Keep looking --- google and find somebody to help. Yep, 1K is absolutely ridiculous. As far as the IF goes, it works if the dog doesn't care about the initial shock if he runs really fast through it ---- then, how do you get him back in? Also, really smart dogs know that you can run the battery down by just going around the fence and listening to the 'warning'. Oh my --- are we really the top of the order?

Maybe a good alternative is to train the dog to listen to you and not be afraid of a shock.

Sorry - I have never personally had a IF so I don't know about the training needed to make the situation work. We had a neighbor who had one though and their dogs plowed through it regularly then couldn't come back in without getting shocked.

I have had IF for 4 years and my dogs have never gone thru it. One was a boxer and now I have 2 Shih Tzus. Started them in the house and flagged the yard for the first while. Slowly removed the flags and that was it. Sure beats putting up fencing. I live in the country so except to keep the dogs in don't need one.

Carmen, clearly the dogs you are speaking of were not trained. It works very well with trained dogs. I do know the original IF is still much more expensive than ones you can get elsewhere. The two expensive components are the transmitter and the collars. The wire is cheap.

many people make the mistake of installing the underground fence, putting the collar on their dog, walking the dog up to the fence, letting it get shocked and then turning the dog loose. that is the absolute WORST way to introduce this sort of containment system. that is NOT training.

it takes at least 2 weeks ON LEASH, walking the perimeter, letting the dog get the warning beep ONLY. after a couple of weeks, the dog is allowed to cross over the safety zone STILL ON LEASH. he WILL get a correction from the collar and you are to instantly pull him back. with my danes, it only took ONE correction before swee' pea wouldn't go near the flags. ashley took 2 corrections but learned very quickly that the flags are bad.

the trainer i worked with told me that my dogs would be foolproof in 4 months. it took a much shorter time than that. they will absolutely NOT get within 20 feet of the boundary now. believe me, i have continued their training to this day. occasionally, i will send them outside if i see a deer just on the other side of the boundary, or i will have a friend bring their dog out and walk up and down just outside of the boundary. i have NEVER called to my dogs to try to get them to cross, that is a huge no-no. they have been exposed to deer, dogs, 4 wheelers (which they used to LOVE to chase) and they have been 100% perfect.

we have used an invisible fence for over fourteen years. We had the fence installed professionally - but that is not necessary. Having it installed professionally gives us free replacement equipment if something goes wrong. We have purchased a cheap back up transmitter from Home Depot (PetSafe brand) which works just fine. The systems from Home Depot cost around $150. We have learned many things during the fourteen years! First, unless you REALLY have to, don't bury the wire - its so easy to break if you are digging anywhere near it, and its difficult to find the faulty area! Secondly, change the batteries on the collars regularly. But most importantly, TRAIN the dogs properly. You will be doing yourself and the dogs a huge favor if you take the time and effort to do this properly. We have found that after a period of time the dogs don't appear to need the collar - they know where they can and cannot go, but we would never not put the collars on the dogs. Hope this helps.

Thank you for all of your replies. Unfortunately the previous owners do not have any paperwork regarding the system. Although there is little vehicular traffic at this new house, there are a ton of dog walkers and plenty of wildlife -- too much temptation for him to run off. Of course I would properly train him with the IF, I don't forsee any problems with that. He is a pretty smart dog, just can't control the chase instinct. Thank you bmmalone, I will definitely check out the PetSafe at Home Depot.

The wire should work with any system.
If you have a large area of property to cover, the heavier the gauge wire, the better.
I would can snip off a piece of the wire and take it to a hardware store to find out what gauge it is, then check which systems work best with that gauge.

Click here for one site about wire, and the link below has more info on systems and how to install them.

Here is a link that might be useful: IF systems

lauren17, One thing I don't think has been mentioned. I.F. is great when used with supervision. We used it for years with Russell Terriers but only when one of us was outside. You have to remember wildlife as well as any other dogs can still come onto your property but whenever we were outside the dogs had the freedom on the fenced area.

For that matter, if you don't mind going outside to supervise every time, you can just buy a remote training collar for 100 - 200, and skip the I.F. wire altogether (which is what we did).

And that way, you have your choice of signal to send when your dog is nearing the boundary (verbal warning, tone, shock or, in our case, a puff of air : )

Thank you so much for the link Annz - it is the information I have been looking for.

Eandhl - Unless he has run after a scent, our dog actually won't stay outside without us. He is a people dog and likes to be next to his people all the time. Sometimes right on top of his people!

Freezetag - you make an excellent suggestion. I actually don't know exactly where the fence lies - only that it is there. I planned on walking the perimeter with a collar in hand until I heard the beeping. Your way makes much more sense.

Havahart Wireless now makes a fence that won't shock the dog when he comes back in to the area. The wireless fence covers one and a half football fields in all directions tooÂI've heard a lot of good things.

I have had an IF for 6 years and I would not be without it. And the other posters were right--you do need a professional show you how to do it and do it right. You will never be sorry and my dogs have NEVER tried to cross the wire after they were taught the right way. I just looked up what the costs were for the individual items that came with the fence. FYI the transmitter upgrade would be $99.95, 1 year bettery pack is $59.95 and a collar was $200.00 totalling $359.90. Bear in mind that was, as I said, 6 years ago. but that is a far cry from what you were quoted. Wondering who you talked to. And I would be careful of buying the ones that are sold in farm stores as they don't seem to be very effective according to some that have tried them.

I think they over-inflate the price on IF because they can play on the safety issue. They know pet owners want their pets to be safe. $1000 is way too high.

We had someone come out at the beginning of the summer for an estimate, and it would have been $3000 for an area we didn't want. We only wanted the dogs to have access to the backyard, but we were told the wire would have to surround the entire property, giving access to the driveway and garage areas. We can go with a chain link fence for less than half of that.

The best transmitter and a collar were about $400, not $1000, but that was part of an installation and not just outright buying them.

I have a huge yard---180 ft. x 180 ft. They, of course, have to make a complete circle with the wire or the electricity won't go through so it would not work to go from one corner of the house to the other corner. There would be no connection. The entire fence cost me $1200.00 which is a lot of money but as I said the lawn is huge and I wanted them to be able to run the full area of the yard. I hope this explains the full circle they have to do to make it work. Also it is guaranteed for life except for new batteries.

A couple of things: our fence cost $600 twelve years ago. That did include burying the wire. Secondly, you do NOT have to have a complete circle around your house. You can just do an area if you use two 'loops' of wire at least six feet apart. There are complete instructions on how to do this in the Petsafe manual.

People dont be morons the training helps but is not a fail safe. I house sit and have watched a variety of professionally trained dogs bust right thru when they feel like it and watched some poorly trained ones never set foot near the edge no matter what is on the otherside. I am no fan of the IF alone. I use it in conjunction with a real fence...keeps other dogs, animals and children out while the IF makes sure they cant get close enough to dig under.

To answer the original question the wire can be used with any system and for a couple hundred at home depot (or online) you can get the petsafe brand and the collar and hook it right up. NO need for a heavier guage or any of that.

well cat, when it comes right down to it, the only certain things in life are death and taxes. it's been almost one year since my danes were trained to the IF and they have not blown through it a single time. only my male still wears the collar just because he has wanderlust in his blood. still, he stays put. my 2 females have not worn collars in many months. i replaced the old worn out flags with the little orange ones only because i want to reinforce bentley's training.

whoever paid the "professional" to train these dogs you refer to should get their money back.

this subject will be useful for everybody, thanks alot for this.

They could find"the subject" the same way you did. No?

pleasant dialog is going on, it is extremely useful. much appreciated alot for your recommendations

best wireless dog fence

Huh? No posts nor dialog in over EIGHT YEARS! lol

Will the wireless fencing work if I live on The second floor?