PetSafe Little Dog PIG00-10773 Review

The PetSafe Little Dog Deluxe Comfort Fence (PIG00-10773) is the only system designed specifically for small dogs. It uses the standard PetSafe control box, but combines replaces the standard collar with a collar intended specifically for small dogs. You can use this for dogs under 10 lbs, that are too small for standard size collars. If you have larger dogs you will simply add one of the collars from the other Petsafe systems.

The main feature of the Petsafe Little Dog Fence is the small collar. The Little Dog collar (top) is about half the size of a regular collar making it a bit more comfortable for little dogs. The correction level has also been reduced to make it more appropriate for small dogs. This makes the collar the best choice for dogs under 12 lbs. As with all the PetSafe systems you can use it with their indoor pods (PIRF-100). The correction level is set at the collar, with four different levels of correction.

As with all the Petsafe systems, our main complaint is their use of non-rechargeable batteries in the collar receiver. We hate the proprietary, non-rechargeable batteries that PetSafe insists on using. We also don’t like the rubber collar band, we prefer the cloth type .. although in fairness to PetSafe we have never heard a dog complain.

You get the PetSafe Limited Lifetime warranty, which is marketing speak for a one-year warranty, then a fixed price repair bill in later years.
Summary: The PetSafe Little Dog Fence (PIG00-10773) is the one to get for dogs under 12 pounds, where the small is a major advantage. The only real downside is the proprietary battery.

If you found the information on this site useful, please consider buying your PetSafe Little Dog from our online store.

Collar

Small dogs need a small collar. The small collar on the PetSafe Little Dog is the reason to choose this system for dogs under 12 pounds. The collar is about half the size of a regular collar and is the smallest collar available. The correction levels on the collar are lower than a regular collar, again perfect for a small dog. Regular collars are just bigger and more powerful than you want for a small dog.
The collar is compatible with other PetSafe In-Ground systems, so you can use a small dog collar with these other system and vice-versa. So if you have dogs of different sizes, you can mix-and-match collars so that each dog has a collar appropriately sized and with an appropriate correction strength for them.

The Achilles heel of the collar is the battery. The Little Dog uses a small proprietary batter made by PetSafe. The battery (RFA-188) costs about $10 and lasts about 100 days before you need to change it. You can extend life about 30% by switching the collar off when the dog is not wearing the collar (you can do this by twisting the battery to the off position using a coin [picture]. Low battery levels are indicated by a blinking red led light on the collar.

The collar has a black rubber band. We prefer a cloth band, but this works well enough and the black does not show wear. The collar has a clever combination buckle and clasp style closure. It combines a clasp with a buckle, making it easy to open and close, as well as easy to adjust. [picture] The collar also has an ID Tag Ring to attach an ID Tag, a nice touch missing on most systems.
The collar has four correction levels, plus a no-correction tone only level. The correction levels are set on the collar itself (Button A) which means you can set the correction level differently for each dog on the system. The PetSafe Little Dog collar is listed as waterproofed, but we think that may be overstating the case. It holds up fine in rain and taking the occasional bath, but I would not trust it to hold up to repeated submersion.
The collar probes are built into the PetSafe Little Dog, so you do not have the option of substituting for large probes. This makes fitting the collar a little harder on long hair dogs, but is still workable. [PICTURE]

Transmitter

The PetSafe Small Dog Transmitter is the Petsafe Deluxe transmitter unit, that is also used on the PetSafe Deluxe PRF-304W. The box is a small modern looking unit. Controls are hidden behind a translucent door. The unit is wall mountable, via a small clip what you screw into a wall and that then secures the unit. (picture) unit transmitter box is the brains of the system and connects to the boundary wire loop to create the virtual boundary. Inside the box are a series of controls that you use to set up the system.

Field Size Switch – the field size switch adjusts the signal strength for different sized yard. The first setting is for boundary’s that are less than 1,300 feet (1.5 acres); the second for boundaries between 1,300-2,300 feet (1.5-5 acres); the third for boundaries greater than 2,300 feet (5+ acres). The unit can do up to 5,000 feet (25 acres).
Field Width Dial – this sets the boundary width, adjusting the distance the dog must stay away from the boundary wire before the collar starts beeping and giving them the correction. You can set the boundary width from about 1-10 feet, although most people are going to want to set it at about 3-5 feet (smaller is hard to train, larger takes away too much space from your yard.
Power Light – the green light lets you know when the system is plugged in … not much more to say about that!
Loop Light – lets you know when the boundary wire loop is functioning correctly. When there is a problem with the loop, the light goes out and the unit beeps.
Fuse Box – contains the system fuse, plus a spare for you to change if the original blows.
Power Adapter Plug – where you plug in the included power adaptor, that connects up to a regular wall socket.
Boundary Wire Terminal – the terminal block connects the two boundary wires to your system. To secure the wire, you pull back on the black latches, insert the stripped end of the boundary wire into the terminal, then release the latch and let it lock the wire in place.
Grounding Terminal – instead of using the optional lightning protection module you can directly ground the PetSafe Little Dog directly by attaching a grounding rod to this terminal with insulated copper wire (you must use a thicker gauge of wire to do the grounding, we would recommend a 16 gauge or thicker. 20 gauge is still fine for the main boundary loop. ). Most people aren’t going to use this and are either going to go without lightning protection or opt for the lightning protection module instead, but it is nice that the option is available.

Boundary Kit

The standard PetSafe Little Dog system comes standard with:
500 ft of boundary wire (20 gauge) – good for about one-third of an acre
50 boundary flags – used to mark the boundary line during the initial training phase
2 wire splices – used to join sections of the boundary wire
Additional boundary kits can be purchased through our online store in 500 feet increments. Each extra kit includes extra splice, flags and 500 feet of boundary wire and costs $30. Some people upgrade their system to the slightly thicker 18 gauge boundary wire. The upgrade costs an extra $10 per 500 feet of wire, we do not think it is worth the extra money for most installations but offer it as an option in our store.

Training DVD and Instruction Manual

The PetSafe Little dog comes with an owner’s manual and a PetSafe training DVD. The DVD is decent, but we prefer the method we lay out in this website and that you can find in the Dog Fence Expert’s Guide.

Indoor and Outdoor Zones

The Petsafe Little Dog, and all current inground PetSafe models, are compatible with the Petsafe Indoor Zones (PIRF-100). The pods plug into a wall socket and transmit a circular boundary radius that you can adjust from 2-10 feet. You can use these to keep your dogs out of certain places. The PetSafe pods are considerably larger than the Innotek ZND-1000 pods, but they cover a bigger area. The PetSafe pods also need to be plugged into a wall socket, unlike the Innotek’s which are battery operated.

Warranty

The PetSafe Little Dog system also has a limited lifetime warranty. This is a marketing euphemism, where more emphasis should be placed on the limited and less on the lifetime. Plainly speaking you get a one year warranty. After the first year there is a fixed charge for repairs, the charge depends on what part of the system needs fixing. To date, reliability has not been an issue. We are a PetSafe authorized retailer.
Also remember you get a 30 day satisfaction guarantee when you buy a system from Dog Fence DIY. If you are not satisfied in the first 30 days, just send it back and we will give you a full refund.

For the PetSafe Little Dog Manual click here. (PDF)