I have a question for EVERYBODY!!
I do mean everybody when I say that. I want as many opinions on this matter as I can get, which is why I tried to direct people here from Facebook.
My question is about radio fences for dogs. First, I'll explain how they work for those who don't know.
A wire runs around the yard a few inches underground, setting a boundary for the dogs. It's connected to a transmitter in the house with a distance setting on it. Each dog gets a special collar with two leads that lightly touch the front of the neck at all times when they are wearing it. The collar for one particular brand can have 5 settings:
Collar settingCorrectionSize of dog
1No correction, beep onlyTraining only
2Low correctionLess than 20 lbs
3Medium correction20-50 lbs
4Medium high correctionOver 50 lbs
5High correctionHard to train pets
What happens is that when the dog gets within a certain proximity of the underground wire, set on the transmitter, the collar will start beeping rapidly. If the dog gets closer to the boundary than that, then the collar will deliver a small shock to the dog depending on the setting as in the table above. To give an idea of how strong the shocks are, the level 2 setting is barely detected by a human thumb; it feels like the tingle of your foot falling asleep. Level 3 is more unpleasant, although not painful.
When the dogs are first trained with the fence, small flags are put in the ground where the wire lies. The human will escort the dog around the edge of the yard to help them learn the boundaries. They will be verbally chastised when they get close enough for the rapid beep to sound. Usually the dogs will experience a few shocks and come to associate negative feelings with the beep that comes from the collar. They will learn the boundaries, the flags will eventually be removed a few at a time, and the dogs don't go near the edge of the yard.
So my question is this:
Are radio fences a good or bad, moral or immoral thing to subject your pets to? Even if you're apathetic, please do say so.
One last thing: If you don't have a Livejournal account, please leave your name.
My question is about radio fences for dogs. First, I'll explain how they work for those who don't know.
A wire runs around the yard a few inches underground, setting a boundary for the dogs. It's connected to a transmitter in the house with a distance setting on it. Each dog gets a special collar with two leads that lightly touch the front of the neck at all times when they are wearing it. The collar for one particular brand can have 5 settings:
Collar settingCorrectionSize of dog
1No correction, beep onlyTraining only
2Low correctionLess than 20 lbs
3Medium correction20-50 lbs
4Medium high correctionOver 50 lbs
5High correctionHard to train pets
What happens is that when the dog gets within a certain proximity of the underground wire, set on the transmitter, the collar will start beeping rapidly. If the dog gets closer to the boundary than that, then the collar will deliver a small shock to the dog depending on the setting as in the table above. To give an idea of how strong the shocks are, the level 2 setting is barely detected by a human thumb; it feels like the tingle of your foot falling asleep. Level 3 is more unpleasant, although not painful.
When the dogs are first trained with the fence, small flags are put in the ground where the wire lies. The human will escort the dog around the edge of the yard to help them learn the boundaries. They will be verbally chastised when they get close enough for the rapid beep to sound. Usually the dogs will experience a few shocks and come to associate negative feelings with the beep that comes from the collar. They will learn the boundaries, the flags will eventually be removed a few at a time, and the dogs don't go near the edge of the yard.
So my question is this:
Are radio fences a good or bad, moral or immoral thing to subject your pets to? Even if you're apathetic, please do say so.
One last thing: If you don't have a Livejournal account, please leave your name.