Good fences make good doggies
By Gina Spadafori
July 9, 2006
Interesting e-mail this morning from someone affiliated with a company that makes electronic containment systems for dogs. These are those popular products that allow you to have a yard without a fence (as is required in some areas) and still keep your dog on your property, ideally.
The person wondered if since I’m against dogs living on chains I would instead be in favor of electronic containment systems, as an option for people who don’t want or can’t have a fence.
Well, I’m not in favor of them either.
An electronic containment system doesn’t protect your dog from people coming on to your property to tease, torture or kidnap your pet. It doesn’t stop other dogs or wild animals from coming on to your property to attack your pet. No matter the training, there are some animals who will decide taking the shock is worth it, if the lure on the other side of the line is too appealing. Once over the line, they will not take a shock to get back onto the property.
Personally, I would never buy a home that didn’t let me put up proper, secure fencing for my dogs. Never. If you cannot avoid buying such a property, you can put up a runner cable system for your dog to relieve himself without running away (not live on the chain, but get out to potty) or you can walk your dog three times a day, or you can train him properly to a recall and go out with him, or all of the above. But leaving a dog unattended in an unfenced yard with a electronic collar around his neck is something I would never, ever recommend.
And it’s not, by the way, that I don’t believe in electronic collars. Like many people who train retrievers for field competitions, an electronic collar is one of my training tools. In the hands of people who know what they’re doing, these devices can be effective. The key phases: "In the hands of " and "know what they’re doing." Leaving your dog in an unfenced yard to be shocked automatically when he nears a boundary isn’t anything I’d recommend (for the reasons outlined above), and zapping him every time you think you want to without knowing what you’re doing or why is doubly unfair. More than that: It’s cruel.
I know my view makes the electronic-containment people go cross-eyed with frustration. I don’t care. If you can’t adequately house, contain and care for a dog, don’t get one. And if you want to use an e-collar (for example, to teach your dog to come when called), hook up for private lessons with an experienced dog trainer who understands proper collar conditioning and how to get the most out of your dog with the least amount of "Edison Medicine."
When I was working at the shelter, we’d get a dog in with one of these collars every other week during the deep winter. The snow apparently piles high enough to where the dog can run over the “fence” without the shock.
Comment by Georg — July 10, 2006 @ 6:13 am
Jury’s still out on this one, I think. There are definitely dogs for whom this technology is inappropriate, but some dogs, once shocked, will never challenge the fence again, or challenge it only rarely. In an ideal world, these fences would be unnecessary, and everyone would take proper care of their dogs. But in the real world, a large number of people don’t, and then we’re left cleaning up the messes of dogs hit by cars, running away, etc.Is it a fix for “bad” or overscheduled owners? Perhaps. The truth is that I have trouble getting clients to walk their dogs for an extra 15 minutes a day, and—I find this astounding— getting owners to microchip their pets is like pulling teeth. No, electric fences are unsettling, they don’t solve every problem (other animals coming in, etc) but they do solve some problems. Alas, electric fences are far less expensive than regular fences, therefore more likely to be used. When they invent a good owner pill and find a way to make sure the owners use it, believe me, I’ll be the first to endorse it.
Comment by arlo muttrie — July 14, 2006 @ 1:46 am