underground fence

[acupofteha]

Has anyone used an underground fence with there border collie,
Were in rent an main floor of a house, the backyard is partly fenced.. 3 sides, and the front isn't fenced at all. We always take Bailey out on a long led, and have started not tying the lead. My husband has taken it to the next level when our neighbors dogs are out, he wont use a led at all(they live below us). Last night she was not on a led, and she started running in circles she ran right into the middle of the road usually NEVER goes on the road when she has a led on, even if it was lose. SO now I am really worried about her being off led. Our area is quiet at night, but not during the day.

So now I am looking into an underground fence for her, but I don't know if it will work for Border collies, as I have heard that it doesn't work for certain breeds?

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[tase]

do u mean an invisible fence?In other words the dog has a collar on and it triggers a shock wave if the dog steps over the "fence"? I f u do I thought about that one but I feel that my BC is maybe too sensitive for that I don't think he would emotionaly cope with that idea..

[LadyDaniela]

I'm also not a fan of any e collar on a BC or other equally sensitive dog.

[LadyDaniela]

Although, my mother has one with her terriers. The boys wear the collars, and the boundaries are set up by the flags... there aren't any batteries in the collars (not that they know that) and they stay 6+ feet away from the boarder.

[Vicky]

I sometimes take my two out front on the green we have, they have 30 foot training lead sometimes i drop it sometimes i don't but they know not to go in the road, even if there ball goes in the road they wait by the side of the chained fence (it's tiny and they could jump over it), my road is also a quite road but kids like to go up and down on there motorbikes at night which Bella hates!! but we don't go on there at night.

[trickytrip]

What you should consider with a BC is that if they have high drive and interest in something they may go across the wire and get the shock and not want to come back across it into the yard. Your best bet is to probably just use the tie out.

[RobD-BCactive]

If you're taking them out then no need for gadgets just train recall thoroughly.

As for unsupervised use, your dog won't be able to understand what's happening or why, and so there has to be a risk of unintended consequences, especially with any highly aversive shock system. This sort of product seems to be in low regard with most evidence based trainers & behavourists who prefer positive reinforcement to aversive techniques.

[tase]

The only place where my dogs are with out being supervised is in their kennel.. The walls are so high that my bc can't jump over and the ground is sand ect with concrete on the bottom so they can't dig out either Must take pics of it it took us almost one summer to build..lol xxx

[Gadfly]

Like other replies, I don't like the idea of electronic shock "correction" devices for a BC. Too smart and sensitive a breed for that sort of treatment, I feel. Training is a better solution, one that has risks since one has to trust the dog not to go into the road. I thought I'd have to try an invisible fence early on as Jess would always chase into the road after any passing vehicle but we got there in the end. From about 20 months she was safe to leave off-leash all of the time. She is still vehicle sensitive and does a dash round the back yard if a passing truck is particularly noisy or sounds a bit different. I perhaps tend to take more risks with Jess than other owners would be happy with. I know how I'd feel if she had been run over as a pup. We are able to walk out quite happily now and I'm always confident about Jess's behaviour without a leash now.

[acupofteha]

Bailey isn't left unsupervised, I am thinking of the underground fence just so she doesn't run out on to the road by mistake. we live near a recycling center so during the week it is busy with trucks. I don't want to have to leave her on leash all the time, I will continue to look into my options for her, as putting up a fence is not an option (we rent)

[joanne/shads]

would a tempory fence be an option i seem to remember a member having one for camping trips. you could at least take it with you if you moved or take it down when Bailey is older or you are more confident boundries are known.


http://www.allbordercollies.com/forums/T...mping-trip

[Ali01]

I also don't agree with any sort of shock device.

If she did run across the street or into the road and is shocked, she could be afraid to leave the yard. Which seems like a good possibility since the breed is so sensitive. Invisible fences are also quite spendy.

Why don't you make the lead just long enough to go to the end of the yard and no further? This would serve the same purpose without the consequence.

[trickytrip]

I put up a fence down one side of our backyard for Silky, used the green posts and green plastic fencing. Maybe you can put a similar fence up on the side of the backyard that doesn't have it.

[Oenoke]

I always supervise my dogs when they are out, we don't have a properly fenced garden, there is a hedge down 1 side, but we are quite a way off the road. I do have an area with the orange netting fence (that I take to agility shows camping), but I still supervise them as Bertie jumps over it (still does even at 12 years old) and the youngsters have either pushed under it or put their feet up and pulled it down. I also sometimes tie Skye on a longline (horse lunge rein) on a harness as she chases my horses.

The farmhouse over the road from us has an underground barrier fence, the previous owners installed it for their 2 labs and it seemed to work well, the labs never went near the boundary, but the new owners have a BCx that just runs straight through the electric shock! I've also heard that you have to shave the fur off longer coated dogs, so the collar can make contact otherwise they don't work.

[acupofteha]

(09-05-2010 01:25 AM)Ali01 Wrote:  Why don't you make the lead just long enough to go to the end of the yard and no further? This would serve the same purpose without the consequence.

I do have a long lead, she can get to the end of the yard and no further, which is fine when shes in the front yard. When shes in the back yard, the she is on the rope to but there's a lot more back there for her to get tangled on, ( I have to constantly untangle her from my neighbors bikes, my plants ect.

I think I may look into putting up the "plastic" fence in the back yard, with a gate so our neighbors can come in the back if they want to as well.