Tampa Dog Trainer has Concerns About In Ground Electric Fencing By Jan Casey, Dog Behavior Consultant Pet Dogs Prefer Real Fencing to In Ground Fencing It’s frustrating to have your dog run off — but I strongly recommend against in ground fencing for the following reasons that can be summed up as behavioral issues and safety: 1. The in ground fencing is designed to give the dog a shock as he approaches a boundary where a wire is buried. Dogs learn by making associations. This means that if a child or dog happened to be walking and your dog wants to say “hi” or wants to chase after them, he will be shocked. He will then associate the shock with the child or dog or bike or whatever. This may lead to aggression problems toward children, other dogs, bikes, cars, walkers/joggers, etc. 2. Fencing which shocks only the dog wearing the collar does not keep other animals and bad guys out. Aggressive dogs, coyotes, alligators, strangers with ill intent can still come in and harm your dog. This includes alligators and coyotes both of which routinely grab and consume dogs and cats. 3. If your dog wants what is on the other side of the fence badly enough, he will break through to get it. Since the fence projects the signal in all directions, he will not cross it again to come back in. Dogs unable to get home may be picked up by Animal Services and if they are not microchipped or identified quickly they may never be reunited with their owner. 4. Shock collars are extremely unreliable both mechanically and functionally. As a professional i have heard endless stories in which the switch that triggers shock stayed turned on, continuously shocking the dog. This or any accidental shocking can cause mental and physical injury to your dog. In addition, the batteries can give out and the dog will cross the property line, making the fence useless. 5. Fence installers consistently allow concerned owners to feel the shock the dog will experience, but when the setting is checked on the collar it is set at the highest setting. This bait and switch causes owners to think their dog will just experience a mild shock when in reality the installer cranks the collar up to the highest setting. 6. Many dog owners may not read the signs of stress and discomfort that an in ground fence causes dogs. As a result house training problems or other behavior problems begin to occur. It is my suggestion to put in a real fence if possible or deer fencing which is inexpensive and removable. Deed restricted communities often times allow a small run to be placed behind shrubs. Even if you are limited to just on leash exercising this is still a better alternative than exposing your dog to the mental, physical and safety issues listed here. For more information, please read The Shocking Truth: petprofessionalguild/resources/Documents/The%20Shocking%20Truth.pdf If you are considering underground electric fencing, please reconsider, the benefits are not worth the risk
Posted on: Wed, 09 Oct 2013 15:25:53 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015