Dog needs a fence

[LeeTheToolGuy]

So, we got Bo the hound a year ago. He has long since outgrown the cable run I out up and needs more space. Problem is, he has selective hearing and prefers to demonstrate his inability to hear his name, so when he off-leash he wanders the neighborhood.

So we need to fence part of the yard so he can frollick and run some. Looking for a fence installer to out in about 100-120 linear feet of 6' fence to close off the back yard. Two gates, one wide enough for a smallish lawn Tractor to get through. Located in Jefferson City. 

Payment in cash or tools (ToolGuy...) or a combination. Job to be done as soon as a deal is struck. 

PM here if you're a fence guy or know one. 

Oh, and if this is the wrong place, mods can move it with my apologies and appreciation

Edited March 22 by LeeTheToolGuy

[derf]

The electric fences work great. My brother has two labradoodles. One is a sweetie and wouldn’t go anywhere on her on. The other one is brain dead boy who hasn’t been fixed and runs like the wind. They both stay well within the zone of the fence. They required no shocking only a tone and vibration from the collars. 

[Garufa]

6 minutes ago, derf said:

The electric fences work great. My brother has two labradoodles. One is a sweetie and wouldn’t go anywhere on her on. The other one is brain dead boy who hasn’t been fixed and runs like the wind. They both stay well within the zone of the fence. They required no shocking only a tone and vibration from the collars. 

You mean an invisible fence?  Once a dog gets up the gumption and charges across the line, they won’t do it again to get back in the perimeter.  

[papa61]

Wise choosing to have pros do it. I'm in process of putting in about 300 feet of field fence on t posts to keep my dogs in. Not as simple as it would seem. Gates will come later as I can use the woven wire as a flex gate to get the mower through.

I have an AKC Great Dane and a shelter rescue half Dane. Shock collars only work until they decide to do whatever it is they are going to do. And they have. I would not trust the underground fence. However, if your pup would respect the collar I would recommend the sat collar. No wire whatsoever and tracking feature. You can set the boundaries anywhere so it would travel with you wherever you went. And NO UNDERGROUND WIRE  

[Darrell]

The dog that moved in here, uninvited, finally convinced me that a fence was needed. But I have a big property with a lot of woods, and a fence wasn't super-practical. So I bought a Halo collar, and subscribed ($6.00 a month) to their service. It's worked VERY well for Katy. You use something like Google earth to define an area that the dog is allowed to roam free within. Once that's defined the collar and application work together using GPS. When the dog gets within 10 feet or so of the boundary, she gets an audible warning. If she get to the boundary, she gets a shock.

And Katy WAS in shock for the first few days, wondering, I suppose, where the monster in the woods came from. But within a very short time she was well aware of her boundaries and respects them. She'll walk out to the mailbox with me, but stop a bit short of the warning boundary and wait for me to return. Even a filthy squirrel can't entice her to cross those boundaries, which is amazing.

The system isn't cheap, about $500, but compared to a fence it's not bad. And one can change those boundaries at will. If you go on vacation you can easily set a new area for the dog, though I've not tried that.

[peejman]

We had pretty good luck with the invisible fence. Our previous dog went bonkers inside a privacy fence. She'd dig and then climbed an 8ft fence to get out.

She didn't feel trapped with the invisible fence. She did run through it a couple times but she would sit just outside the warning boundary and wait for us to bring her back in. 

The current dog hadn't shown much interest in wandering off and is also happy to stay in a crate when we're gone. 

[ArmyBrat61]

I had 2 strong willed, bone headed German Shepherds when I tried the invisible fence. They would push through the tone then the shock and keep on truckin.... I had to get a 6 foot fence installed from Lowe's. It was pricey but it worked. Anytime they dug around it I filled the hole with moth balls and the problem gradually ceased. From the initial visit to completion was 10 days. 

[1gewehr]

We had the PetSafe solution.  It's a radio unit that sends a signal to the collar.  If the signal gets weak, the collar gives a tone.  if the signal gets weaker, it shocks the dog.  

The dog cannot outrun the shocks like with an invisible fence.  As long as the dog is outside the range of the signal, the collar will shock him.  Dogs learn very quickly where the boundary is and do not try to cross it.  The range can be adjusted, and placement of the sending unit allows some variation of the allowable space.  By putting the unit in our downstairs family room, our dog had full run of the back yard, but could not get close to the road in front.

Sadly we lost our dog (Rhodesian Ridgeback) two years ago.  We gave our PetSafe system to my brother, and it has served his dog well.  This system is not very useful for very small dogs, as the collar is a bit bulky for them.

https://www.petsafe.com/shop/dog/fencing/wireless-pet-fences/

[pop pop]

My daughter has an underground fence. Works great for her 2 dogs. Once they learn their perimeter the do not challenge it.  Lots cheaper than a woven wire install. 

[LeeTheToolGuy]

Los of good info to think about. NOT doing a buried wire, way too many separate areas to cover, and the thought of digging 4-500 feet of clay makes my 60 year old back ache. 

I do like the idea of programmable areas, gotta investigate that more. Halo collar sounds interesting.

Have to discuss the whole thing with JennTheToolWife and find out what I think. 

Edited March 23 by LeeTheToolGuy

[peejman]

They make a thing you can rent called a landscape trencher, it's a mini ditch witch and works great for the wire.  I did my 1/2 acre lot in less than an hour. If you have several sections that make the wiring difficult, the fully wireless type is probably better. 

Be sure to work with the dog to make sure it understands where the boundary is (marking flags) and what the warning tone means. We spent several days walking the boundary with the collar.  Hear the tone and pull the dog back, then reward her when she'd back away on her own. The only time she ran through it she was chasing a critter of some sort. 

[Alleycat72]

The next door neighbor's dog. LOL

[Kano]

Invisible dog fences SUCK!

They do not stop other dogs or wild animals from coming into your yard.

I knew someone who had one his dog got killed by a stray dog that came into his yard.

 

Edited March 24 by Kano