakeandrenee

How hard is it to train them? Does it take months? Sorry for so many odd questions, as I just want to make the right investment the first time.

It's pretty simple and all the fences I've ever seen come with a video to watch. Shouldn't take more than 5 days if that, depending on how often you work with them.

Basically you'll be putting small flags about 3' away from the fence line and first teaching him to stop at the flags.
Then you set the collar on beep. When he gets near the flags he'll hear a beep. (the collar gives a warning beep before they reach the shock line) You're still teaching him he can't go past the flags but he'll associate the no pass line with the beep.
Final step, turn the collar on shock. He'll here the beep and if he goes further, he'll get a shock.

There's a little more too it, like when to put the collar on, when to use the leash during training etc. but that's the general idea. First you teach them the parameters. If he crosses those invisible lines, he gets a shock.

If you do it right they're really trained to stay within those boundries before you ever turn the shock part on. The shock is just a reminder that they've gone a little too far when they forget.