I had an underground fence for my Jack Russell Terriers. The old lady one wouldn't go through it, but the little 10 pounder would get a running start and take off and jump over the area where the fence was. Then she wouldn't come back because the shock wasn't worth coming back in for. It worked for a while, but once she saw something she really wanted, it was all over.

The shock is not that horrible. I've been shocked by it many times. Sometime she would slip out of her collar and I would pick it up and get shocked. We even used the one that had the stronger shock on Ladybug and it did no good.

Underground fences are different than electric fences. Ladybug could climb anything, too. So after we put the pen up that would contain her because the underground fence couldn't...we had to put an electric fence for horses across the top to keep her in. Then we had to move it to the ground to keep her from digging out. THAT shocks hard. It's not fun. But after she got shocked once with the horse fence, she never tried to climb or dig out, as long as that wire was there. We turned it off after the first time and she never got out of the pen again.

(By the way, it was a big, big pen, and she and the old lady dog had their own room with a doggie door into the sunroom and could get in the house if they weren't muddy. I like for my animals to have lots of freedom. Unfortunately, we lived temporarily out in the country for a while and Ladybug got out and was eaten by a coyote. She probably picked the fight herself.

She was a white hot light, that one, and all of us know that white hot lights don't burn for very long.

NMY

My friend has two adorable Jack Russells and they are so active and feisty! Their noses turn bright pink when they get over-heated and exhausted.

I had the funniest visual image of your dog taking off and jumping that fence.

Believe it or not, we've got coyotes in our back woods right here in North Ridgeville, Ohio. I sometimes think it's why we hardly ever see homeless cats around here. Almost everyone else in this town complains about homeless cats, got none here.

[ November 23, 2005, 08:38 PM: Message edited by: ladybug ]

Chatty and Smile, you are TOOOO funny!

We have an underground fence, and I love it. The dogs hear a ticking sound from their collar when they start to get too close, and they back off. My son tried it to see what the dogs felt, and he said it wasn't pleasant, but not really painful. Enough to make you not want to try it again.

My little six pound poodle (that died recently) was the worst to test the fence. She'd go out almost every day, and walk the perimeter trying to find a place to get through. It was funny. The owners before us had some acreage, and I think she always thought our yard was too confining.

We have a big labradoodle puppy now, and she learned very quickly. I'd recommend one.

I think they are okay for smaller dogs, but not for larger ones. My Golden Retriever figured it out real fast, that if she took a little shock, she was on the other side in no time. We had to put up wire fencing, we live in the country, as we are not far from a busy road, and couldn't risk her getting out.

We had the "Invisible Fence" a few years back when we owned a home on a golf course. We needed to keep Holly, our Chesapeake Bay retriever, from chasing the golf carts and from swimming in the water hazard. It worked great for Holly but the golfers didn't know it was there though and kept swerving into the water hazard!!!

I guess this means I have a false sense of security when walking past these electrified fences when a larger dog is behind it?