All About Invisible Fences – Their Risks and Benefits

There are a great deal of different ways in which a pet owner may attempt to keep a dog in the yard.  While some dogs are very well behaved and would never venture outside of the yard without permission, others will do anything in their power to escape.

Some pet owners have used tie outs, basically leashes attached to a stake in the ground, but these can either come out or cause serious harm if the pet lunges while still tied up.  Some have even chained their animals to trees or posts.  More commonly, pet owners will elect to build a fence out of wood, wire, or chain link.  Unfortunately, some pets are also master escape artists and can climb, jump, and dig their way out of anything an owner my construct.

Fortunately for these people, technology in the last decades has led to the development of fenceless boundaries.  Many companies such as Invisible Fence and Hidden Fence make variations on this model.

The basic idea of a fenceless boundary system is that a dog learn not to pass beyond a certain point without the large, expensive, and unsightly addition that is a fence.  In some of these systems, a wire runs underground at the point where a dog must not pass.  The wire emits a radio signal which sets off a collar that the dog wears resulting in a very mild but uncomfortable electric shock.  Others rely on a wireless signal that permeates from a central point beyond the radius of which the dog cannot pass.

The similar element of such systems is the collar.  A dog must wear a collar that communicates with the “fence.”  Some of these collars will give a dog a warning when he is getting too close to the fence before sending the electric shock.  Others have varying degrees of intensity such that, as a dog gets closer to the boundary, the shock grows stronger.

Typically this type of boundary system is preferable to a physical fence which will  be far more expensive and generally less secure than the invisible variety.  Some dog owners maintain that the shock given will not deter a dog if he is excited enough, but most dog owners who install such a fence remain convinced of its efficacy.

Another complaint against the fence is that children may mistake a dog’s restraint for good behavior when the dog may actually be aggressive.