Comments on: SportDog SDF-100 Review

By: JC

JC — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 18:22:03 +0000

Thank you for your last reply. I was also wondering if there was anyway to use the fence system ( SDF-100) with the sportdog training collar and remote. Is there anyway of getting the remote by itself and using it with the collar that comes with the fence system or would we need to buy the entire training collar kit as well as the fence system? Thanks again for your help – we are getting close to pulling the trigger on buying the system(s) and will be buying them from you. Thanks – JC

ADMIN – Hi JC,

Unfortunately the SportDog SDF-100 collar will not work at all as a remote training setup. If you want to do remote training, you either need a dedicated collar, or get a dual purpose system like the Innotek IUC-5100.

By: Jason Hughes

Jason Hughes — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 00:28:24 +0000

Hello,
Our family has a three year old lab who loves to run and play. We have twelve acres; however, will only need to equip about five acres with the fence. We have one driveway to contend with. Or main reason for the fence is to keep him from the road and from disturbing the neighbors dogs down the road. The SDF-100 looks like the right choice for us. What are your thoughs and how do we work over the driveway?

Kindest regards,
Jason

ADMIN – Hi Jason,

The SDF-100 is a great fence, but it may be too much for what you need. It’s made to cover up to 100 acres, and you’re looking to only fence in 5. The Innotek 4100 has a capacity of 25 acres, so you’d be okay with this fence no matter if you fence in 5 acres now and decide to expand it to 12 acres later on. The other reason to look at the 4100 is that Lab’s do really well on any of the dog fence systems. He’ll do great on both the SDF-100 or Innotek 4100. The reason I recommend the 4100 is that it can meet your needs plus it has some things the SDF-100 doesn’t like a rechargeable collar. Also, the collar has a low profile design which makes it one of the smaller collars compared to the SDF-100 collar that’s the largest collar.

As for the driveway, if you’re not hot on tunneling under, you can run the wire in one of the expansion joints and caulk over it. If it’s asphalt, you can use a masonry saw blade on a circular saw and cut in a few inches and lay the wire then caulk over it. We’ve had customers alternatively run the wire through a culvert.

By: JC

JC — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 01:52:20 +0000

Hi – we are considering the SDF-100 to cover about 5 acres of a wooded lot for our 9 month old Black Mouth Cur ( a very strong and determined hunting dog ). My question is on the installation through the woods. I am planning on clearing a path and then renting a ditch witch to cut the trench. Would it be worth while to install the wire inside pvc tubing or would that make it more difficult in the event of a break? The other option I considered would be to just bury the wire under ground cover and not dig the trench at all. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. – JC

ADMIN – Hi JC,

You can definitely run the wire along the ground with landscaping staples. Many customers who have multiple acres to run use this installation method. Many will also just bury the sections that are close to the home with wooded sections above ground.

I don’t believe you’ll need the extra precaution of pvc pipe, but it can’t hurt.

By: Viki

Viki — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 21:14:26 +0000

I’d like to fence 100 acres, with 3 Great Pyrenees, How much fence will I need?

ADMIN – Hi Viki,

For 100 acres, you would want at 9500 feet of wire. If possible you want to run the system, about 20% below it’s capacity – you get much stronger boundaries when the system is running a little below capacity. Alternatively, consider using a thicker gauge of wire, like 18 gauge. The ultra-large installations are one of the few situation where there will be a benefit from running a thicker gauge of wire.

By: Kim

Kim — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 00:25:09 +0000

Hi! A few years back we purchased a petsafe system ( 1-2 acres) an installed it. It worked great for about 2 weeks. Unfortunately, there were so many breaks we gave up on trying to find them all. Based on the breaks we found, we think chipmunks ate through the wire. Now we have a lab and a husky that we need to contain and I am trying to determine the best method. I thought about invisible fence thinking the wire may be a heavier duty wire than the ones you can install yourself . Also, thinking about the WI-Fi wireless fence. Your opinion and suggestions would be much appreciated.

ADMIN – Hi Kim,

Where there are critters trying to eat your wire, we will often put the wire in old hose pipe, or flexible irrigation piping (like the type used on sprinkler system) to provide a bit of extra protection. You can also try thicker gauges of wire, but that is less helpful – if anything is going to chew through the standard 20 gauge, a slightly thicker wire is not a much bigger challenge.

By: Cindy

Cindy — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 20:03:32 +0000

Hi!

I have been doing a lot of reading and it seems like the Sportdog SDF-100 is the right choice for our 1/2 acre river front property and my 55 pound lab mix. My only concern is the dog jumping in the water with the collar on. It would be totally submerged in the water. Is the collar truly waterproof or just water resistant? Thanks

ADMIN – Hi Cindy,

The SportDog Collars are fully waterproof. They will happily deal with full submersion.

By: Sabriena & Alice

Sabriena & Alice — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 22:48:20 +0000

We are considering the SportDog SDF-100 however we are unsure if its the best fit for us. We have 2 dogs, a 13 yr old shi tzu, and a 1 1/2 yr old german shep mix. We need a system that would fit our subdivison sized yard and wouldnt seriously injuire our small dog but would be enough to stop our larger dog. Can you recommond some different fences for us.

ADMIN – Hi Sabriena & Alice,

The SportDog is a good choice for the German. But, I think the SportDog SDF-100 collar is going to be much too big for the Shih Tzu, especially an older dog, I would not use it on any dog under 20 pounds. The collar is just too big and heavy. I think she woudl be happier with a PetSafe Little Dog Collar. You can add an extra PetSafe Little Dog, which is a lot smaller and lighter. All the PetSafe inground collars are compatible with the SportDog system.

By: Lana

Lana — Wed, 14 Apr 2010 04:24:46 +0000

I am considering the SportDog but can’t find any information on whether the system is designed so that you can create smaller “keep out” zones (like for a vegetable garden) inside the larger electric perimeter. Does this system have that capability?

Thanks for any insight you can provide!

ADMIN – Hi Lana,

The SportDog SDF-100 can be used to create small protected islands. You acheive this by doing a separate loop of single boundary wire around the area you want to protect. Then you link this smaller loop to the main loop using twisted wire. Indoors you can create small protected areas using the PetSafe Indoor Zones which are compatible with the SportDog SDF-100

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 19:10:48 +0000

I have just purchased the SportDog SDF-100 for our yard- I have seen other brands not for DIY which offer an adapter you may put into a room in the house to keep dogs out of certain areas– Does Sport DOg offer this and if not what do you suggest?

ADMIN – Hi Sarah,

The SportDog SDF-100 is compatible with the Petsafe InGround Systems. So you can use the collar with the PetSafe Indoor Zones. You can also use any of the PetSafe In Ground collars with the SportDog (and vice versa)

By: Lyle Whitney

Lyle Whitney — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:44:20 +0000

Our house is in the middle of a 20 acre field. We bought the sport dog system. I have a question about what you recommend about the size of the area we should enclose. My first thought was to run the wire around the whole 20 acres, there is a fence row so we could just weave the wire through the existing fence. We have an older dog that rarely strays more than serveral hundred feet from the house and a new 1 1/2 year old lab for whom the fence is intended. I am sure that 5 acres would cover plenty of space, but would require more work because we would have to bury 1,000 feet or so of wire. Should I take advantage of the fence row with the downside of having 3,500 feet of wire to maintain, or go with the smaller area? A second related question: In the training manual it is recommended that the trainer let the dog wander around and encounter the border without leading him/her to it. With a 20 acre field, they could wander for quite a while without encountering a boundary. At best they would come upon one line that is close to the house. Can we train them on one side of the boundary?

ADMIN – Hi Lyle,

I would do the whole 20 acres, like you say it is a lot easier to make use of an existing fence for installation. Plus breaks are a lot easier to find and repair. The only reason I would go with the smaller is if you specifically want to keep them in the smaller 5 acre space (for example if you always want to keep them within the line of site)

I would train them in lots of different spots in the field. What they mean is don’t lead them through the electric boundary border. But, you can definitely lead them close to the border. (i.e. take them on the lead to within say 5 feet of the boundary flags). Letting them wander completely unfettered does not make sense when you have 20 acres in the same way that it would if you have half an acre!