Invisible fence

**victorytea** · 04-12-2010, 04:59 PM

Do the underground invisible fences work well with Labs? We have a pond out back that sometimes hosts geese and ducks. Can I contain my lab with this type of fencing?

**MicksMom** · 04-12-2010, 05:10 PM

I'm not a fan of them. There are things that are so enticing, a dog will ignore the shock and run through the IF (and water, ducks and geese are pretty enticing for a Lab). All it will remember is it gets shocked on the way back home. Plus, they don't stop other animals from coming into your yard.

**BauersMom** · 04-12-2010, 05:52 PM

We have one, and it works great. We bought it to keep Bauer out of the pond when unsupervised. We have pet ducks who need access to both the pond and the yard, so it has been perfect. Bauer has never gotten out, and has never chased a bunny, squirrel or cat beyond the boundary; he always stops. Just like anything else, you have to train the dog to know where the boundary is. We spent two weeks training Bauer to stay inside the flags before we ever turned the fence on.

**BigBrownDog** · 04-12-2010, 06:23 PM

It really depends greatly on the dog you have. Some dogs brains shut off when their prey drive kicks in - they will blast through the IF shock or no. Some dogs will respect it. I would never count on it myself - paticularly since I live on a fairly busy street with a lot of pedestrians and dog walkers.

**banoel** · 04-12-2010, 07:16 PM

I've used Invisible Fence for two labs and will also be using it (later on) for my pup. I felt it worked quite well - except when something enticing was nearby and they chose to take the shock.

**Lexis Mom** · 04-13-2010, 11:21 AM

I've used had Lexi on an IF for almost 5 years now & love it! Like others have said, it will depend on the individual dogs prey drive, some will take the shock & keep going if what they see is enticing enough.

Lexi has never chased a bunny outside of our property, she will but the breaks on so hard she leaves skid marks in the lawn if that bunny runs outside the IF boundary. I even live on a relatively busy street & she has not once tried to cross the street. Even people walking past the house, she'll bark at them, but has not broken the like to go to them. I also have a sign on the mailbox post that states "Dog contained by an Invisible Fence."

I thhink the biggest key to the IF is the TRAINING!!! People who claim it does not work have not followed the training IF gives you. I did the full 2 weeks of training & it works beautifully. Do not cheat the training, as it will only come back to bite you.

**BauersMom** · 04-13-2010, 12:18 PM

If you decide to go the IF route, you also want to make sure you get a system that is adjustable. We can set the IF boundry wire to deliver a shock anywhere from 1 - 10 feet from the wire itself. If it were set to 10, that would be 10 feet on either side (20 feet of getting shocked). The collar is also adjustable, and can be set differently for different dogs. The ones we have can be set to deliver a gradual increase in shock (starts out low and gets higher as the dog gets closer to the boundry), warning beep/vibrate then a shock if the dog gets closer, or warning beep/vibrate only. We have a Lab and a French Bulldog, and haven't had a problem with either dog.

**victorytea** · 04-13-2010, 03:43 PM

Which system did you go with?

**BauersMom** · 04-13-2010, 04:21 PM

We bought ours and had it installed by the Invisible Fence Company. We had a lot of area to enclose, wanted to give him as much space as possible . . . and we were lazy

. Friends of ours installed a system themselves last summer; they went with the PetSafe Deluxe In-Ground Fence. They enclosed about 4 acres. They laid the wire and staked it into place in just a few hours, put out the flags, and started the training. They spent the next month burying the wire when they had time to work on it.