Electric Dog Fences

Another Look: Digging Deeper

Well, suppose we don’t take Danny’s experience at face value. Suppose we dig a little deeper. What are the real advantages and disadvantages of these fences, never referred to by their purveyors as “shock collar” but instead as “electric,” “wireless,” or “invisible” dog fences? Obviously, as this suggests, one of the big disadvantages is the shock.

That shock from an electric dog fence isn’t huge, certainly not dangerous; but it seems enough to keep a lot of dogs indoors. So it’s worth asking whether you, the dog’s owner, would be willing to wear a collar, even during the relatively brief period of training your pet, that would administer a periodic  shock? For most of us, despite the shock’s harmless nature, the answer is a resounding NO! So the question becomes, are you willing to administer this sort of training and disciplinary treatment to your pet?

Electric Dog Fence Training

Next consider training. Currently, electric dog fence training is associated with guilt. Not the dog’s guilt but the owner’s. When one of these fences fails to work, either because the dog wouldn’t go outside or because the fence failed to restrain it, the purveyors and adherents of the fence have an easy answer. It’s YOUR fault, because you failed to provide proper training for your pet. And so, untold thousands of dog-owners have wound up feeling guilty and disappointed at this failure, blaming themselves rather than directing their frustrations at the fence’s design concept and its purveyors’ hype.

But there’s all kinds of training. Circus dogs are trained to jump through flaming hoops. And a hunting bird dog is trained not to chase birds, but to wait until a bird is shot and then bring the carcass back in its mouth intact.

Of course, these things require an expert trainer, one who could doubtless train most dogs to stay inside the line of white flags without wearing any collar. But most people aren’t expert trainers. So it’s worth asking, How good a trainer does one need to be in order to make a electric dog fence work?

How Much Training?

This question has no easy answer. Even if one ignores the wide range of different situations posed by the presence or absence of squirrels, rabbits, cats, neighbor dogs and such, dog behavior varies greatly. Some dogs are both bold and inclined to obey, and for them the training required to make an electric dog fence useful probably falls within the range of what is possible for an ordinary dog-owner. But many others are timid and reluctant to go anywhere near the shock’s source, while others are aggressive and quite willing to challenge the invisible barrier. In both of these cases considerable training expertise may be needed.

So it’s not right to simply blame the owner. And even if we ignore other electric dog fence problems, such as possible negative effects upon a dog’s behavior and their failure to block outsiders — people, other dogs, coyotes, etc. — from coming in to trouble the captive dog, we need to recognize that for many dog owners and pets these fences pose large and perhaps insurmountable problems. That being the case, what accounts for their popularity?

Reasons for Electric Dog Fence Popularity

First, electric dog fences are high-tech. Suddenly, as if by magic, an invisible fence has appeared to solve the dog confinement problem. Only it isn’t magic. It’s based on modern technology. And, we are assured by its purveyors, it really works.

Second, unlike barrier dog fences, electric dog fences can be sold in pet stores. So pet owners who frequent those stores see these fences repeatedly. That reinforces the idea that they provide an effective answer.

Third, and most important, the barrier dog fences one commonly sees have serious problems. When I was a kid needing a dog fence I went to the hardware store and cobbled together what they had. The result, a higgledy-piggledy fence assembled in a harum-scarum manner, worked for a time but was both rickety and ugly. All too often this is what one sees. Alternatively, or at least what appears to many as the next most obvious alternative, a chain link fence is both expensive and unsightly. So how to provide a good dog fence is a real problem that deserves attention.