Pet containment systems

I’ve got a 1 year old yellow lab. I’m thinking about an invisible fence system for our yard and am looking for information/opinions.

My question is in your opinion, what is the best brand/model for the money?

Also, is it too late for my dog to be trained to mind a system like this?

Cabela’s sells some models that are very reasonably priced – any opinions on those?

I have a family member that spent over a grand to have a system installed that works really well, but I don’t want to spend that much if I don’t have to.

Any advice would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Scott

I spent the $1k plus on Invisible Fence and it works great. We got it when our Chocolate lab was two or three so yes, you can still train your dog. I don’t have any experience with other brands but I would weigh in on saving money vs. the type of trouble your dog could get into when out of the yard. Do you live near a highway or are you simply trying to keep your dog out of the neighbors yards? If safety is your main concern, I would not risk performance for price.

We also bought the professional training service that came with, we bought five sessions and our dog only needed two. The other three were done of course but only lasted minutes as our dog picked it up quickly. I would recommend the training but a lower number of sessions.

Hope that helps!

Cougareye,

What company/brand is yours?

Thanks for the input!

The Brand is “Invisible Fence”. http://www.invisiblefence.com

Call Guy at Dogwatch, 952-937-8258. He installed my system which is a lot like invisible fence, except for a few different selling points that hooked me. Call him and he’ll fill ya in! Good Luck, whatever brand ya choose.

I purchased my fence from Home Depot for $250.00. My fence installation was a success & took me about 4-5 hours to wire & trench it around a 50 by 100 foot space in my backyard. The first 2-3 weeks I worked with my dogs a little bit each time to make it a success. It worked well for a number of weeks but unfortunately my dogs came to realize that if they just get up some speed and run through the fence the quick hit on the collar was worth the price of freedom. I’ve got 2 small kids that would run over the boundary with the dogs. Initially it worked really well for 2 months. I honestly think I couldn’t keep up with the training and the distractions. It actually worked so well that neighbors would walk they’re dogs on the sidewalk 6 feet from the boundary & my dogs wouldn’t cross. I think the fences are a great product, it just didn’t work out for me. Maybe I’ll try again but since we’re considering a real fence, maybe not. Good luck.

I have the Invisible fence system and it works great. I have several friends that went with the cheaper do it your self units and they had no sucess. Either they broke or the dogs learned to run thru. The Invisible fence collars must be more powerfull or better designed. The fence keeps my Drathaar in the yard. She can be chasing a rabbit and will skid to a stop to avoid the shock. She is very aware of the boundries but does not test them. Either go with the Invisible Fence or a traditional chain link. YOur dog is not to old to learn.

Mwal

My son also installed the “invisible fence” for his Yellow Lab and it works great. He lives in Port Washington, WI. and was concerned that the dog running out of the yard would eventually get hit by a car. He did it himself in erhaps 1/2 day or less.

We have been very pleased with Invisible Fence brand. This past spring we opted to pay them to install it and train our snow lab. She figured it out completely after just two training sessions. We also had them install the same system at our lake place, and then we showed Lucy (the Labrador) where the boundary flags were located. It works perfectly for us. We decided it was a must have at our lake place after we nearly lost our dog through the ice last spring. (Because of our bad experience, we were not so concerned about the cost…)

Counterpoint — my brother-in-law went to Fleet Farm and got their cheapest system. He installed it himself and trained his dogs himself. It works perfectly for them…

My sister is an installer for Dogwatch brand invisible fences in northern Illinois and Southern WI. She has told me of dozens of people who have come to her for the training, after they have installed their own “economy” units. The cheaper units do not have the pre-warning, or multi-stage shock system which Dogwatch employs, so are much less effective and can easily be run through.
She has also had people try to do the training on their own and have limited success, end up calling her back for a couple training sessions later. Then, it is much more difficult. The owners most often need training as much as the dogs, to learn how to effectively train the dog. I would strongly recommend Dogwatch, not just because my sister has a business, but she has nearly a 100% positive record in over two years of installations.
I’d compare them to Invisible Fence people, see which is more along the line you are looking for!

Thanks for all of the help/opinions.

Will probably go the “invisible fence” route.

Scott