Would you have a Rott not fenced?

[soon to be mom]

I wanted to ask the question about having a fenced yard for a Rott. Would you feel comfortable with your dog in the yard without being behind a physical fence. I have an invisible fence, and it works great, wouldn't trade it, but we just adopted a Rott puppy and we're a little concerned about other people or animals coming into the yard.
We live on 3 acres, but the occasional dog will come by and we also have a neighbor with very small children. We will be taking her to obedience classes very soon, but from reading this forum it seems a lot of people say never to leave your dog alone. My dogs like to go in and out of the house and we're not always with them.

Please help with this, as we are getting really attached to this little girl.

[Weily4Life]

NO, not any dog.
I don't have experience with an invisible fence, but I have heard that dogs have been known to "break through the fence" if excited enough and discover the shock is only temporary and will do it again.
We don't have a fence of any kind, but then we are always with our "buddies" when they are outside.

[AngelBunny]

We lived in our house for about 6-7 years before we fenced our backyard (1-1/2 acres--nka "the pen").

Now that our yard is fenced, I can't imagine how we endured not having a safe place in which to put our dogs.

The amount of land you have is meaningless--we have about 75 acres, you can't see our house from the road, and we own everything we see from anywhere in our house (and then some). When we didn't have a fence, our dogs were NEVER outside alone.

I am not a fan of invisible fencing. You would be wise to either put up a real fence or if cost is an issue, put up a panel system to make a secure, fenced area.

The people directly across the street have Akitas. They also have invisible fencing. There was a time a few years back when their Akitas would burst thru the system, race across the street, charge down our driveway, and start fence fighting with our girls and the foster. Their dogs are elderly now and arthritic and so stay put.

Ditch your invisible fencing.

[ponecookie]

I worked for a vet who had a very well tained lab. Many hunting titles and they had the invesable fence and she got out at least once a week. Once a dog learn that the pain will not continue it is all over, it will get out. So I would be putting in a regular fence asap. Rotties are smart and will chlange any kind of bounderies I think the stornger the fence the better. JMO.
Teresa

[harleychik66]

I have no trust in the invisible fence. Too many dogs will take the zap to get to whatever they see.

I've had two experiences while walking my dogs where dogs, supposedly contained by invisible fence have decided that I/my dogs were more important than obeying their boundaries. One was a lab and the other a JRT. Thank God my dogs were under control. In both cases the owner assured me that their dog had never done that before. True or not it just goes to show that it isn't foolproof.

[Nishasmom]

When I was younger, we had our 15 acre property fenced w/ the "invisible fence". We lived out in the country, and our dogs usually stayed in the "yard". Well one day our pointer (3yrs) chased a deer THROUGH the I.F. and got hit by a car (right in front of us )

DONT TRUST THE FENCE!!! You never know when your dog might see something he can't resist.

[soon to be mom]

We have had this fence with both of our Rhodesian Ridgebacks and they have never gone outside of it, and they were trained as pups. I will have to see how she does with it. We will be training her on it in a few weeks. Hopefully being a puppy will make a difference. Thanks for the responses and advice, they are appreciated. I'll keep you posted.

[stale]

i wouldn't trust it - the fine print in all the commercially available invisible fences i've been able to find (yay google!) say something to the effect of "we cannot guarantee that this device will act in any way as a deterrent to crossing."

basically, the fine print on all of them say they're worthless....

and, beyond that, there's any number of reports (try google, or even the thread search function) of dogs scooting through them going after something.

for a more personal note - i was at a homeshow today, and they had the "original" invisible fence (brand name, not sure if it is or not) and with it on it's highest available setting, testing it myself, it was a joke. about the only detterent it offered was a rather annoying beeping - the shock the thing provided was almost nonexistant - a 9 volt battery on the tongue hurts more.

so, i'd say don't use the I.F. products. granted, it's your dog, your neighbour, and your potential lawsuit/pet funeral... i'm not going to tell you you can't, just that it's an incredibly poor idea...

[nancyhq]

Hi. My girlfriend has a 4 year old rottie. He's great, well socialized, trained, loving with a sense of humor! But, when a well intended person came upon their back yard without invitation and without the owner being home the dog broke a window while barking at the person. He didn't escape however, I'm positive an invisable fence would not of held him. He scared the poor guy to death even though we doubt he'd hurt a fly. Just a thought.

[onthedl74]

I wouldn't trust an invisible fence. Then again, I would never allow my dogs to be outside unsupervised either.

Invisible fence does not stop anyone from bothering or stealing your dog. Also, if there ever was a power failure- the fence will be incapacitated.

It happened here in RI during after a storm this past summer. A saint bernard got loose as a result, was picked up by animal control. AC picked him up and brought him to the shleter while the owners were at work. He died there from heat exhaustion.

I would look for other options!

[TrinaJ]

Personally I wouldn't put my the life of my dog in the hands of an invisible fence, but its your choice.

[brunie's mom]

Originally Posted by soon to be mom

We have had this fence with both of our Rhodesian Ridgebacks and they have never gone outside of it, and they were trained as pups. I will have to see how she does with it. We will be training her on it in a few weeks. Hopefully being a puppy will make a difference. Thanks for the responses and advice, they are appreciated. I'll keep you posted.

Please don't trust this fence. It also does not keep other dogs or animals coming into your property.

We live on 50 acres, and I don't have it fenced. When they dogs want out, I go out with them. I do have kennel run just outside our backdoor. When the weather is good, they can go outside to work on a bone or enjoy the sun.
You may want to think of this solution. Your puppy would have a safe place in a run, when you cannot watch her....and when you outside with her, she will have the boundries of the IF to keep her with you.

Most Home Depot, farm stores,etc. sell them, you can put them up yourself...or look in Penny Saver type of papers...they are often advertised used, for less than half price.

Gina

[poohbearsmom]

Many years ago, we were fenceless... until the dog didn't come back in one morning. She was missing for two excrutiating days, and we were VERY lucky we got her back!!! She was spotted dodging traffic shortly after she disappeared, and then we heard nothing for two days.... we were driving around looking in ditches! We did get our girl back, and we put up a fence.

There is no way to explain the wonderful, worry free feeling we had once the fence was put in place. We got to stop nagging the dog, she was more relaxed, because we weren't nagging her, and life was much better. We still supervise the dogs in the yard, but the barrier makes life much easier for everyone.

You can do a search on Invisible Fences here on the Forums, you will find that the general consensus is that they suck.

[Shelby427]

I would never ever trust invisible fence, if a small animal runs by...prey drive will/can kick in and your rottie will blow through that "fence." Shelby is almost five years old and is boundary trained, however, I go out with her whenever she goes out. Hudson is on a long cable when outside, and I'm still out there with them. It's not a safe idea and i hope you take the advice given before something happens and your rottie is to blame.

[Nishasmom]

Another thing I forgot to mention; sometimes the line "breaks". If you don't notice it being broken (a light blinks on the control)...your dog will. Please don't get the fence, my baby Bogie is not alive today b/c of it. We got it when he was a puppy!! He was trained to use it!!! The fence was working, (no breaks). DONT TRUST IT.