Many housing development have covenants against fences. That is a problem with you have a dog you want to keep confined. Typing a dog on a line, except for brief periods, isn’t a humane option.

Never fear, technology is here and the electric fence for dogs is the answer. Here’s how the system works. A wire is buried around the boundary of the area in which the dog is to be contained. Initially, the area is marked with little flags to provide the dog with a clear visual stimulus. The dog wears a collar that’s designed to vibrate or beep when the dog approaches the boundary. When the dog gets too close, he received a shock. The intensity of the shock can be adjusted. After the dog has learned to respect the location of the boundary, the flags are removed.

Electric fences are best for neighbour hood that don’t allow fence and in farm communities where the dog needs to be prevented from visiting the neighbour, who is worried about the dog bothering his livestock.

All in all, the system works well for majority of dogs, it isn’t foolproof. Here is a few of the problems you may encounter.

• It does’nt keep other dogs or animals out of the fenced area because they are not connected to the system. If you have a female dog that isn’t spayed, you could run into a problem when she is in season and an unaltered male comes to visit with breeding on his mind. It can’t keep children out of your yard either.
• Some dogs, in state of high excitement will burn through your fence. Then they find themselves on the outside of the fence and are afraid to come back in or they may simply run away.
• Some dogs develop aggressive tendencies toward people on the other side of the boundary.
• Some dogs quickly become collar wise and disregard the fence when not wearing the collar. Should that happen, he has to wear the collar everytime you let him out.
• Cost of the systems vary and depend on the size of the enclosure. The least expensive systems are found in pet stores, but in this situation, the owner must learn how to use them. A more expensive option is to use a company that installs the fence and sends a trainer who does the initial training of the dog and instructs the owner on how to use it.

As a result of these problems, you need to keep an eye on your dog when it is out in the yard. Don’t leave him for prolonged periods without supervision.