Fencing/Invisible Fencing

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Henbug

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Opinions on invisible fencing or any ideas for other options?

I have about an acre+ of garden, middle of the countryside surrounded by fields, currently fenced with post and rail. I've put chicken wire on all of it, stapled to the posts/rails and used 10" ground pegs at regular intervals BUT one of my dogs is a terrier and I'm sure that she would dig under or even just run straight through if she saw something moving on the other side. Once out she'd be off, no doubt about it, there are rabbits, foxes, deer, LOTS of pheasants etc. Added to the worry of actually getting her back is that over the next field lies the M4 and to the other side is a road that a lot of lorries use and cars fly along so dog out would almost certainly end in dog dead :eek: obviously not a risk I'm willing to take!

At the moment with just the chicken wire they're only allowed out under a very watchful eye and with long lines on which is less than ideal. I need to find a secure way of being able to let them out without having to worry about them. A number of people have suggested that using invisible fencing and the chicken wire should be fairly secure but I have no experience of it and I have to say I don't like the idea of using shock collars on my dogs! Am I being overly "fluffy bunnyish" (something i'm really not!) about it or are they really that bad? I've not had an opportunity to speak to anybody that uses them so I was hoping I might get some opinions from people here either who use them and think they're a good idea or people who've chosen not to and why.

Can anybody think of any other better options, I'm open to ideas?!

I'm so confused on this, been puzzling at it for a while! Thanks for any help :D
 
some dogs learn to run through invisible fencing-once they are out there is no shock. it needs introducing very carefully so the dog actually associates the act of crossing the fence line with the shock.

i know 4 people who have had it 1 loves it the other three have now put up 'proper' fencing.

personally i dont like it as it does not stop dogs coming in so yours are confined and can become targets to the wrong dogs
 
I have a friend who uses it on her 4 acre plot. She still does use it but the dogs are not left out without supervision anymore due to several instances where it failed resulting in one dog being killed. One occasion the collar failed (and there is no way of knowing this unless you actually test it!) and on numerous occasions the wire has been broken by wild animals which again means it fails

It has its place. But should not be used as something to keep your dogs in unsupervised

Could you not dig dog and bury done fencing? Hard work but worth it.
 
Build a dog run, flag it and put a roof on it.

Agree collars can fail, my own dog would just run through it. The drive to chase and hunt is higher than the momentary discomfort of a small electric shock.
 
Thank you all for your replies. :) The biggest thing people seem to be flagging up is that the dogs can run through the invisible fencing. I'm hoping that with the chicken wire up all around the perimeter that there's nowhere they would be able to run through but that the invisible fencing would prevent them standing 'working' at the wire or digging a hole under it. In this scenario does this seem like it could be a solution?

Essentially the chicken wire would back up the invisible fencing and the invisible fencing would back up the chicken wire :confused: if I'm making sense! :rolleyes:
 
Personally speaking I would go for the dog run/kennelling for peace of mind. It's a more reliable physical barrier rather than relying on a small amount of electrics or chicken wire vs high drive, and it is very unusual for a dog to escape a properly/purpose built dog run, indeed I've never had an experience of it. We've always kept our (much bigger) dogs in runs when they couldn't be supervised. Bit more of an investment but worth the peace of mind IMO.
 
I know this is a bit late but just wanted to say that we have the invisible fencing at home on the farm for my lab and my dads german shepherd. Personally it has worked out really well (touch wood!!).
I unfortunatley lost my first lab at only 8 months old as the farm is straight off a very busy A road and the german shep was hit which resulted in a rather costly Newmarket job, both before the fence was up. It literally took my lab 1 day to grasp the concept of it and the german shepherd a few more times.
The company we used were great and very helpful in the training of it. We have the main farm fenced at about 10 acres and another one a few miles away where my dad lives and both the dogs collars work on both farms which is really useful as they both spend time at both farms, especially at harvest.
It took me some convincing to trust it after the heart ache of losing my first dog but i am now a lot better with it. Prime example, my lab took off after a squirrell the other day heading straight towards the main road and as soon as she came within 15 metres of where the boundary is slammed the breaks on and just watched the squirrell go free.
It does take some trusting but i would recommend it.
 
We had to fence our garden area as current collie is a car chaser. Garden area is around an acre.
We have used 4ft high green plastic covered wire. I have found that the green blends into surrounding area and has not detracted from our previous open aspect. Cost a lot less than the alternatives as well.
 
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