I think you should start training now. The earlier you train them, the safer they will be. Pups of those ages often learn sit, stay, come, down, and at least have the concept down for housebreaking, so I don't see why they can't learn boundary training as well.

My dogs are on the invisible fence too. I love it. My lab is the only one who has trouble with training, but he's a pretty dumb dog so that was no surprise. Good thing he's a VERY nice and super obedient dog LOL!

Agreed, start training now.

Hmmm, I know that the instructions for the Invisible Fence brand recommend that a dog be six months old before training to the fence. I do not know their reasoning, but you could certainly email them and ask why that is their recommendation. I have emailed their trainer in the past and he was quite helpful.

Here is a link that might be useful: Invisible Fence

I would think that you would want the pup to be trained on lead and bullet proof in basic commands before introducing the punishment approach to training. No disrespect intended to those who use these fences. Puppies personalities are still developing (though first 8-9 weeks most important), and invisible fences do cause pain/discomfort. Your pups could become fearful of the outdoors not just the fence - and it's fear that keeps them contained. I'd wait until they're a little older. The six months mentioned above sounds reasonable and you can use that time to teach basic commands and walking on lead.

I agree with early training but I don't think I would let them get to the wire, zap. I would be saying "NO" as soon as they hit the warning zone and pull back on the leash. We had ours set at 10 ft before the wire and I loved the I-Fence too. I know someone that had dogs that did become fearful of outdoors as stated above.

Cynthia and eandhl, have either of you have trained a dog for an invisible fence before?

In the training period, there is no shock. The collar is adjusted to emit an audible warning only, while you train the dog to return to a safe zone upon hearing the warning. You reward the dog for returning to the safe zone. There is no punishment in the training period.

Only after the dog reliably returns to the safe zone upon hearing the warning does one adjust the collar to allow the shock. Most dogs get shocked 1-2 times EVER because the warning occurs 3 feet prior to the shock, and the dog has already been trained to return to the safe zone upon hearing the warning.

Puppies can learn boundary training just as easily as sit, stay, heal, come, down, etc. It's a matter of being consistent and patient, just like any other training. A puppy may need a longer training period, but that is no reason not to start now.

Meghane, my post was only thinking of a young puppy. Sometimes people do make a mistake in training and there is no way I would want a really young pup of mine to actually get zapped. I will admit it has been years since I did any IF training. I did have the warning set at max distance for my terriers. The instance I spoke of above was training adult dogs, I wasn't there and only know they ended up with dogs afraid of going outside. I don't know what they did wrong in the training but the results were sad. I am a believer in the IF fence!

I've been thinking about your question quite a lot because one of these days we will be bringing a new puppy home to our already existing fencing system. So your question has me thinking "how will we handle the puppy stages?"

In general I am in agreement with Meghane. I think if I was bringing a pup home now, I would take the following steps.

First, do you have an area with a "real" fence? We do and I would want a place that I can put Pup when I am outside but unable to watch her closely.

Second, when she is out, I would want to be sure that she is very aware of where the boundary is located. As Meghane said, use the collar with the prongs covered so a shock is not possible, but the pup still hears the tone. Go ahead and put the white flag markers along the boundary too so she can both see and hear the limits. Call her back when she reaches the zone, play with her, tell her how good she is, make it a big game and happy thing to come back into the yard.

If you do not have enough control to do this, then don't allow her out without a leash. Having trained two dogs that never experienced running at will and one dog (who originally did not belong to us) that ran freely for two years of his life, I can say that it is MUCH easier to teach the dogs where the boundaries are if they are never allowed to cross them.

I agree with the others that I would not expose the pup to the shock until she is older. However, if you have done the training well up to that point, she may never even need a shock or, as Meghane said, once or twice will do it.

Good luck!