Smaller Collar

The Havahart Small Dog uses the same collar box as the standard Havahart Radial 2. But, to save weight it uses a a smaller and lighter collar band than the standard Havahart system. This results in a small weight savings of around 0.6 ounces. You can use this collar with dogs as small as 15 pounds , a slight improvement on the 20 pound limit for the standard system, but nothing incredible.

2.8 Acre Capacity

The Havahart Small Dog has a maximum effective containment area of around 2.8 acre capacity, with a maximum boundary radius of around 200 feet. This is the largest capacity of any conventional wireless fence.

Class Leading Performance

The Havahart Wireless has notably superior boundaries than it’s wireless competitors. The boundary moves 60% less than it’s nearest rival the PetSafe Stay+Play, and a 85% less than the atrocious Perimeter Wifi.

Wireless Limitations

Conventional wireless systems such as the Havahart all have limitations compared to wired fences. The boundaries wobble around from moment-to-moment. They can also struggle in some properties, particularly where there are large metal obstacles or downhill slopes.

Rechargeable Battery

The Small Dog collar uses an RCR123 rechargeable lithium ion battery. The battery is charged by undoing a hatch on the back of the collar, removing the battery, and inserting it into the supplied charger. The battery life is around ten days and a full charge takes about 2 hours.

Five Correction Levels

The Havahart Small Dog Radial has five correction levels that are set at the base station. The correction levels can be set independently on each collar, so you can have each dog on a different correction level. The correction level range is more than sufficient for small dogs.

Long and Short Probes

The Havahart collar probes can be unscrewed and interchanged. The system comes with both long and short option probes to suit long and short haired hounds respectively.

Rubber Strap with Integrated Antenna

The primary difference between the standard collar and the Small Dog collar included with this system is the slimmed down collar. Instead of the larger nylon cloth collar, Havahart has created a slim rubberized collar with a buckle closure. This collar is 0.6 ounces lighter and has a shorter band allowing for use with smaller neck sizes.

Like the standard collar, the antenna is integrated into the collar band for vastly improved reception. The tradeoff is that you cannot remove the collar band, nor exchange it for one of your own choosing.

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Best Wireless Collar

The Havahart collar outshines all competing wireless collars. In combination with the transmitter, they maintain a superior boundary which is more precise and more consistent than any other wireless system. In our standard testing setup, the average movement in the boundary was less than two feet (with the boundary set to 70 feet), outstripping its nearest competitors by a large margin.

Average Boundary Wobble (feet)
(a smaller number is better)

This boundary consistency makes training your dog much easier and allows the dog to enjoy more of your yard as they are more confident about the location of the boundary.

Big Collar

The Havahart small dog collar is lighter than the regular size collar, but still large. The Havahart collar weighs in at 3.8 ounces, and is only around 15% lighter than the regular size collar. Consequently, because of it’s size and bulk, we would only use this collar with dogs over 15 lbs.

The PetSafe Stay+Play has the smallest wireless dog fence collar, and can be used with dogs as small as 12 lbs. Wired systems such as the PetSafe Little Dog offers a collar less than half the size and weight.

2.8 Acre Maximum Capacity

In our field tests, the Havahart was able to effectively contain 2.8 acres (200 foot boundary radius). This is the largest effective coverage of any conventional wireless system we have tested. It is however, not as good as the 11 acre (400 foot boundary radius) capacity claimed on the manufacturer’s specifications.
Note, the 4 base-station Havahart Custom, and the GPS Border Patrol TC1 both have larger effective ranges, but do not work as well as the Havahart Radial and are more than twice the price.

Only Circular Boundary

Using conventional wireless systems such as the Havahart Wireless Small Dog, you can have only have circular boundaries. (An exception to this is the new $800 Havahart Custom, which allows you a completely custom shaped boundary. But, as well as being more expensive it does not have as accurate boundaries). Having only a circular boundary often leads to part of your yard being off excluded which can often significantly limit the dogs play area in small yards.

The sweet spot for these wireless systems is large open yards, where you want to give the dogs plenty of room to play, but want to keep them from staying too far from the house.

Boundary Challenge Alarm

The transmitter alerts you when your dog attempts to cross the boundary by sounding an alarm. This lets you go outside and check on your dog to make sure they are still safely contained. This is particularly useful for keeping an eye on the dog in the early days when the dog is still getting accustomed to the fence.

Easy Wireless Installation

The primary advantage of wireless systems like the Havahart is that they don’t require you to lay any boundary wire like the wired systems. This makes installation much faster and easier. Just plug in the transmitter, set the boundary radius distance, planting the boundary flags, and you are ready to start training your dog.

From start to finish, the installation time for a wireless system will usually take under 15 minutes, compared to several hours if you opt for a wired system.

The wire free installation also makes wireless systems superior for situations where laying wire is infeasible. For example, setting a temporary boundary at a holiday home, or at some other temporary location.

Doesn’t Like Obstacles

Like all wireless systems the Havahart transmitter has difficulty getting a signal through some obstructions. Wooded area, large metal objects, and steep downhill slopes can all cause problems with signal reception and cause the system not to work properly.

While it is hard to predict whether the system will work in any particular home, a good rule of thumb is that if you can get a direct line of sight (imagining all the house walls were made of glass), then you can probably get a good signal. If obstacles are blocking line of sight, then there is likely to be interference and you would be better off with a wired fence.

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Battery Charger + 2 Batteries

The Havahart includes a battery charger along with two rechargeable collar batteries. The decision to include two batteries is commendable, allowing you to charge one battery while the other is in use.

Collar Tester Tool

The collar tester is held against the collar prongs, and lights up when the collar correction is activated. It is used to test that the system is working properly. You will also use the tester tool when to help you determine where the boundary line is located when you set up the system and lay out the marking flags.

Havahart has made their collar tester heart shaped for extra cuteness. Awww …

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75 Boundary Flags

The standard system comes bundled with 75 boundary marking flags. The flags are used to mark the location of the boundary for the training phase, to help your dog to learn the containment area. As your dog learns the boundary, you will gradually remove the flags until they are completely gone.

The included 75 flags are sufficient to cover just under ½ an acre. If you need additional boundary flags, they are available cheaply ($10 per 50) in our store or at any big-box hardware store.