We need to rein in our border collie! She’s running free in the forest svc surrounding our place and the neighbor just called to complain that she’s chasing the wildlife. Can anyone suggest an invisible fence system? We’ve never used one and not sure how they work. Thanks for any advice!! If you could provide links that would be great 
IMO, I dislike invisible fencing. It keeps nothing out. If your dog blows through the fence, they may or may not cross it again to come back in without your help.
My two cents 
I’d opt for a “real” fence.
Just say no. If your dog is chasing wildlife she will break through the elec. field of the fence and a lot of dogs who do that are then scared to come back to yard. I don’t know what breed your dog is but if it has a thick undercoat the contacts might not be strong enough to zap. Plus even if the dog stays in, there is no barrier to keep anything out, so your dog isn’t safe.
What about a shock collar? I hate those things but we need to do something quick. The neighbor is a crazy A hole who has threatened to shoot her . Any suggestions other than fencing?
Keep her in the house and taking her out on a leash until a fence can be built.
I would leash or tie untill a fence can be built. I have a runner and he is leashed to the tie out, and leashed to come back in. Keeps everyone safe and happy. He is only tied out for about an hour AM and PM.
Regular fence…privacy fence or chain link high enough not to jump over. (6 ft is usually safe for most. If not a strand of hot wire at top can fix it).
If you neighbor is threatening to shoot, you MUST KEEP CONTAINED. An invisible fence will not contain most dogs that want to chase animals. A shock collar is situation specific…ie, might not leave when you are there, but if you arent, then would go, or if chasing a deer would go, but not a squirrel.
You don’t need to fence your entire property. Just a section is fine. You can keep on a longline when you are out walking with her.
If you can’t fence, I’d consider a covered run.
If you want to keep her safe from being shot.
I grew up with a passel of dogs on a rural property with an Invisible Fence. My parents opted for this because the Husky would jump a 7’ privacy fence and the Great Pyr would dig under it. The Invisible Fence worked for the Pyr pretty reliably, but she wasn’t much of a boundary tester. It contained the Goldens, most of the time (we had to clip down the mane on the one so he would feel the contacts.) It would not contain the Husky.
It takes time and money to build a physical fence and it takes time and money to lay an Invisible Fence, and also to train the dog to it. You don’t have time, you have a neighbor threatening to shoot your dog. Leash or tether her until you can get a physical fence built, and if you think your dog will go over or under, hot-wire it.
Do you have any fencing on your property whatsoever? If your dog is not a jumper, can you use corral panels as a temporary solution with no-climb on the inside, with or without a tether for additional security?
Not a quick solution, but I’ve had good luck with an invisible fence reinforcing a physical fence. I had two herding dog crosses (aussie mix and a border collie mix) and a catahoula and I only had issues when the batteries would die on the collars – at which point the catahoula would jump the fence and the border collie mix would squeeze through the slats. Newer collars blink when the battery is getting low, and that solved the escaping problem.
I moved last year with the border collie mix and the catahoula and was able to use just the invisible fence because they were so well conditioned to the electric fence. Of course they were a lot older then too, but I had absolutely zero escapes, even with deer running around tormenting them. We did have several very vocal stand-offs between the catahoula and the deer but no physical encounters.
So that is an option if you build a physical fence and the dog is able to jump it.
Agree that you are probably stuck with tying her out on a leash until you can get a physical fence built
Some people have very good luck with invisible fencing.
I agree that it is not my 1st choice for many reasons; but it might help until you figure out a longer term solution. I appreciate the fact that even if you have the money to install a fence around a big yard it still may take time to prepare the yard for it (e.g. removing trees & shrubs, leveling areas, hiring a contractor, etc.)
My good friends had an odd-shaped and fairly heavily wooded yard and a dog that started to chase deer - and they said the electric fence worked great. So long as the batteries were charged regularly. As soon as they weren’t, she was gone. Not sure how she knew, or if she tested the fence on any regular basis.
I believe they used the SafePet kind from PetSmart (or something like that). Again, maybe not the best solution but might be a stepping stone.
Before my fence went up we had a heavy duty tie-out stake and a 30’ check cord. My dog did great on that for a couple of years - although he did get 2+ off leash runs per day, so that was not his only exercise. (You can buy these at Gun Dog Supply).
My InvisibleFence is installed adjacent to a 3-board fence most of the way around the yard and has worked for many dogs. Completely following the training program has worked for me even including dogs with a high prey drive following rabbits across the yard. YMMV
I understand that this brand also has a new option in which the collars are GPS-equipped and thus can stop the dog anywhere outside a certain designated area, making it less blow-thorough-able. FYI.
Thanks for all the input, guys! For now our girl is on a leash til we figure out a solution. Another neighbor of ours ( a good neighbor) has had alot of success with the collar. No idea how these things work. Researching now.
[QUOTE=springer;8739317]
What about a shock collar? I hate those things but we need to do something quick. The neighbor is a crazy A hole who has threatened to shoot her . Any suggestions other than fencing?[/QUOTE]
I tried a remote control shock collar and a bark shock collar on my Jack Russell that has a horrible horse chasing problem. Neither one works when his blood is up. I had a Border Collie and that is probably another breed that is just going to be too determined to let a shock stop them. An invisible fence would not have phased him either when he was in chase mode. I would get a real fence!
[QUOTE=springer;8740287]
Thanks for all the input, guys! For now our girl is on a leash til we figure out a solution. Another neighbor of ours ( a good neighbor) has had alot of success with the collar. No idea how these things work. Researching now.[/QUOTE]
It’s not hard to understand how they work. The wireless ones project a field around your home and when the dog approaches the edge of the field, they get a warning beep and then a shock. Most dogs pick up on how it works very easily, especially if you train them like you are supposed to - with flags/markers etc.
The issue is that many dogs will still blast through the shock if something on the other side is really tempting - a running deer, for example.
Frankly, if you have a neighbor who has threatened to shoot your dog, don’t use an invisible fence. They are not 100% reliable when restraining your dog.
You need a real fence. Not sure what the concerns are about a real fence but you can get nice vinyl coated chain link that blends into the landscape and that most dogs (if the fence is tall enough) can’t get over.
I have had a Pet Safe Invisible Fence for 20 years on 2 different properties. The 2 main things about them is to have it professionally installed and if you do not take the time ( at least 2 weeks ) to train a dog properly you have wasted your money. I have trained 2 lab/ beagles one was a year old and the other a 10 year old rescued stray, a 2 year old pure bred beagle, a year old lab/ boxer and a 3 month old half rat terrier/ mutt. Mine will sense if the dog is approaching the boundary too fast and tone then shock. I’ve got deer, groundhogs, fox & rabbit in the fields surrounding me and have had zero issues. Some people hate them, I love them. I even had a rescue deny a dog a forever home because I did not have a barrier fence. That same dog got out of the adopters gate and was hit and killed by a car 2 days after adoption. :no:
I have used a “shock” collar (has 3 settings: beep, vibrate, shock…vibrate and shock levels are adjustable) and a wireless fence for our (very sensitive, but very bold) English Springer Spaniel.
We used the collar in the yard. When he stepped out of the boundaries he got a warning. Usually the sound was enough to scare the shit out of him and he’d come running to momma and try to climb me like a tree. He got used to that, then we used the vibrate. Even when he’d leave the yard and we couldn’t see him he’d come running right back…then I left the remote on the edge of the truck bed…boyfriend drove away…I got sick of chasing him down the road in my underwear at 7am. Sooo…
Went to Tractor Supply, bought a wireless one. It works great. Has a warning system for when they get close, zaps him when he passes the boundary and he comes right back. Because of the warning he knows how far he can go. We’ve had it for probably 2-3 weeks and have not had a problem since. Except owner errors when I throw a tennis ball a little too far or forget to take it off him when we leave the driveway in the truck…bad mom, I know.
Our property came with an Invisible Fence, but it was easily broken when doing actual fence repairs or any work in the yard, per previous home owner. We are also on a road that isn’t busy, but there’s a concrete company on it, and the trucks go by fairly regularly. I wanted to ensure my dogs weren’t at all going to get near the road.
After some research, we bought the Pet Safe wireless system - there’s a signal emitter in our house and the dogs wear shock collars. I find this better than the invisible fence because it’s not a buried line that can get broken, and it shocks them until they come home - so not a single line to break in/out of with the same punishment both directions. They are immediately rewarded in the range, and consistently shocked out of range - not just crossing the line. We have three large dogs, as well as our son’s Aussiedoodle, and they all respect the fenceline. With power outages, they don’t learn quickly enough that it’s off to be an issue, but we also have a generator and can pen the dogs up if needed.
However, I don’t have a neighbor threatening to kill the dog… I also do have a physical fence, but it’s not really dog-proof - though a mild deterrent. Good luck!
I have a doberman and a terrier rescue on 3 acres all fenced in with an invisible fence. I LOVE it. My dogs all broke out of the physical fence before this so had to wear their shock collars while outside anyway.
We installed it our selves and with the use of our lawn tractor and a home made hoe we got it done in two days.
My dogs where already trained to a beep and shock collar due to there shocks they wear while we are out on trails, so training took me about 3 days. If your dog isn’t used to that type of training it may take a little longer, however I think if you follow the steps it shouldn’t take to long.
Also I love how people always say they don’t keep anything out, neither do physical fences. My fence was tore to shreds 3 times last year from a bear, so it def happens.
My girls chase deer squirrels etc but once they hear that beep they know they better stop. As with everything I believe its all in the training.
[QUOTE=scierra;8739290]
If your dog is chasing wildlife she will break through the elec. field of the fence and a lot of dogs who do that are then scared to come back to yard. [/QUOTE]
Maybe, maybe not. Our family dog was definitely an animal chaser/hunter and she never once went through the invisible fence (the brand we had was actually called “invisible fence”- if she approached the boundary it would vibrate first, then beep and only then shock- professionally installed with instruction on how to train her- she was trained in less than a week). While it did not keep any animals out, we were not concerned with that. We were concerned about keeping her in and having that fence allowed her to spend way way more time outside than we otherwise we would have been able to do without that fence (Huskies can be diggers (our was) so real fences don’t always work with them)
Then again, we had friends who had a dog who would just decide she did not want to stay in the yard (it was a clear decision if you saw her do it), would get far away from the invisible fence and take a running start and blow through it and once she was out, she would come back in because she knew she would get shocked.
So it really depends on the individual dog and what you are looking for
There are definitely reasons not to get one or to disapprove of them in general, but they can be very effective with some (probably most frankly) dogs and so that is not IMO a great reason not to get one.
If you think the neighbor is serious about shooting your dog, then I might do both an invisible fence and a real one. Yikes!
