How to Train Your Dog With an Invisible Fence

It took me a few years to finally decide that I was ready for the responsibility of dog ownership. I drove to the Halifax Humane Society in Daytona Beach. If you live in or around Central Florida you have to go by this facility. I have always been impressed with it. The animals are so well taken care of and respected. The cages are clean and there is a stringent adoption policy that they do not deviate from. Anyway, to make a long story short I not only adopted the dog I saw in the paper but his litter mate too, a female. I took them home and renamed him DUKE and her DUTCHESS and went about the task of housebreaking them. They were (are) great dogs and really smart. They are lab mixes and so they started growing .... and growing.... and pretty soon they were huge. I live on a busy highway on alot of land and as they got older they started running away. I would no sooner open the front door and they would push past me and make a break for it. They would usually run behind my house, down a dirt road and into a lake about 1 mile from the house. We spent countless hours getting on the golf cart and chasing them down. I was so stressed worrying that they would attack someone, get hit by a car or something else bad...... Eventually I had enough of it and installed an invisible fence.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Professionally installed "invisible" fence
• shock collars
• dog treats
• white flags

1. 
    
   My outdoor dogs protect and are able to roam freely

   Find a reputable company to install the fence. You can do it yourself but I have heard that sometimes the do-it-yourself versions don't work as well. Also, installation is very labor intensive and it might be worth it just to have it done.

2. 
    
   white flags are a cue for the dogs to stay away from the fence

   You will put white flags around the "live" area. When the dogs see those flags they will not want to go near them because they will get shocked. They will associate the flags with the pain. The flags are very effective Don't worry, the shock is not that bad, I would never hurt my dogs. It is adjustable.

3. 
    
   dogs run free but in a controlled space

   The fence itself is not a cure all. You must be vilgilant with it. Take the dogs out alot and let them explore. When they get too close to the off liit area they will hear a warning tone from the collar. It is very high pitched. If they get too close to the line their collar the dog is going to get a shock. My dogs are big and we had to increase the shock power but believe me, it is effective. I don't think I could get my dogs to leave my property even if I begged them to or tempted them with tresats. They are programmed to stay away from the restricted area. Sometimes they don't een wear their collars anymore and I still don't have to worry.

Tips & Warnings

• Stay vigilant while training the dogs
• Reward them when they avoid the restricted area. You will tell by their body language that they know they are getting close to dangerous areas.
• Don't go near the restricted area holdig one of the dog collars. My husband did it and it shocked him