Electronic fences are a control device made up of underground wiring and transmitters. They are used to keep dogs within a certain area the transmitters deliver a noise, shock or unpleasant spray through the dog’s collar when it approaches the boundary. The wire is usually a foot or more underground along the perimeter of the fence and the signal that activates the deterrent is sent when the dog approaches the boundary.
Some Home Owner Associations or city rules will not allow regular fences. This leaves few options other than an expensive electronic fence if a regular fence is forbidden. They are also useful for people with no back yard fence at all. However, there are many drawbacks to using electronic fences.
Dogs need to be trained to deal properly with an electric fence as they don’t always interpret the shocks and noises from the fence correctly. Thus a dog needs to be taught to associate the shock with a breach of allowed movement.
Electronic systems may short out during a lightening strike or more usually as a result of careless digging around the perimeter. While the boundaries are marked by flags to begin with these should be removed once the dog has been trained. They can be harmful when they are left in place and knocked down or dragged away, leaving the tips pointing upwards.
If you have a very assertive or less intelligent dog that is chasing some sort of prey then they may go beyond the barrier, ignoring the temporary shock. Once they are on the wrong side of the fence the dog is less likely to return home voluntarily. More to the point many people feel that it is cruel and counter-productive to solicit appropriate behavior in this way.
However, most things carry an element of risk and this has to be weighed against alternatives. For example if a dog is only allowed outside on a leash then they do not have much opportunity for a run. Dog parks and other areas where a dog can run free are few and far between, this makes life difficult as dogs who are not allowed to run can end up maladjusted.
Most dogs can get across standard size fences but this can cause accidents where a dog is punctured by a chain link or scraped on a wooden fence top. Dogs have a tendency to make such wounds worse with their biting and scratching. This makes some people feel that an electronic fence is the safer option.
There is no practical solution for every need and training regime, the best you can do for your dog is to consider all the facts related to e fences and then to make an informed choice. If the fence does more harm than good you can always dismantle it.
Not everyone feels that they can train a dog by themselves and so they need to find someone else to do the job.
