Small dog-radio fence-cruel or kind?

BreeVdK

We have just built a house and will be moving in 3 months time but its in the country and will be quite wide open and not enclosed. We have a small dog and we are worrying over how we are going to keep him from heading off on a tour of the countryside !!! The house we have now is in an estate so small enclosed garden is easy peasy so we are considering a radio fence. Have seem them work perfectly for bigger dogs but do you think we are being cruel or kind ? If we were to not go for the radio fence, we would have to fence him in some how to an enclosure but we think with the radio fence he would have much more freedom while we are at work.

Has the radio fence not worked for anyone? We are hoping that the dog's head-strong free spirited nature won't make him burst through the pain barrier to further freedom !!!

peasant

BreeVdK wrote: »

Has the radio fence not worked for anyone? We are hoping that the dog's head-strong free spirited nature won't make him burst through the pain barrier to further freedom !!!

Yepp ...here.

Radio fence is not 100% reliable. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who isn't around during the day to do an occasional check to see if the dog is still there.

Cut the budget for fancy landscaping of the new house ...put up a proper chain link fence instead. (also keep in mind that dogs do get stolen quite frequently)

mary123

Also a radio fence wont keep anyone out that might want to steal ur dog.

kerrysgold

Is that the same sort of fence that goes off if you happen to have a powercut? If so, know of somebody who had one and husband came home to find their five dogs at the bottom of the road after a power cut!

You'd be better off getting the back garden fenced in, quite cheap, just get posts and chain link.

Also, you said the dog while you are at work, it's not really fair to leave a dog alone all day at work. Would you not consider getting him a companion now that you have a big garden? Poor thing must be bored all day on his own, I'm sure he'd love another little dog to play with and keep him company.

animalcrazy

I used to use it on small dogs, it's ok until the batteries go or there is a powercut. We had a powercut and our dog killed our chickens, my parents brought the dog to the pound!

Sigma Force

How big is the garden? You could fence off an area so as to have a large pen or get a dog run or in the long run timber posts with wire works well if he's a digger then bury the wire. Farm relief services do that type of fencing it can be expensive depending on how big the garden but it's cheaper than building walls or metal railings etc.

They probably have had this dog a long time and the dog is used to them being at work, why do you feel they need to get another one?

There's also a company called cill dara that do excellent dog runs, as time goes on you can also extend the dog run. I have two of them and they are fantastic. Before anyone says dog runs are like cages they are not if you have a large garden, if I put my two dog runs together they are the size of an average townhouse garden.

Honey-ec

Unless you're prepared to wear the collar and walk through the boundary yourself to check the pain level, I would say no - it's extremely cruel.

If you are prepared to test it on yourself and can hand-on-heart say you don't think it's cruel, then fire away.

lily4

I would consider it very cruel.

Building an enclosure is far better IMO.

anniehoo

lily4 wrote: »

I would consider it very cruel.

Building an enclosure is far better IMO.

Yeh kind of in agreement here...it must be extremely uncomfortable/annoying for the dog and we cant be sure if theyre experiencing any pain aswell! Build a decent sized dog run would be my way to go...

Sigma Force

This has been debated many times but lets face it a shock from a collar (which they soon learn not to go near the fence it's not like they are getting shocked daily) is far less annoying or irritating to a dog than getting their pelvis crushed by a car.

Not a fan of radio collars however, some of them are pretty pricey and cost around the same as a dog run. They also don't keep other dogs out of your property. It's not an electric shock the dogs get it's supposed to be mild btw.

Just for curiositys sake checked prices in some places a standard radio kit is around 420 Euro.

If you have a wall to put a dog run up against you only need to pay for 3 panels.

With some small dogs you can get away with a half height panel so for two sides, a back panel and a gate panel you can get it for around 321 not incl. delivery but delivery can be 30 Euro if they are dropping other panels in your area think it's arund 60 Euro otherwise.

A large dog run full height panels are 510 euro for a small dog this is plenty of space to keep them safe while you are away as long as of course the animal isn't spending it's life in the run obviously.

Long term though timber post and wire would be the most practical solution.

animalcrazy

they don't get shocked everyday, some dogs never get shocked by it, it takes, as far as I can remember two weeks of training before you can even attempt to put the dog into it full time, and as guineapigrescue said, more less painful then a crushed pelvis.

lily4

animalcrazy wrote: »

they don't get shocked everyday, some dogs never get shocked by it, it takes, as far as I can remember two weeks of training before you can even attempt to put the dog into it full time, and as guineapigrescue said, more less painful then a crushed pelvis.

I should hope they don't get shocked everyday .. that IMO is cruelty.

How do some dogs never get shocked by it ... because they are trained to stay within a certain area ? Then surely , no need for shock collar.

Investing in a safe enclosure is a far more compassionate way to contain a dog.

animalcrazy

My dogs got shocked..twice I think, but I agree if you can afford fencing then it is way better.. My garden is half an acre so it wasn't an option.

Toulouse

Half an acre wasn't an option? My parents have 4.5 acres fenced for their dogs. Chainlink and posts.

A radio fence won't keep other dogs off your property. If you really want to make sure your dog is safe and secure while you're not there then you'll build him a nice big run or fence your property. There's lots of tradesmen looking for work at the moment so get some quotes and see what kind of money you're looking at or do it yourself like we did at home.

animalcrazy

We don't use it anymore so it's all the one..couldn't fence it because of neighbour..long story :rolleyes:

Invincible

I know a woman a few miles away that was attacked by their labrador,she had to get skin grafts on her arms and had bones broken from the attack,her husband was atacked by the dog previously,the attack was attribiuted to the radio fence.

animalcrazy

What do you mean, because of the radio fence the dog was attacking people?

Invincible

That,s what their vet put it down to,made the dog agressive.

animalcrazy

It would have been the owners fault for not training it properly though..or kids/immature adults teasing it..my dogs never became aggresive.