Our new house sits on 5 open acres with not one fence to keep our precious devil in the yard. After obtaining price quotes on conventional fencing, we checked into hidden fence systems. DogWatch was the only company in town that would answer the phone, so we got a quote from them. Did you know that we were able to fence the entire 5 acres for less than half the cost of fencing just a small portion (and by small I mean an acre or less) of our property with conventional fencing? I did some online research into hidden fence systems, and decided that I like DogWatch the best. They use an FM frequency instead of AM, so it is more reliable. They also offer a collar with a 2-year battery, and you don't have to buy batteries from them if you don't want to. So, DogWatch got the job.
I had my doubts that this hidden fence would keep Blue in our yard, but Tim (our DogWatch rep) assured me that if it doesn't work, we'll get our money back. Tim said that training is the key to keeping a dog in a hidden fence. Blue's not much for mystery; he likes you to be straight up with him, so I was skeptical that he would mesh well with something he couldn't see. But we were optimistic, because Blue has learned so much about acceptable behavior lately. And walking Blue several times a day on a leash is really not our idea of fun, you see. I think he's about as leash-trained as a heeler can be. He tends to pull you all over the place when he's got his nose glued to the ground following a scent or when he's really gotta go and has to find that certain spot RIGHT NOW. And he walks behind you to go from your left side to your right side and back because that's what heelers do. And he puts his body horizontally in front of you so you can't walk when you say, "Kennel!" and he's not quite ready to go in. But I really think he does well on a leash, all things considered.
So, Tim came one day and put up the fence. There are a bazillion little tiny white flags around the perimeter of our property marking the hidden fence. There are also a several dozen flags around the front of the house and the septic tank to keep Blue out of these areas just in case he get a case of the Destroyer Virus. Tim trained Blue with me so I would know how to train Blue to use this system. The first stage of training involves having Blue on a leash at all times. He can't be allowed to run free at any time during this phase of training. If Blue gets too close to the tiny white flags, his collar makes a high pitched sound. If he continues to "challenge" the boundary, he gets a "mild correction" from his collar, a totally humane "mild correction" that we can adjust. So, at first Blue would glady bound over to the little white flags and let his collar correct him. We would pull his leash to teach him how to turn away from the fence. Slowly, at the direction of our DogWatch rep, we turned up the juice. Now, after much training and only a few "mild corrections," Blue's not so agreeable to being near the evil white flaggy thingys that border our yard, even when we go outside the boundary and call him. The neighbor's very brave little rat terrior came over one day while Leyden and I were walking Blue around. We didn't see the little dog, but Blue did. He began to drag Leyden across the yard at mach speed, so I told her to let go of the leash before he pulled her down into the wet grass. Then I saw the little dog in our yard. And I screamed at Blue to stop. Blue leapt onto that little dog, and round and round they went. I promise it looked just like in the cartoons when two furry creatures are fighting - fur was going in circles, first blue, then white, then blue, then white. Leyden started screaming, which Brad heard from inside the house. I was chasing the fur ball all over the yard, yelling for Blue to stop. Finally, Brad came outside and whistled at Blue. When Blue looked back to see who was whistling at him, the little dog saw his chance and made a run for home. Blue saw him and gave chase for just a second, until he saw the evil white flaggy thingys waving at him. He came to a skidding halt as the little dog boogied on home. So, I was pretty confident that Blue was becoming keenly aware of his boundaries and making permanent enemies with the white flags.
I had my doubts that this hidden fence would keep Blue in our yard, but Tim (our DogWatch rep) assured me that if it doesn't work, we'll get our money back. Tim said that training is the key to keeping a dog in a hidden fence. Blue's not much for mystery; he likes you to be straight up with him, so I was skeptical that he would mesh well with something he couldn't see. But we were optimistic, because Blue has learned so much about acceptable behavior lately. And walking Blue several times a day on a leash is really not our idea of fun, you see. I think he's about as leash-trained as a heeler can be. He tends to pull you all over the place when he's got his nose glued to the ground following a scent or when he's really gotta go and has to find that certain spot RIGHT NOW. And he walks behind you to go from your left side to your right side and back because that's what heelers do. And he puts his body horizontally in front of you so you can't walk when you say, "Kennel!" and he's not quite ready to go in. But I really think he does well on a leash, all things considered.
So, Tim came one day and put up the fence. There are a bazillion little tiny white flags around the perimeter of our property marking the hidden fence. There are also a several dozen flags around the front of the house and the septic tank to keep Blue out of these areas just in case he get a case of the Destroyer Virus. Tim trained Blue with me so I would know how to train Blue to use this system. The first stage of training involves having Blue on a leash at all times. He can't be allowed to run free at any time during this phase of training. If Blue gets too close to the tiny white flags, his collar makes a high pitched sound. If he continues to "challenge" the boundary, he gets a "mild correction" from his collar, a totally humane "mild correction" that we can adjust. So, at first Blue would glady bound over to the little white flags and let his collar correct him. We would pull his leash to teach him how to turn away from the fence. Slowly, at the direction of our DogWatch rep, we turned up the juice. Now, after much training and only a few "mild corrections," Blue's not so agreeable to being near the evil white flaggy thingys that border our yard, even when we go outside the boundary and call him. The neighbor's very brave little rat terrior came over one day while Leyden and I were walking Blue around. We didn't see the little dog, but Blue did. He began to drag Leyden across the yard at mach speed, so I told her to let go of the leash before he pulled her down into the wet grass. Then I saw the little dog in our yard. And I screamed at Blue to stop. Blue leapt onto that little dog, and round and round they went. I promise it looked just like in the cartoons when two furry creatures are fighting - fur was going in circles, first blue, then white, then blue, then white. Leyden started screaming, which Brad heard from inside the house. I was chasing the fur ball all over the yard, yelling for Blue to stop. Finally, Brad came outside and whistled at Blue. When Blue looked back to see who was whistling at him, the little dog saw his chance and made a run for home. Blue saw him and gave chase for just a second, until he saw the evil white flaggy thingys waving at him. He came to a skidding halt as the little dog boogied on home. So, I was pretty confident that Blue was becoming keenly aware of his boundaries and making permanent enemies with the white flags.
The next day Tim told us to go to the next phase of training, where we can let Blue off the leash as long as we are outside to supervise him. So, Brad let Blue out for his first jaunt without a leash in two months. He was very well behaved, staying within the boundaries, sniffing and running and generally just being a good dog for over an hour. Then, he saw a bird. You must understand that for about three years, all Blue had for entertainment was bird hunting. And he is very good at it. It's his all-time favorite activity. And did I mention that this was the first time he'd been out without a leash in two months? So, you know where this is going - he was looking UP at the bird, not DOWN at the evil white flaggy thingys, so he crossed the boundary. DogWatch is a very humane system, so after 15 seconds of "mild correction," the collar stops correcting. Well, Brad said he didn't think Blue even notice that he was being corrected, because he kept chasing that bird full throttle. Not a yelp, not a jerk of his body. Finally, Blue stopped and heard Brad yelling for him, so he turned to come home. Brad tried to drag him back into the yard, but of course, the collar was sending Blue a "mild correction" and now that he was actually paying attention, he wasn't about to make the evil white flaggy thingys any angrier. So Brad took the collar off and brought him back home. Brad put the collar back on, and Blue went back in his kennel. I am happy to report that Blue hasn't broken through the fence since the bird hunting incident. He has chased other birds, but tends to look down and notice where he is so as not to anger the evil white flaggy thingys. So far, so good. But in the back of my mind I keep replaying something that Tim said to me: "Blue is a smart dog. Don't let him trick you into believing that he is trained when he really isn't." That statement is the stuff of nightmares, I tell you. I'll keep you posted on Blue's progess and let you know when he has completed training. I'm sure you're waiting on the edge of your seat.
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