wireless fences - yay or nay?

[livingdustmops]

Brit, the same thing happened in Michigan where I grew up. Never heard about them but they are all over MI now. These animals have learned to survive by moving their territories.

[jencar98]

Originally Posted by topknot

Just in general. And believe me, even though you think there are not coyotes - they are there! Promise me. A 16 pound yorkie is still the right size to be carried off. I live in the country and only saw my first one last year - after living her a few years. We talked to my neighbor that has cows and he says they are bad and will go after a calf. Coyotes have been known to work in groups and will surround a calf to bring it down. So do not think they are not there. They are even in the city.

Coyotes are in the country and cities, I just saw an article the other day about them being in NYC. They are sneaky/elusive animals and I'm not surprised when people think they don't have them because they don't see them.....but believe me - they are out there.

Coyote Captured in NYC Garage - CBS News

Coyotes spotted in Manhattan - NYPOST.com

[topknot]

Originally Posted by Britster

Wow, just did some research- check this out(I'm in Maryland):

Maryland and Delaware have the distinction of being the last two states in the contiguous United States to be colonized by coyotes.

Coyotes are a relatively new addition to local ecosystems, and were first documented in Maryland during 1972.

Recent analysis in Virginia has verified an approximate 29% annual growth rate in its coyote population. Maryland and Virginia share similar habitat types and land use patterns.

Scary!!! I've never heard of coyotes being around here. I've seen foxes once or twice in my life.

Told ya! Animal control told us they are everywhere now. The ones that were stealing our cats - we never saw them. Animal control set out traps when we were moving away. I heard they caught one. They also carry a lot of diseases too. So between the coyotes and the hawks - one should never, ever leave a yorkie outside by themself.

[BellaDonna]

If you just want to be able to take your little one outside off leash to run in your yard you might try what I did. Before we got our fence we went to the local home depot and bought a 50ft roll of chicken wire that was about 3ft high. It literally comes in a roll. Then a couple of times a week I would take that out and run it around a tree and my porch making a little temporary fence and let my little girl run for a bit.
Another thing we did was use an overhead dog trolley. You can connect a high overhead line between 2 trees or buildings like a clothes line. Then hook the dog leash to a little wheel and he is free to run in a fairly large area up and down the line and out a few feet either way.
I am including the link for one of those. We used that until we got 2 dogs and finally got our fence.
Hope this helps.
Overhead Dog trolley line Exerciser

[Britster]

Originally Posted by BellaDonna

If you just want to be able to take your little one outside off leash to run in your yard you might try what I did. Before we got our fence we went to the local home depot and bought a 50ft roll of chicken wire that was about 3ft high. It literally comes in a roll. Then a couple of times a week I would take that out and run it around a tree and my porch making a little temporary fence and let my little girl run for a bit.
Another thing we did was use an overhead dog trolley. You can connect a high overhead line between 2 trees or buildings like a clothes line. Then hook the dog leash to a little wheel and he is free to run in a fairly large area up and down the line and out a few feet either way.
I am including the link for one of those. We used that until we got 2 dogs and finally got our fence.
Hope this helps.
Overhead Dog trolley line Exerciser

I might do this; I am still living at home with mom, stepdad and sister, so he wouldn't let me do anything permanent, but if I could get some chicken wire that was easy to take on/off, that might work!

[Chloes dad]

Well I know everyone is talking about coyotes and hawks..which dont get me wrong are a huge threat..And there is the heaviness of the collar, The fact that even on the lowest setting the collar may be to intense for a tiny dog, but here is something else to consider..I have heard stories of a dogs who see a squirrel or something, whatever it may be that enticed them to run past the border. they get shocked of course..But once their past the point they dont want to go back and be shocked again. So people have lost there animals because of the fence...Now I dont know how true this is, it could be just one of those urban myths. But with yorkies being as stubborn as they are combined with this knowledge, it doesn't sound good to me.

[topknot]

Originally Posted by Chloes dad

Well I know everyone is talking about coyotes and hawks..which dont get me wrong are a huge threat..And there is the heaviness of the collar, The fact that even on the lowest setting the collar may be to intense for a tiny dog, but here is something else to consider..I have heard stories of a dogs who see a squirrel or something, whatever it may be that enticed them to run past the border. they get shocked of course..But once their past the point they dont want to go back and be shocked again. So people have lost there animals because of the fence...Now I dont know how true this is, it could be just one of those urban myths. But with yorkies being as stubborn as they are combined with this knowledge, it doesn't sound good to me.

Good point!

[yorkieusa]

No. Never.

[DvlshAngel985]

I vote no also. Everything everyone else mentioned is very valid, but I was thinking of something else. While your dog might have the collar and be shocked when approaching the boarder, what about the other dogs in the community. They can still get in. I'm one that allows my dog to play with dogs of all sizes, but I still worry about aggressive mean dogs of all sizes. The shock fence might keep your dog in, but it won't keep others out.

[LittleBits Mom]

I would say no...most Yorkies are too small and an underground fence doesnt protect them from hawks or from any animal entering your yard.

[viviansnickers]

Why would you ever want to shock your dog? It wouldn't matter how large my dog is....why would you ever want to shock him/her or hurt him/her?? Regardless of what people say that the shock doesn't hurt etc, the fact that the dog does not want to feel it shows it makes them uncomfortable or it hurts.

Never!!!

Snick & Viv

[anpfaff1983]

My dogs are 4lbs 9 oz and 6lb 9oz and I have had an invisible fence a year and a half and I love it! I go out with my dogs, they have the freedom to run the length of my yard (which is a good length) They love to go out and chase each other with out getting tangled in a leash. My dogs love to chase squirrels, birds, also one loves to follow cars but they have never chased them past my yard. People walk there dogs past my yard and runners run by but my dogs never leave the yard unless on a leash. They do need to be trained to stay in the yard the correct way before the shock function is even turned on and they really haven't been "shocked" very many times I could count on my one hand how many times, I put the device on myself and it really isn't bad, they have a device to put on the collar to minimize the "shock" to 50% and that is what my dogs have, I actually had to take it away from my 6 yr old nephews because they were shocking themselves with it for fun (kids! . There were issues when I first bought the system, we have a town carnival each year and people park at the border of my yard, a few cars were parked over my fence and one of my dogs did get out and my neighbor caught her for me since she ran to him (it was also soon after it was installed and they were still in training) so I will have to put up either signs or caution tape this year (I probably with put them on leashes also for the carnival), but other than that they have never ran off. I would be worried of other dogs that came into my yard or even coyotes so I do go out with them. But even a regular fence wouldn't protect against hawks.

[anpfaff1983]

I just wanted to say the "shock" isn't much of a shock more like a static electricity charge, better that than getting hit by a car imo

[megansmomma]

Originally Posted by topknot

Just in general. And believe me, even though you think there are not coyotes - they are there! Promise me. A 16 pound yorkie is still the right size to be carried off. I live in the country and only saw my first one last year - after living her a few years. We talked to my neighbor that has cows and he says they are bad and will go after a calf. Coyotes have been known to work in groups and will surround a calf to bring it down. So do not think they are not there. They are even in the city.

I would tend to agree with your above statement regarding coyotes. I live in the suburbs of Chicago with a population of almost 60,000 and we have coyotes. When we first move here we never saw them but we sure heard them. As the farms disappeared and subdivisions popped up around us the coyotes seemed to become more visible because their habitat was disturbed. I remember watching a PBS show years ago about coyotes and how adaptable they are, capable of living in suburbia, eating from trash cans and feeding on domestic pets while making their homes in culverts, abandoned building and cars! It was a very eye opening documentary! So just because you do not see them does not mean they are not there. They just have enough space to be undetectable.

My sister installed an electric fence for her German Short Hair and it did nothing to keep Rosie within the boundaries of the yard. She had a HUGE collar and she would run right through it when she wanted to go. It was horrible because she knew she was going to be shocked and would actually twitch as she did not stop her! I don't know how an electric fence would apply to a very small dog but I do know that she started with the smallest "zap" as possible and had to keep upgrading as Rosie ran through the boundery to freedom until finally she had a collar on with the shock thing that looked like the size of a cellphone! It still didn't keep her inside the yard!

Then there is the issue of something (another dog or predator) coming into your yard. If this were to happen there would be no escape if the shock collar worked to contain your dog.

[beader]

When I had my Schipperke I had invisible fencing and it did work great and he was 12 pounds. You are right they get the shock about 3 or 4 times and they learn. I know they work but the size is the issue for me. Think I might be just getting a fence and putting it up.