ADMIN – Hi Suzanne,

Laying the wire above ground in a wooded area is fine. The main reason we bury wire is to keep it safe from the lawnmower – if the area is not mowed (like a wooded area), then the wire can happily live on the surface. I would weigh down the dog containment fence wire or staple down the wire every few feet so that it does not move. (PS – in wooded areas, the wire usually buries itself as the leaves fall and then decompose)

ADMIN – Hi John,

Once trained, the pitbull will understand that she can’t go through the boundary even if the other dogs do. This is not an unusual arrangement, and the dog will get used to it quickly. If it is a particular concern that the other dogs will lure her through the boundary, then we should incorporate the other dogs into the third stage of training, where you introduce temptations.

ADMIN – Hi Catherine,

You can continue to trim his fur with scissors to help make good contact. However, you may need to contact the manufacture to special thick fur probes for your Husky.

For your training issue. I recommend you utilize at lead a 10 to 15 foot lead and let you Husky drag it around as you follow closely. You’ll want to grab the lead and yell “no, no, no” and assertively pull him back into the yard. I recommend you proceed with this training daily until he is compliant.

ADMIN – Hi Jay

I would still do all four parts of the training. But, you will be able to progress much faster if you have a physical fence. In most cases you can do it in a week (instead of two weeks). I would do two day on Stage 1. Then progress to Stage 2. After that take your lead from the dogs reactions as to how quickly to progress through the 3rd and 4th stage.

It makes it much easier for the dogs if you give them a bit of guidance. And, it is much easier to fix any problems now before they become habits.

ADMIN – Hi Rich,

The most common reason for the dog not getting the correction is that the probes are not properly contacting the skin. Does your beagle have lots of skin folds around where the collar is? We see this as an issue with some hounds that have lots of skin folds as it makes it difficult for the collar probes to make good contact with the dogs skin.

What we typically do in this scenario is to get your fingers under the collar probes and work it to where the collar sits as flat as possible to the dogs neck. You may need an assistant to help with buckling the collar.

You can also try using the long-prongs even if the dog is a short-hair beagle.

ADMIN – Hi Glenn,

You can teach your dog to go through the fence when you give him permission. The key is to create some kind of routine for going through the boundary. (e.g. taking off the collar, putting on the collar, then going through the same spot every time when you give a certain command)

See our Invisible Gate training section for more details.

ADMIN – Hi Tony,

If there is something accidentally setting off the collar in the backyard – I would stop doing the training in the backyard until you can get that issue resolved – until then stick to training in the front yard. Having an inconsistent correction makes training the dog very difficult.

To track down the source of the phantom signal – see if you can replicated the issue by holding the collar. The most common thing that can cause an errant signal are metal parallel and close to the dog fence boundary wire picking up the signal and then acting like boundary wire themselves. This can be caused by a sheet metal fence, metal siding, and buried utilities that are parallel and within 6 feet of the the dog fence.

ADMIN – Hi Lynn,

Even high prey drive dogs can be trained to resist temptations on the other side. Where you are particularly concerned, I would encourage you to test the dog before letting him loose. In this last step, try and simulate the triggers. I know it is hard to find a compliant squirrel or rabbit, but perhaps you can lay down a scent trail, train the dog in the early morning when the squirrels and rabbits are most active, or use some other “bait” on the other side of the boundary such as you neighbor’s cat.

It is not as hard as you would think. Dogs, have a much stronger desire to avoid the correction than to get the reward of chasing a critter. The important part is to do a bit of training so dogs learn the lesson that the boundary fence rules apply no matter how excited they get and that they only way to escape correction is to turn and retreat.

ADMIN – Hi Adam,

Dogs over reacting and avoiding going anywhere near the beep and flags is a perfectly normal reaction. After training most dogs will not go anywhere near the dog fence boundary flags out of an abundance of caution. After all they have just learned that going near the flags is bad and they do not want to even be near the flags.

But you will see over the next couple of weeks your dog will start being more adventurous. She will start roaming further and further from your house and closer and closer to the flags. A couple of dos and don’t that will help them along the way.

DON’T force her to go near the containment flags, that will just make them associate more bad things with the flags.

DON’T remove the flags straight away, they will help your dog learn exactly where the boundary lies. Leave them until your dog has a bit more confidence in the boundaries, at least a couple of months.

DO play with your dog in the safe areas. This will get them to associate the safe area with fun. If you need to, put the dog on a leash and confidently lead them into the safe area (but give the flags a wide berth)

DO sit in the safe areas as a family. Your dog will see the family in the safe area and will want to join the rest of the pack and will take comfort from the fact that the whole pack is sitting there in safety.

DO feed your dog in the safe area or give them a treat/toy in the safe area of the dog fence. Again this will help them associate the safe area with good things.

You want to create lots of positive reinforcement around playing in the safe area, and worry less about her getting near the boundaries now. She will become braver over time just switch to lots of positive reinforcement and give the dog a bit of time.

ADMIN – Hi Jonny,

Sorry to hear about your dog. Is he well enough for the training? Often, it is best to wait a bit until the injury is fully healed.

I would spend a bit of time playing with the dog off leash. Also give him activities to do outside, like chewing on a bone or playing with a toy. It is perfectly natural for a dog once corrected to over compensate and stay far away from the boundary or want to stay inside. Given a bit of time this will fade away and the dog will be more comfortable in the yard. You have got the dog trained to have the right instinct, to turn and retreat when they get the correction or hear the beep.

I would go straight into the distraction stage now.