ADMIN – Hi Kathy,

You just lucked out! It is easy to reinstall the dog fence if the previous owner had a fence and just took the transmitter. You just get a new transmitter and plug it into the old wiring. Any system should work with the old wiring.

To find the spot where you plug in the old wiring, try looking in any outdoor shed, a garage, in a crawl space under the house or a closet on an exterior wall. The connection point will just look like two exposed wires. It can be a little tricky to hunt down if it is in an odd place. If you are still in contact with the old owners, now is a good time to make a phone call!

Once you have the system put in, you can use the collars along with the supplied testing tool to figure out where the existing boundaries lie.

ADMIN – Hi Jamie,

That’s a great idea. You can get the Indoor door zone and collar set and purchase additional indoor zones to accomplish exactly what you’re planning.

ADMIN – Hi Dustin,

With the training, you can nearly always overcome hunting instinct and make the dogs observe a territory defined by the fence within the first 2-3 weeks. I like your instinct to be concerned about these trigger points. When there are particular concerns, like say chasing birds, I like to test the dog with that actual trigger before I am comfortable letting the dog go off leash. It is much easier to train a dog past a problem, like running past the fence on a particular trigger like birds, if you identify it earlier rather than letting it become a habit and trying to fix it months down the line.

ADMIN – Hi Linda,

Cattle, horse, or other livestock electric fences are hit and miss as far as interference goes. Usually you can get away with it, although sometimes the dog fence signal can jump into the horse fence wire and make anywhere with the horse fence wire act like dog fence boundary wire, which causes layout problems for some The only way to tell if it is an issue for you is to rig up a test section and then see if the dog fence is working properly. If it is a problem, you need to move the dog fence wire six feet away.

If you are just enclosing a larger area, with the horse fence in the middle, it will be a complete non-issue.

I’m thinking about purchasing the SportDog SDF-100, I wouldn’t mind the bulkiness and like the idea of the vibration warning. Would this be a good system to keep my dog from jumping the fence to chase things? Also, I am wary about looping it through my existing fence. I worry that it would be too easy to tamper with the wire continuity and/or damage the wire. I’m not opposed to burying the wire. Since I would be getting the system to prevent fence jumping, would you recommend burying the wire or attaching it to the fence?

ADMIN – Hi Adam,

Both burying the wire and stringing it up along the existing fence are good options. Burying tends to make the wire less prone to break, and is less visually obtrusive. Running the wire along the fence is faster, and while you do get the occasional break, they are easier to find and repair.

I usually recommend people start with attaching the wire to a fence, just because you can be up and ready to train the dog in an hour. Then if you want to go back and bury you can do it whenever you have time. My instinct is to take care of the fence jumping safety issue as soon as possible, then worry about where the wire will be permanently installed later.

Any info would be greatly appreciated!

ADMIN – Hi Glen,

The systems work fine when the yard gets wet, even if it gets water-logged. Just be sure to only use the provided waterproof splices, and where possible try to avoid splicing in places that are likely to be particularly waterlogged.

ADMIN – Hi Veronica

Mostly when a dog is trained, it will avoid any small flags. For example if you take them for a walk past a construction site where there are marking flags they will stay well away. Whether this will be true of your dogs is a hit and miss. We have had customers that just lay out the flags when they go camping and had the dogs happily contained. You could also use the remote correction systems to reinforce the message, but as a practical matter this usually doesn’t help a whole lot because most people aren’t vigilant enough to keep an eye on the dogs 24/7. It usually only ends up teaching the dogs that they should not try and escape while you are around.

ADMIN – Hi Laurel,

A really solid physical barrier is always the best solution. Unfortunately this is not always practical, and reinforcing a fence that is not quite up to snuff can be a source of endless frustration. Electronic dog fences work really will in conjunction with real fences because the two work together. The physical fence is a nice visual cue, and the electronic stops the dog having enough time on the border to try and jump over or dig under. The Innotek IUC-4100 would be a good choice for just the lab. If you wanted something to handle both dogs, I would get the PetSafe Stubborn for the lab (keep it turned down) and a PetSafe Little Dog extra collar for the Boston.

I am always concerned with containment of an aggressive dog, mainly because the consequences of their escaping can be so serious (for both the dog and passers by). I would definitely do something to get him contained in the short term, even if it means tying him up. And I would not let him off leash in the yard unsupervised until you are 100% sure he is contained.

ADMIN – Hi Becky,

A proprietary battery is one that is made only by the manufacturer (i.e. it is not a regular battery you can get in the Supermarket, such as a AA battery of a 9V battery). Proprietary batteries are easy to change, but are usually more expensive ($4-$10 every three months or so depending on brand). They are also inconvenient because you cannot easily find them and usually will have to mail order them, something that inevitably leads to situations where the dog battery is not replaced and the collar is non-functioning. For that reason we much prefer rechargeable batteries.

Since they are both over 12lbs, I would go with the Innotek IUC-4100. It is rechargeable and has one of the smaller collars so should be find on a Dachshund. You can also use them in conjunction with the Innotek indoor zones, to keep them away from certain areas instead of the baby gates. (My child is starting to walk, can we have your baby gates!)

thanks Kerry

ADMIN – Hi Kerry,

The key to getting the dog contained under those panicked states is training her, then testing her by simulating the panicked state (e.g. a confederate lets off a firecracker). If storms are an issue, you will also want to make sure the system you select has a battery backup, you don’t want the system going down when power goes down – the exact time when you need it!

But, I’m not sure you need a fence. If the panicked states are the only problem, I think you could probably train her go to a “safe spot” in your house when panicked. Talk to a good local trainer. They should be able to redirect that behavior in a couple of session. Thanks for the compliment.