How Dog Fences Work

The electronic dog fence was invented in 1971 by traveling salesman Richard Peck. On his travels Peck noticed that a large number of pets ended up roaming the streets. He set about creating a way to contain the dogs that worked more reliably than a physical fence. Peck called his invention Stay-Put but it never took, so he ended up selling his invention, which eventually morphed into the Invisible Fence Brand® Company. When Peck’s patent expired in the 1990’s, competitors streamed into the industry, innovating and creating improved dog fences.

Today, there are two primary types of electronic dog fences: in-ground and wireless. Regardless of the type, the principal is the same. All dog fence systems have a transmitter base station that creates an electronic boundary around your property. The boundary line is temporarily marked with small flags to help your dog see where the boundary lies. A special receiver collar is placed around the dog’s neck. When the collar gets too close to the boundary, the receiver picks up the signals from the base station and warns the dog not to proceed by emitting a beeping sound. If the dog continues toward the boundary, the dog receives a correction in the form of a static shock.

The dog is trained to understand that it should stay away from the boundary. Furthermore, it learns that if it hears the warning beep it must stop, turn and head back toward the safe zone. It also learns that ignoring the beep has an unpleasant consequence in the form of a static shock.

Did You Know? Dog Fences that are not installed properly can lead to your dog getting corrected within your home. Dog Fence wires that are run parallel to utility wires for extended lengths can transfer the dog fence signal into power outlets, and into your house. To ensure that this is not a possibility, careful planning of the dog fence wire layout is necessary.

Training takes place over a couple of weeks using a series of progressive exercises until this behavior to return to the boundary of the yard becomes instinctual. In this way the dog learns that it needs to obey its boundaries no matter how strong the temptation to cross the boundary. As the behavior is fully learned we can begin to trust the dog to respect the boundaries with less and less supervision.

Eventually, the dog considers the boundary a natural part of their landscape and simply accepts that they cannot cross the boundary unless given permission.

Just as important, and often neglected, the dog must be trained to recognize the safe zone inside the boundary as a place they can relax and enjoy their freedom. Once the safe zone is perceived as a fun area, why would a dog want to leave?

Dog Fence Solutions for Every Dog and Home: