Invisible fence training question

[rosefarm]

And all is well, Lily has after 2 times decided that the flags are to be avoided at all cost. My old beagles Archie and Edie bless their hearts don't quite get the relationship between flags and shock. But stay closer to us and know to back up when they hear the warning beep, so I guess that's a start. We are on day 2 of training, and so far I have been keeping it near the house. Here's my question - we have 10 acres fenced, a lot of the flags are in the woods, should I extend the training period for the pups.

 

Also, my biggest fear is a deer chase being too tempting to ignore, treats are not tempting to go out, kids running, favorite toys all are ignored, but a rabbit - not so sure.

 

I can see how this is not to be relied upon at all costs, but it will extend my pups some freedom to hang with us on all occations which will be very nice.

 

I know some of you don't like the fence and do understand. But for those that have it - any tips?

 

--Denise

[Jack & Co.]

You are only on Day 2 of your training; you have weeks to go! I DO rely on my Invisible Fence to safeguard my pets at all costs. I live on a very busy road and I zealously check batteries and make sure the system is functioning properly.

 

Is this the real Invisible Fence? They have a specific way to train your dogs and you must follow it to the letter. Once he was trained, Jack never broke through the "fence", not for squirrels, kids, strange dogs. Please work more with your older dogs because they will be upset and confused if you don't. My old cat was 9 when we started IF and for whatever reason, he thought he had to stay on the grass and not go back in the woods. We worked with him extra hard and overcame his hang-up. My cats have been on it for 5 years and Jack has been on it for over a year.

 

Please work with your IF technician because they can make system and collar adjustments to meet each dog's requirement.

[rosefarm]

No, this is the petsafe fence, I know I'm on day 2 - I guess I'm more worried about the large amount of space that they will need to learn. The petsafe does come with specific instructions - and we are following them to the letter. I am quite patient with spending the time to train them - I think I might need to extend that due to area though. I can see there is quite a difference in the way the dogs mind's work. Lily is much better and abstract relationships then my beagles. The good thing is we walk the route all the time, and they were not allowed off the path before, so hopefully this will help.

 

I'm trying to see how I can get my beagles to realize flag is a border. Lily's just about got it - we just need to keep testing her. She hasn't get shocked at all after the first 2 times, and she sees a flag and stops, which is about right.

 

Unfortunately Invisible fence would have cost us $3,000 for 3 acres, vs. $500 for 10 acres so we went with the petsafe. I would have loved to stick with Invisible fence, DH couldn't quite justify that though.

 

Thanks for the reply

--Denise

[Carlasl]

I have one for my dog and it works really well, the other day I let her out before I realized there was a small herd of deer in the back part of our yard, she sat at the border of the fence and barked at them for a long time, they were just watching her and snorting it was really funny (torturous to her though). I really don't leave her out there unattended though. I am always home when she is out, and usually I am in the back yard with her.

[Jack & Co.]

This is Lesson One from my IF instructions and may help with your beagles:

 

When your dog reaches the boundary, where the warning sound starts, you have to lead him back into the safe area. Your dog is responding to the redirect or tug on the lead. You are leading him away from the boundary and into the happy, safe area where you praise and play with him. The retreat should be to the center of the safe area or at least a minimum of 10 to 12 feet from the boundary of the area where he is being trained.

 

They suggest you keep these first sessions to 10-minute lessons several times a day for three days. The collar has a plastic cover over the posts so the dog only hears the warning beeps but doesn't receive a shock. Practice in different areas of the boundaries.

[bailey44]

I purchased the PetSafe Wireless system a couple of weeks ago. We haven't set the flags yet, we did set up the perimeter around our half-acre, (while Polly watched from the back door with curiosity and not a little alarm ) It took some tweaking to get the zone right since we live on a hill. We are hoping that this system works well for us--it's portable and we hope that we can use it while we are camping. Just waiting for the weather to break and the yard to dry out to get things going...

 

Like you, I am worried that she might find a kid walking by with a basketball too much to resist, and we are polluted with deer here. I'm going to follow the training religiously and continue to research for any tips. I shocked myself with the collar on level three...OWIE! Hopefully, she will get the message and we can keep the correction low. One tip I did find that you probably already know is to keep extra batteries on hand because the initial set-up/training can run them down.

 

I'm looking forward to gardening with my little helper and playing in the yard! She is a wild child and the winter has been hard, I know she would love the freedom on our property. I'm curious to see how your dogs settle in with this...

 

Charlene

[RaisingRiver]

I do not train with the flags when I introduce a dog to my Petsafe Insivible Fencing system. Why? Because I have 5 acres. What I do do is walk the perimeter with the dog on a leash. The dog is not allowed to set foot outside the area (ie. where the fencing is). I'll let the dog sniff, weave, whatever, but the moment they would get the shock, it's a sharp pull on the leash and the command 'yard' (which they will learn means to stay in the yard). This goes on for a week or two on a daily basis depending on the dog. They wear the collar the whole time, but system is off. I didnt' even use the beeps for my BC who was my latest dog to train. She knew what yard meant and I tested by walking across the line, telling her yard/wait and she did.

 

So I turned the system to shock. And tossed her favorite thing, a ball near the fence line. Eventually that day I tossed it across the line. I yelled yard as soon as I knew she would get shocked, which she did as she crossed the line. She IMMEDIATELY stopped chasing the ball and circled back into our yard. The command 'yard' was reinforced by the shock - something I can't do from a distance. That was the only and last time she EVER crossed the line in any place in the 5 acres. She will not cross to fetch a ball and no longer wears the collar - and I no longer have to give the command 'yard'. (she wore it for about 2 months for proofing).

 

I think the best possible thing you can do is to train your dog to the perimeter, not the flag. Because eventually you do remove the flags. The flags are a visual for now, but dogs smell with their noses and have sensory in their paws. They will know by where they are standing where they can or cannot cross. Focus on that, not shaking the flags.

 

Also if possible, never let your dogs leave the property on foot. If you don't walk your dog in your neighborhood, always make them leave the property by car. That way they learn that crossing the perimeter is NEVER an option. This is my situation as I have live in a cul-de-sac not connected to any other neighborhood - so we drive to places to walk/play. If you do make sure you are ONLY letting the dogs leave ON LEASH and that they understand that they are ONLY safe to cross when ON LEASH. Also I would give a specific command when you cross on leash so they know they have to be both on leash and only when you give the command. Make it really obscure that would never be said like... 'google'.

 

For my BC, the fence line is probably the most solid and reliable of her obedience skills she has. It has to be.

 

Good luck!

[rosefarm]

Thanks guys, RaisingRiver - sounds very familiar to what my situation is. I've been training the dogs on the perimeter, with an eh eh, if they step off course. Sounds a little like your yard, maybe what I need to do is use my eh eh correction with the shock inforcement - if they do wander a bit. This is easier with Lily, then the beagles, I haven't used that one on them. Though they do listen to my enforcement, I'll add a verbal warning as well for them.

 

Charlene, I think gardening with my pups around me is one of the biggest factors for doing this, they are such a part of life, but having 3 dogs on tangled leashes, stops them from being as much of a part of life.

 

 

Jack and Co, thanks for those instructions - its very close to the directions for petsafe (I think invisible fence purchased petsafe - I could be wrong).

 

I'll let you know how it goes. Like I said, so far - all reactions from Lily have been textbook - the beagles, well we'll just be real patient with them.

 

--Denise

[sandyleew]

I am confused here. On Day 2 of training with the Innotek system, you don't even have the shock prongs on the collar yet. They have rubber prongs you use for training. You first train them to turn around and run the opposite way when they hear the beeping sound. Only after they have learned to retreat do you put the shock prongs on. Does the system you have go right to the shock prongs? I trained both of my dogs to the letter and have never had a problem. My dogs will not break the fence for anything. Not another animal, a child, nothing.

[rosefarm]

Well, Day 1 , collar is turned to beep, and like you said when warning beep from collar, run away from flags. Similar to what you said, just not with rubber prongs. To be honest this is what we've been doing since day one on leash because I attempted to train them on these very boundaries without thinking of a future radio fence. (I still did day 1 as instructed though) Day 2, the level is set to 2 or 3 of 5. As of day 3 now - all is going as planned - my misgivings are only because of the following.

 

See its we have a "track" around the pond to a fire pit and out to the chicken house that all the dogs know well. When they are on leash - they are perfectly behaved and all stay on the track. With my beagles we've been doing this for 8 years. The problem is when they are off leash - they know it and they can be gone in a flash, and when they go, they keep going to the point of exhaustion, so we end up carrying 2 big 40 lb beagles.

 

Some of the boundary flags in this habitat are less then visible, based on being in woods, though quite a few are right at the border of our time tested track. I guess I just need to see how this plays out.

 

to be honest, this was a "shock" to my beagles world, and they are quite upset, so we are just taking a step back and letting realize the outside world is okay, even at a level 2 correction. Lily has viewed everything as more of a correction, and doesn't appear as upset.

 

It's not quite as cut and dry with them because their brains work a little bit differently. Its kinda like my son vs. my daughter in school, they both have brains, they just work completely differently and I have to figure out how to get through to them separately.

 

With petsafe, the whole process is estimated at 30 days, I think that will work with Lilly, the beagles - I just don't know.

[sandyleew]

I think the beagles will get the hang of it. Once they figure out that the sound precedes the shock, they start retreating as soon as they here the beep. Both of my dogs were only shocked once and that was all it took to figure it out. I also has been boundary training for a while with Taz before I even thought about getting the fence and with Brew, I did some boundary training before I started the fence training. Usually as long as you follow the training, they do very well. I can remember thinking they were never going to get it, when I was training without the stimulation, but they both did very well. It is hard to see them get shocked, but I always felt like it was their choice, since they were well trained that the beep meant to back off. I have actually always had the stimulation level at its lowest. That is all mine have ever needed.