Electronic Fences

Most dog owners would put up a fence for pet containment. Dogs, especially family dogs, have little experience being on their own. They wouldn’t know what is dangerous and what is not.

What if they get hit by a car while crossing a busy street? What if they get attacked by stray rabid dogs? What if they get lost and never find their way back again? These are only a few of the concerns that all dog owners have.

In order to alleviate your fear, set up a fence. And not just any fence, but one that is effective in keeping your beloved companion in while keeping the bad elements out.

What Are Electronic Fences?
There are many different kinds of fences available. However, one that tops the ranks in terms of efficacy is arguably electronic fences.

Electronic fences are actually composed of two elements – the electronic dog fence and a collar. Both control a dog’s movement by releasing small shocks of electricity when activated.

The electronic fences themselves are not designed to electrocute the poor animal in order to keep it at bay. Instead, the electric dog fence comes with a sensor that notices when your dog is close enough. Rather, it is in fact the collar that sends out shock signals to your dog.

But note that, the process is not as painful as it sounds. The main purpose of electronic fences is to shock the dog enough to halt it in its attempt to escape from his confinement. In time, the dog will learn what will happen if he gets too close to the electronic fences and start to avoid it. This thus solves the problem of dogs turning escape artist.

How It Works
How electronic fences work is really as simple as explained above. However, with so many different types of electronic fences available, each one might be a little more complicated than the other. So let’s take one at a time.

As already mentioned, electric dog fences are made of two components: the fence and the collar. Some electronic fence systems may come with a computer terminal that let’s you control the system from inside the house. Others, on the other hand, rely on an automated sensor system without any computer gizmo for control.

Typically, the electronic fence does not outright shock the dog every time he or she comes close to the fence. There is usually a warning signal first emitted by the collar, such as a beeping sound which is activated when the dog approaches some few feet from the fence.

The closer the dog gets to the fence, the louder the beeping signal becomes. Some dogs would pick up on this pretty quickly and would just run away from the fence. However, there are stubborn dogs who would insist on going to the fence. Once they get to a certain distance point from the fence, the electronic fence system would activate and send out shock signals to the dog’s neck.

As mentioned, the electric shock is not painful to the dog. It is actually more surprising than painful, but the shock might naturally cause the dog to yelp as though he is in pain.

The dog can be trained to understand what the warning signals mean. Once adequately trained, the dog can just move away once he hears the warning beep without any need for activating the electronic shock system.

Installing
Installing an electronic dog fence is simpler than it looks. Usually, it involves digging a trench along your property line where you can then bury the hidden wire. However, if you are not sure how to install everything, you can always ask the company where you purchased your fencing system to send out a service guy to do the installation.