The people I know who have invisible fencing seem to be very happy with it, but I haven't used it myself.

You can do pet fencing which is an electronic system to keep your pet within your boundaries without physical barrier. You can customize an invisible one as per your requirement.

Training takes maybe 15 minutes. Very effective for keeping the dogs on the property. Wiring your entire acreage would be a chore. Wire maintenance too, as for every break, and they do happen, an alarm goes off and you need to find and repair the break. Very simple low voltage system. I spent $300 for my acre (left a half acre out). Saved untold amounts as the dogs were getting picked up by Animal Control and the next time was a court visit and a $720 fine.

The place was completely fenced! I just had an escape artist and he encouraged the two of them to have adventures!

Hi there as above invisible fencing is probably an economical and ecological way to allow your dogs roam free. You have to lay the line around the entire border where you want them to roam. The glitches I have heard about:
in some dogs, the electric buzz can be a little harsh on them
If the line breaks it is a pain to find the fault
if the dogs get out, they don't easily get back in for the same reasons that kept them in in the first place.

Can't say enough good about the "Invisable Fence"! Works perfectly. The extra features available today allow you to bring invisible fence features inside too. We love the "rocks" which allow us to further define where the dogs can and cannot go. We even have taken the rocks to our boat to keep the dogs safely in the cabin if needed when we have to leave them behind.
It is worth the money.

Must keep batteries up to date in the dog's collar! My neighbor's dogs were constantly getting loose!

Feeny - now that is how it should be done!!!

i've known dogs who've died due this type of fence. one was a sweet golden retriever who daily came through her fence on a 3 acre property when we walked by with our dogs. sadie would join us for the walk and then wait outside her fence for her owners to come home and turn off the fence so she could come back into her own yard without getting zapped. 1 day we heard she'd gotten out and was hit by a car and died. so sad.

2 MAJOR PROBLEMS with these fences.
1) some dogs will be so excited about somehting they see outside the fence that they fly right through it. then after the excitement has passed and they come home, they don't want to get zapped going back through so they wander off.

2) other loose dogs in the area will not be wearing the speciall collars so there's nothing to keep them off of your property. this makes your pets 'sitting ducks', or dog targets for any bully dogs that come along.
dogs are also more likely to be taunted by chlidren in neighborhoods although with 15 acres this is less likely a problem for you.

the fence sellers will tell it's a matter of simple training. uh huh...

many rescue groups will not adopt to anyone wanting to leave their dogs alone with only this as protection.
i can see this working if you plan to have the dogs out only when you're home to keep an eye on them.

i know alot of people swear by invisible fence.that's fine. i'm just offering my opinion since you asked.

We live on nine acres. We have 5 dogs. When my husband researched our options we decided to fence our property rather then do an invisible fence. The reason was 100% decided on exactly what DIspoton posted. Too many distractions (especially when you live in the country). In my opinion, it's the only way to keep them truly safe.

As an invisable fence owner for well over 10 years, this isn't a system to just put your dog out for hrs.at a time while you're not even home to supervise. The system is .for responsible pet owners who use the system as directed. One real issue is the dogs are not protected from harm of outsiders who might come into the system.
Kids, animals or other sources of danger are freely able to enter your property.

There is no fence, even those that go below ground that a determined and skilled dog can't escape. I don't much about it, but there is something called border training that you should use even with the electric fence. Basically, you want your dog to stay within 3' of your yard on every side. Check it out!

(We've been looking for a new pet;I'm now convinced to get a cat)

@studio10001: Take a look at the recent discussion threads on cats who claw all the furniture in the house! ;-)

My parents had one for our 2 dogs when I was amid. One dog was trained in 5 mins (no exaggeration). He knew it only worked with the collar and knew exactly where the line was. The other one just never understood, or didn't care. She would get zapped over and over, run back and forth across it. Both were dachshunds. There are different settings and ones with beeping to warn. The zap hurts. I know because I once brilliantly walked across the yard carrying the collar by accident. I actually encourage doing this so you have an idea of the setting you are using. We always used the lowest but at a certain point we trained it off because it wasn't working on the female dog. The male thought it was one by virtue of just wearing the collar.

feeny. i had to laugh at your response because i was thinking the same thing. my cool cat has destroyed my leather office chair. last month he leapt from the ktichen table into the old world looking armoire. CRASH..
a gorgeous ceramic bowl by a local craftsperson commisioned as a gift for me was in pieces. many pieces, many pieces. this was piece of art we're talking about.
ah and then there was the christmas eve he brought in the live bird and it hid in the very large, heavily decorated tree.it spent the night and flew out the next morning. yup, gotta love cats.

I've been chastised on Houzz before for using an invisible fence because of the pain involved to the animal. Before installing ours (on our fully fenced and gated property) I checked with our local Humane Society, the place we got the dogs. They were pleased we were using the technology and suggested training, if only to protect our dogs from the dangers of the road. As I said, 15 minutes was all it took. When the escape artist left us for good (long story) we disabled the fence and my best dog ever never left home again. Of course, he turned tail and ran every time the refrigerator door timer beeped! Smart boy!

I am not against invisible fences in some cases. In our case, too many various forms of wildlife and neighbors who let their dogs roam anywhere they want (sadly it ends badly many times). My motley crew (all rescues) are only outdoor dogs when they want to be and even with the fence they have identification on them at all times. If you look at the picture I posted, they all see something, and I would almost guarantee that if one of them went after whatever they saw, they all would. I can't risk that, and in the 11 years we've had the fence up, no one has ever gotten out. Just my opinion...

that's just silly to say it causes pain. it's a surprising jolt to move them back. they're not being tasered.
i've accidentally touched electric horse fence a few times. it's not pleasant, and yes it will scare them to move away but it's not painful (unless they get tangled in it. ughh).

Dog owners who truly love their animals would never use a product that caused undue pain. Used in a responsible manner, I think it's a great tool for the wanderers and escape artists. Mine is a wanderer... only because she doesn't pay attention to what's around her. Once she realized she has lost sight of me, she'd panic. She's smart as a whip though, and I'd probably not need to use the fence for very long before she learned her boundaries -- and I'd never do it if I thought it would cause her any significant discomfort. I'd probably test it on myself 849503043 times first!!

some dogs will go through, over or under anything. sad but true. i just try to minimize the risks when they're out to play.

Thank every1 for all the response
Wow I have a lot to look into too!

Carolyn, right now as I type this three of my dogs are outside running the fence line with three other dogs. They're having a good time, but I hate to think what would happen if those dogs could come in.

mkritt, that reminds me to suggest to anyone putting up a traditional fence to always have it installed at least 5' inside your property line. this way neighbors can't tie in to your fence , thus avoiding fence fighting.
be sure to leave enough room so a mower can be used if they put up a new fence right on their line.
let your neighbors know you've done this to avoid issues.

I am somewhat on the fence (pun intended) re invisible fences for all of the reasons described above. I'm sure they can work fine with some dogs, but there are a lot of risks involved, including making your dog fearful as a result of being shocked. If you have a determined dog, it will go right though it. One of our dogs ws so determined that he went over six-foot wood fences which were topped with an invisible fence as a second line of protection.

DIAspoton, we live in a country neighborhood. Every one has at least 5 acres. It is a cul-de-sac and we live on 9 acres in the "island" of it. You know how there's always that one neighbor you're not real fond of?! Well "they" happen to live on the island also. They have 4 pit bulls (no bad dogs, just bad owners) and when they went to put up a fence, he asked to tie in with ours. Uh NO! My husband asked them not to put the fence on his property line (we moved ours in) so that we could mow in between the fences..so OF COURSE he put it right on the property line making it impossible to get our mower in there! Fortunately there is still plenty of distance between the fences, as I value my dog's faces!!