Here we are. Cally is almost at 9 months. She continues to make progress and makes us fall in love with her more and more. Last month we decided to purchase a wireless fence for her. It is the best investment have made for her so far. If you are not familiar with how they work let me explain. We purchased ours from PetSmart. We had many concerns and were a little apprehensive of its effectiveness. It works in three ways, first visual, then audio, finally with touch or a shocking stimulation. It has a hub which is placed in the center of your house or the area which you have for the dog to run around. Setting up the perimeter took about 1/2 hr. It was just a matter of walking around with the collar in your hands, listening for the alert tone and watching for the light. At that point you know you are at the furthest point of the preset perimeter mark and you place the visual flag. If it is too far or too short for your liking you can adjust it on the hub, by dialing it back or forward.Once the visual flags are placed introduce the dog with the collar on but no shocking ability yet. Allow the dog while on a leash to explore his/her area. As they approach the flags, their collar should begin to alert the dog with a tone , the audible phase, and will flash a red light for you to see. Pull the dog back into the "safe zone". We continued this process for 1 day. Day 2 we set the collar for level 1. There are up to 6 levels of shocking discharge, the touch or stimulation phase. Well as we quickly found out Level 1 is probably meant for a Chiuaua not a 56 lb Boxer. so we quickly bumped it up to 3. We had success. Cally tested the boundary a few times, after 3 or 4 shocking corrections she had learned that the tone (audible) and the flags (visual) meant an impending shock (touch/stimulation). By day 4 she wanted nothing to do with the furthest boundary. She stayed close to the house and her people! We had several tests that happened one including the cat escaping out a window and running through the yard and out of the perimeter. Cally chased him to the edge and stopped and returned to the "safe zone". And the cat wandered around in the woods for the rest of the day! (Note: The cat is NOT an outside cat) The most recent test was yesterday, I had let Cally outside with her collar on. My husband went to check on her and found her sitting in the "safe zone" watching the deer wander through the other side of the flags. She showed restraint and respect for wildlife. We were very proud of her and happy with the product. I will continue to blog the progresses made in the coming weeks. Bye for now!
Hi! I am a neighbor of your friends, Sam and Jerry. I have two Boxers, Gracie, a flashy brindle age 7, and Gabriel, a classic fawn male age 6. I also have a rare long-haired "boxer" by the name of Cullen (actually he is a Sheltie but doesn't know it!) who is 2. Sam told me about your site so I thought I would check it out. Cally is beautiful. I wish her a long and healthy, happy life!
ReplyDeleteI read your blog regarding the electronic fence with interest. Glad to read that it works for you but I will add a caution that our breeder passed on to me. He said IF a Boxer REALLY WANTS something bad enough, no shock from an electronic fence will work. Problem is if the dog does break the shock and then wants to return, the prey drive that got them out isn't strong enough to allow the dog to get back into the electronic area. Also, caution must be taken to insure that the collar is in good working order and that it is well secured on the dog before it goes outside. Cally sounds like she is doing well with hers but please keep an eye on her when she is outside. She is still young enough to be tempted! The main problem I see with an electronic fence is that while your dog doesn't get out, the invisible fence does not prevent anything (two or four legged) to come in. If you ever visit Sam with Cally in tow, please come and knock on my door. I would love to meet you!
Judy Humphrey
goodbyegirl@zoominternet.net