The numerous benefits of an Electric Dog Fence are huge bonus for the pet owner who simply wants to keep their dog safely contained in their yard. A successful containment system consists of both tangible and intangible components. Tangibles such as a transmitter, underground wire and a special receiver collar the dog wears. The intangible component of a successful containment system is the training. Proper and Complete training.
Training is THE critical component of a successful Electric dog fence system. Proper training requires not only exposing the dog to the boundary zone, but requires dog owners to spend lots of time in the safe area- away from the boundary flags- showing the dog most of the yard is a perfectly safe and fun place to be.
There are three common training mistakes made that when attempting to properly train a dog for an electric dog fence and failing at any of these can be critical for either the safety of the dog or its well being.
First training mistake- Trainers (homeowners and some professionals) tend to believe the more corrections (shocks) the dog receives the quicker the dog will be trained. This is wrong, and potentially dangerous advice. A dog receiving more corrections in a short period of time most often leads to confusion and the dog shutting down and not wanting to move or go anywhere in the yard. Proper training is a
Second training mistake- Incomplete training. Proper containment training means exposing the dog over time to various stimuli such as people and dog walking by and your dog learning not to leave. When training first begins any dog will likely be very timid or even somewhat fearful in the yard. Most dogs at this stage wouldn’t leave the yard even if there was a pack of cats sauntering down the street. Proper training means gradually training a dog to increasingly more exciting things on the outside of the flags over time and training him remain on the ‘safe’ side of the flags.
Third training mistake- “My name is NO, Ouch”.. Imagine only telling a child NO when they did something you didn’t approve of. Well training a dog for an electric dog fence is often treated the same way. This leads to dogs that, while they might not leave the yard, they also don’t fully utilize the yard and stay close to the house. We call these dogs Velcro Dogs.. They stick close to the house or a particular area but don’t fully utilize the yard up to the boundary. To be sure a dog understands the OUCH only applies only at the boundary its important to spend lots of time in short sessions (8-12) per day for 3-5 minutes each session. Frequency is the key. Lots of trips in the yard with nothing negative (such as a shock) happening. Note: Always keep the leash on your dog as well as the containment collar when going outside.
Lastly- The most common mistake PEOPLE (yes, that’s us- and intentionally capitalized for emphasis) make after a dog is trained to the boundaries really confuses the dog as to what it’s ‘rules’ are in the yard.
The most common mistakes dog owners make are: a) stopping or discontinuing daily use of the containment collar assuming (falsely) that the dog knows not to ever leave the yard or b) loosening the containment collar on the dogs neck so that its too loose to consistently be effective. By loosening or occasionally removing the containment collar the dog will go beyond its prescribed boundaries and at some point leave the yard to the dangers of the street. A month after training and the flags are removed you won’t be able to tell if your dog is a six inches beyond where he was trained to if his collar is loose or missing. Just think how confusing that will be for the dog not to mention that the investment of time and capital you’ve put forth may be lost for good along with a best friend. So keep the collar on and keep it snug. For safety sake.