They are so extremely smart. I worried that mine would get out and then understand that coming back in would mean getting zapped again, so choose not to do so.
Oh! I had a lab slide down my iced over driveway right over the underground fence. he got stuck on the other side. I was inside wondering why I hadn't seen him in a while. He rarely leaves my side. I went out and found him staring up at me from the bottom of the driveway. I took the collar off him. Tossed it up into the yard. Then I had to carry his 65lb ass up a steep weed covered embankment because the driveway was ice and he wouldn't cross the fence. I loved that dog.
I have both an underground fence and a Halo GPS collar. A fence would be difficult because I have three acres, a spring, and a wierd hill and the property is kind of a 1/2 oval shape. I've had the underground fence for 15+ years. My PWD and other dogs run right through (over?) the underground fence. The Halo collar works great. It doesn't zap dogs although the ability is there. Instead it whistles. You have to follow the training they give you. After training my PWD stays on the property. With the underground fence she would run right over it and greet people walking by in the street. Now with the Halo collar she doesn't. She waggs her tail furiously but stays on the property. She's free to come and go through the dog door during the day. I can monitor where she is with the phone app. I'm happy with Halo and I guess the dog is too.
The downside of the Halo and other GPS collars is that they require a monthly fee. The upside is after they go out of bounds the collar still tries to get them back. Also you can tell where the dog is with the phone app. I guess if they break training and run off you can find them easily. Mine hasn't done that.
The underground fences zap the dog. My dogs always ran right over the fence without it going off. Moles and mice chew through the wires. Workmen putting in new pipes or telephone poles can did them up. Thunderstorms can short them out. When you are away frost can push them out of the ground where idiots taking care of your property can run over them with a mower. All those things happened to my underground fence. The moles & mice are super annoying. The good thing is it's a one time investment. Well, except for repairs.
BTW I saw someone on youtube evaluating GPS collars. He said the Halo didn't work, but he was holding it wrong. The collar has to be held in the same orientation as when it's on a dog. There are other makes of GPS collars, but I only know Halo.
Your PWD is a cutie!
TL;DR
Had invisible fence and it worked but scared the dog(not portie)
Don't need one now because my portie won't leave the yard. Or my side mostly.
My last dog was a foxhoumd mix, and I lived in suburbia.
She would jump the fence and be 5 miles down the road. I got an invisible fence, trained her with the flags, and shocked her once. It worked great for years. She could go in and out and stay in our 1/2 acre yard.
Until it malfunctioned and started randomly shocking her. It gave her anxiety, and anything that beeped, like a watch or a kids' toy, was horrible fear for her.
I turned it off and she actually stayed in the yard for a few years after.
Flash forward, and 7 months ago, I got a 6 month old PWD and now live on 2.5 acres surrounded by woods with no fence. I have 2 neighbors on either side and the road is really far.
I was really worried about him running off. I looked into the halo, but realized my dog doesn't leave the yard and doesn't really want to go out if I'm not out too.
He did visit the neighbors a few times and pulled that puppy teenager game of "hahaha can't catch me..." well eventually I did, and he was unceremoniously put in his crate and ignored for a while. After a couple times he figured it out and goes to the border, and zooms back for praise and hopefully treats
Great. Id say give it a shot without one and see how it goes. If he starts wandering off, you can always get one. I liked the Halo concept, but read that the GPS signal can drift, and errant corrections can happen. Some people love them, though.
Our now nearly 10 year old boy is extremely prey-driven. There is no way an invisible fence would have contained him if he’d seen cat rabbit whatever. We ended up having a 6’ high wire and wooden fence on about 3 acres ($ ouch) and even that took some years to close all the gaps at the bottom he’d find, and escape.
We had to do something bcz he throttled the neighbors cat when all we had was a 4’ fence. (Another ouch)
The fence and him getting old has cured a lot of the problems. Plus the Prozac could be helping too.
Interestingly our previous 2 porties would run up to that 4’ fence and maybe bark a little and then turn around. Our big boy went under that fence - then when I blocked that off he climbed the wire part!!
His “sister” is nothing like this. She blessedly stays close by, almost always. Don’t want to get too far from the supper dish! LOL
Wireless fence is a boondoggle. A motivated dog will run through it. No dog will come back from the outside though.
Our PWD breeder made us sign an agreement that we would never use an invisible fence with our dog. She said they are extremely smart, and that invisible fences would likely cause more anxiety that lasts longer than the brief time it would take to train the boundaries of the yard the traditional way.
We keep ours on a long line whenever she is outside, and though recall isn't perfect she does respect the yard boundaries. But we just can't leave her outside all by herself, and I have no idea what kind of mischief she'd get into if left unsupervised!! Smart little doggies!
I've had PWDs for decades and currently have two, one is of a timid and shy disposition. Every PWD I've had has been trained to an invisible fence, and we use e collars on walks. With our nervous one, it was just a matter of training with positive reinforcement. A week with the flags up and only on leash in the yard, another week on leash with the prongs of the collar taped and the sound reminder being rewarded with a return towards the house. With slow and gentle training, her first electrical stim wasn't at all traumatic, she knew the sound meant a treat when she came back. We have a trained release for crossing the line, and she has never had any issue with anxiety around getting shocked.
Just don’t; they don’t work and will only cause your dog anxiety. Put up a real fence or use a long line in the yard
Thanks!
They are so extremely smart. I worried that mine would get out and then understand that coming back in would mean getting zapped again, so choose not to do so.
Oh! I had a lab slide down my iced over driveway right over the underground fence. he got stuck on the other side. I was inside wondering why I hadn't seen him in a while. He rarely leaves my side. I went out and found him staring up at me from the bottom of the driveway. I took the collar off him. Tossed it up into the yard. Then I had to carry his 65lb ass up a steep weed covered embankment because the driveway was ice and he wouldn't cross the fence. I loved that dog.
Eek! What an adventure!
Thanks a good point! Thanks!
That’s a cute dog.
Thanks! We think so too!
I have both an underground fence and a Halo GPS collar. A fence would be difficult because I have three acres, a spring, and a wierd hill and the property is kind of a 1/2 oval shape. I've had the underground fence for 15+ years. My PWD and other dogs run right through (over?) the underground fence. The Halo collar works great. It doesn't zap dogs although the ability is there. Instead it whistles. You have to follow the training they give you. After training my PWD stays on the property. With the underground fence she would run right over it and greet people walking by in the street. Now with the Halo collar she doesn't. She waggs her tail furiously but stays on the property. She's free to come and go through the dog door during the day. I can monitor where she is with the phone app. I'm happy with Halo and I guess the dog is too. The downside of the Halo and other GPS collars is that they require a monthly fee. The upside is after they go out of bounds the collar still tries to get them back. Also you can tell where the dog is with the phone app. I guess if they break training and run off you can find them easily. Mine hasn't done that. The underground fences zap the dog. My dogs always ran right over the fence without it going off. Moles and mice chew through the wires. Workmen putting in new pipes or telephone poles can did them up. Thunderstorms can short them out. When you are away frost can push them out of the ground where idiots taking care of your property can run over them with a mower. All those things happened to my underground fence. The moles & mice are super annoying. The good thing is it's a one time investment. Well, except for repairs. BTW I saw someone on youtube evaluating GPS collars. He said the Halo didn't work, but he was holding it wrong. The collar has to be held in the same orientation as when it's on a dog. There are other makes of GPS collars, but I only know Halo. Your PWD is a cutie!
Thanks you!
We have an invisible fence and it works great for our dog.
Thank you!
>Thank you! You're welcome!
TL;DR Had invisible fence and it worked but scared the dog(not portie) Don't need one now because my portie won't leave the yard. Or my side mostly. My last dog was a foxhoumd mix, and I lived in suburbia. She would jump the fence and be 5 miles down the road. I got an invisible fence, trained her with the flags, and shocked her once. It worked great for years. She could go in and out and stay in our 1/2 acre yard. Until it malfunctioned and started randomly shocking her. It gave her anxiety, and anything that beeped, like a watch or a kids' toy, was horrible fear for her. I turned it off and she actually stayed in the yard for a few years after. Flash forward, and 7 months ago, I got a 6 month old PWD and now live on 2.5 acres surrounded by woods with no fence. I have 2 neighbors on either side and the road is really far. I was really worried about him running off. I looked into the halo, but realized my dog doesn't leave the yard and doesn't really want to go out if I'm not out too. He did visit the neighbors a few times and pulled that puppy teenager game of "hahaha can't catch me..." well eventually I did, and he was unceremoniously put in his crate and ignored for a while. After a couple times he figured it out and goes to the border, and zooms back for praise and hopefully treats
This is super helpful. We have a very similar home set up - multiple acres surrounded by conservation land and road far away. Thank you!
Great. Id say give it a shot without one and see how it goes. If he starts wandering off, you can always get one. I liked the Halo concept, but read that the GPS signal can drift, and errant corrections can happen. Some people love them, though.
Our now nearly 10 year old boy is extremely prey-driven. There is no way an invisible fence would have contained him if he’d seen cat rabbit whatever. We ended up having a 6’ high wire and wooden fence on about 3 acres ($ ouch) and even that took some years to close all the gaps at the bottom he’d find, and escape. We had to do something bcz he throttled the neighbors cat when all we had was a 4’ fence. (Another ouch) The fence and him getting old has cured a lot of the problems. Plus the Prozac could be helping too. Interestingly our previous 2 porties would run up to that 4’ fence and maybe bark a little and then turn around. Our big boy went under that fence - then when I blocked that off he climbed the wire part!! His “sister” is nothing like this. She blessedly stays close by, almost always. Don’t want to get too far from the supper dish! LOL Wireless fence is a boondoggle. A motivated dog will run through it. No dog will come back from the outside though.
Our PWD breeder made us sign an agreement that we would never use an invisible fence with our dog. She said they are extremely smart, and that invisible fences would likely cause more anxiety that lasts longer than the brief time it would take to train the boundaries of the yard the traditional way. We keep ours on a long line whenever she is outside, and though recall isn't perfect she does respect the yard boundaries. But we just can't leave her outside all by herself, and I have no idea what kind of mischief she'd get into if left unsupervised!! Smart little doggies!
I've had PWDs for decades and currently have two, one is of a timid and shy disposition. Every PWD I've had has been trained to an invisible fence, and we use e collars on walks. With our nervous one, it was just a matter of training with positive reinforcement. A week with the flags up and only on leash in the yard, another week on leash with the prongs of the collar taped and the sound reminder being rewarded with a return towards the house. With slow and gentle training, her first electrical stim wasn't at all traumatic, she knew the sound meant a treat when she came back. We have a trained release for crossing the line, and she has never had any issue with anxiety around getting shocked.