Invisible Fencing for Our Dog

The downside to invisible fencing is that if a dog gets through the zap of the fence he's now outside the yard and free to run.
Invisible fencing does not protect your dog from other dogs that may come into your yard.
Labs are hunting dogs and because of that if they spy something outside the "fence" there is a good chance that a little zap isn't going to stop them from going after what they want.
You might consider metal fencing since it isn't solid you can still have your view and protect your dog at the same time.

It can work well for the right dog, but I have know many "runners" that had no problem going through the fence and then would not come back inside the fence. I couldn't do it to mine own, since the shock would really bother me while they are learning and I also want to make sure I have a fence to keep other animals out of the yard. We have deer and bear where I live, not to mention a few dogs that are loose sometimes, so I do not want any of them in my yard where my dog plays. My dog is also dog reactive and sensitive, so being shocked or having a dog come into her area could really create some problems for her. We do have several dogs in our neighborhood on invisible fences, one is great and never leaves her yard, another one (beagle) will charge to the line and sit on the shock line and scream if there is anything going down the road.

I would recommend putting up some kind of actual fencing to act as a barrier too. If you use black chain link it will blend in pretty well and is very open so you can still see through it. If you want the yard to stay more open, maybe don't fence in as large of an area.

We have a pet fence and love it. Our dog is a lab mix and he is a wild man! This works great. He left the yard one time and it was actually my fault, not his. The key is putting the collar on tight enough. I'd say, in almost every case, people who say their dog runs out of the fence it's because the collar isn't on properly. They do work. We have one and several neighbors have one and nobody has problems. Ours was installed quickly (a couple of hours), and although I can't remember the exact amount, the price was very reasonable. We had ours professionally installed and purchased from A&M Pet Fencing (Twin Cities.)

It came with a video on training, which I watched diligently and was so ready to start following, when I went into labor early with my son. Oops...not the greatest timing. Anyway, the poor puppy figured it out all on his own with no training and no problems...in one day! When they installed the system, they put flags inside the fenced area. You are supposed to walk the dog around the yard and teach him/her that the flags are "bad" and to stay away (they are not getting the tone or shocked because the flags are inside the fence perimeter). Then you gradually remove the flags. Our dog learned right away to stay away, although he did kindly "retrieve" a few of them and brought them to us proudly! It was really easy.

We have a wireless pet containment system that provides our dogs a radius of 90 feet around the base system. We have a lab, and she knows when her collar is off and then the battery is dead and ends up chasing the four wheeler and that is how we find out! What is different about this system is they do get shocked until they come back into the boarder of the system. The radius can be changed down to 5 feet up to 90 feet, so it is easy to take with if needed. The training process with our dogs was easy. They collar will beep as they get close to the boarder to alert them. Our Shepard was zapped once. The cost was around $250 a few years ago with one collar. Each additional collar was $100 or so. This system works for us because we have a large yard and a swamp with a neighbor that does not care for our dogs to be barking down there. Good luck finding the right system for you!

You can install O. yourself and save money. I did. I had a pure bred Siberian Husky at the time. Guess what? She NEVER felt the zap. It was a total fail. However I wouldn't leave the yard if I was wearing the collar--LOL

Seriously, I'd put the money into dog training.

I didn't read all the other responses so I may be repeating here...

We have the fence - it works great. One thing that we did that I HIGHLY recommend is that we had the installer do a "figure 8" with the wire. What that means is that the wire circles the back yard and meets the house in the back and then a 2nd wire circles the front yard and meets the front of the house. This way if you let the dog out the front door they have to stay int he front yard and if you let it out the back it has to stay in the back yard. It's works great for us.

Our friend uses one of these with his runner/hunter husky and it works beautifully. He says a rabbit can be on the other side of the invisible fence and the dog will sit there and just stare! Maybe it depends on an individual dogs pain tolerance? I am writing you back for selfish reasons as well. We bought one of these for our two huskies last winter after hearing how well it worked but then we moved and we no longer need it. It's a brand new system and has never been used (Petsafe brand). If you decide you are interested in buying it from us for a reduced price feel free to call me! I have been meaning to sell it but have not had the time. -C. ###-###-####

Hi Sara,
We used an invisible fence for our dog and loved it. We followed the training manual religiously and it worked fine. I don't remember the exact brand of fence we used but we did not have to bury a cable. The main box sat in our house and sent out a signal ( in a circle) we could move the box and adjust the size of the signal's area to get it to fit our yard. It was awesome! We even took it camping and set the signal to fit our campsite. It was a little more expensive but so worth it.

Sara,

I have been a confirmed user of the Invisible Fence (brand name) for over 15 years. The first house I owned was right on the water and I go tired of pulling the puppies out after they went through the ice! Then I opened a pet-friendly Bed & Breakfast and needed to keep them confined to a separate area on the property in case of non-socialized guest dogs. I have used the system with English Springer Spaniels (2), a husky/lab/border collie mix (runner!!!!), a bulldog/boxer mix, and a Saint Benard/Boxer mix. All responded well to the training and rarely leave the area. (MY Husky mix seems to know when the batteries are dead!). The training process is labor intensive, as you have to walk them around the perimeter several times a day and it is weeks before you leave them out alone. The positive side is that for the next 8-12 years you open the door and out they go. With the size of your dog you will want to examine the strength of the fence--some of the generic fence "corrections" are not strong enough for big dogs. My neighbor bought a less expensive system for his bull mastiff, who would stop, hesitate, and scratch at this neck (the only reason he stopped).

Sandy, Egg Harbor, WI

you can try talking to dog trainers/experts in the area and see what they say. we were told that for a couple acres to have the fencing installed it would be nearly 1000$, but it would be worth it. now we have to come up with that kind of money! but i was told that the dog learns on their own really quickly. they get a little "warning" and they tend not to try it again.