A personal user review of The Dog Line Pet Barrier Electric Dog Fence.
We have had our electric dog fence for over twelve months now and I seriously don’t know how we would manage our determined little Jack Russell without it.
We live on a busy main road with four cars constantly coming in and out of the property, there’s just no way any other fencing method would have kept our feisty dog safe.
In this article, I am going to share with you the setup and experience I had with Australian designed and owned: The Dog Line.
First of all, yep, I admit, I am a bit useless. I didn’t really understand the process myself, so it was a steep learning curve for the dog and I, but we got there! It’s a lifesaver. Here’s how it went.
Key Takeaways
PROS
- The Dog Line is Australian-made and owned.
- Amazing installation + troubleshooting support.
- Fairly straightforward to install, for the average bear. Not me.
- The incredibly long-lasting battery on the collar.
- Our dog likes sitting and watching the world go by.
CONS
- Have to remember to remove the collar every time we take our dog out or he gets zapped. I pick him up and carry him over the threshold repeating “Danger Danger Danger” because I’m weird like that.
- There is no protection from other stray animals coming into our yard.
- Our dog has a clear view of people outside, this could be problematic for barking dogs.
- Our dog needed an actual zap to learn to never go near it, but he has NOT forgotten. And he is one VERY defiant Jack Russell. Was it a con? I felt awful for him. You might need to be able to handle ye old saying “Gotta be cruel to be kind.” Unless you guys are in sync with training.
Who Should Use This Fence
- Quiet street fronts.
- Calm dogs that don’t bark at people passing.
- Backyard fencing and not on a street view.
- Partially fenced yards and only need this across the driveway section in an area that’s not right on a street front.
EASY ONLINE PURCHASE CLICK THIS LINK HERE.
Our Yard Situation
We live on a battle-axe block so we have an almost fully fenced yard with all shared boundaries apart from our driveway.
The alternative to an invisible fence is a gate, however, the dog would need to be secure every time it’s opened. With the amount of traffic in our yard, this could be multiple times a day, so isn’t practical.
Our Pet Barrier Set Up
We ran two parallel strips of the line across our driveway with a gap in the middle for a double border effect, in case he got past one. This is not advised, it was just something we decided to do.
Day 1
I put the collar on and walked my dog near the fence line. I carried him near the threshold where it beeped and jumped back with the beep went off. I put him down and tried to lead him towards the area but he already resisted. Seemed good.
I took the collar off, took down the flags, and turned the system off.
Day 2
I repeated the setup, put the dog collar on, and walked toward the boundary where the line was. My dog appeared to already understand.
He refused to go near, not even close. Wow, I thought.
I left the collar on with the fence on and flags up.
Day 3
I found my dog stuck between the double border of the dog line. There was one flag chewed up the driveway.
He was sitting in there shaking. The beep was going, it appeared to bother him as he was grabbing at the collar but not moving away, he really had no concept whatsoever.
Two issues, I had not done the training properly for long enough. And the collar was far too loose.
I was worried the prongs would dig into his neck but realised, even when fastened it didn’t actually dig in, it was unnoticeable.
It was an epic training fail so I had to start over.
Apparently, he tried to follow someone who walked out to her car on the street.
Day 4
Rinse and repeat.
I turned up the signal and tighten the collar.
I carried my dog up to the line, and physically jumped back when it beeped to show him saying “No, No, Danger!”
Day 5
In the morning after a trip out in the car, I fastened his collar, usually, he runs straight to the little puppy fence I had across the driveway to look out onto the street. This is a very strong urge/habit of his, to “check the perimeter.”
My dog got out of the car and ran right up to the flags, looked, and came back.
I couldn’t catch him to do the walk up to the buzz, but I felt I didn’t need to. He was getting it, so I thought.
I was wrong, that afternoon he made a break for it – again!
OMG. We live on a main road so that was traumatic, on the street up the road and into somebody’s yard. Refusing to come back. My fox terrier would have NEVER done this to me!!
I finally got him back and got on the phone to Shane from The Dog Line that afternoon.
The dog lines troubleshooting phone support is outstanding.
I thought it must have been our training, but it turns out – everything we had done was fine.
The problem was, I was turning up the dial on the transmitter – not the collar where it needed to be increased. DOAH!
Learn from my mistake, the strength of the system is controlled in the dog collar, not the transmitter.
The box is setting the distance from the wire for the beep to be triggered.
Since my dog had learned that the correction is not so bad, the only way was to let him get a high-dosed zap to realise it IS that bad. Awww. Look, the alternative is a big metal fourwheeled hit so, I reluctantly had to just do it.
I bumped up the collar using the magnetic tool and walked toward the barrier with my dog. My was showing physical resistance until he spotted my housemate stepping over the fence.
Have you tried to hang onto a Jack Russell squirming like a maniac in your arms!?
He launched and ran straight through the flags and into… the zone.
Well, I can tell you. He definitely felt the zap that time, and since we created a double barrier – thank you Matt (my housemate) !!
The dog was zapped again after continuing forward through the first zap so then in a flurry of distressed fur he came running back to me. It was epic. And exactly the lesson he needed.
Day 6
We are firing on all cylinders. He won’t go near it, like, anywhere near.
That zippo did its job. He is not up for that experience again, it was a hard lesson this lil Jack Russell Terrier had to learn.
Conclusion
It really is not hard to train your dog on an electric fence, especially if we, an oftentimes hopeless human and a very motivated Jack Russell Te can manage to do it. Despite our stop-start go, we are so glad we installed an electric dog fence. I am definitely happy with the decision to get one and will continue to rely on it to keep our Jack Russell safe.
Special Notes:
My dog walked past my office where I have the dog line plugged in and he yelped and jumped away.
I called support again and doah, yea, the wires were not touching up there so I fixed this.
EASY ONLINE PURCHASE CLICK THIS LINK HERE.
Here are my answers to common questions about invisible electric fences based on my experience as a user for over twelve months with a very motivated Jack Russell Terror.
Can a dog run through an invisible fence?
Yes, a dog can run through an invisible fence. However, if you have done all the training properly, and turned the signal up high enough you only need to closely monitor them at the start of use.
I had neighbouring dogs at an old house who would ferociously race at me right up to their invisible fence barking. Despite their will to attack they knew they would feel pain if they crossed that line! (That was pretty horrible every time I came home as the fence was right near my carport. I strongly advise not using an invisible fence if your dog is a ferocious barker, it was quite scary for my son and I to face everyday.)
Can a Jack Russell respond to an electric fence?
Some dogs need to learn the hard way with an invisible fence and get the shock of a zap, my Jack Russell Terrier fell into this category. However, even as a determined little Jack, it’s been a year and he has not forgotten! Our dog has responded positively and we have successfully installed an invisible fence across our driveway to keep him safely in our yard.
What are the negatives of an electric invisible fence?
It’s super important to keep an eye on the flashing light to ensure your invisible fence collar battery is going strong.
I went away for a week and left my dog in the care of my housemates clearly this distressed him so he was motivated more than usual and I got a call from my local vet who found him wandering the streets.
When I got home from my trip we realised his collar batter had gone completely flat!
Are invisible dog fences worth it?
An invisible dog fence is worth every penny to keep our dog safe on a property where a separate dog pen is not suitable, and the front gate is constantly opened to allow cars to enter and exit. With the dog line, we can access the property freely whilst keeping our dog on the right side of the road.
What is an alternative to electric fencing?
When you have a driveway the only alternative to an electric dog fence is a swing gate. This would have cost thousands of dollars, and some, since we would definitely need it to be an electric opening. We have four cars coming in and out of the yard every day and running a solid fence along the driveway is just not feasible for our narrow yard.
Do you have to bury electric dog fence?
You don’t necessarily need to bury your electric dog fence. We ran the wire from our house to the fence above head height since there is a concrete path and it’s not a frequently trafficked area, then continued above ground along the current fence and finally under the ground across our driveway. We just dug a trench and dropped the line in, with bricks and the flags as markers to remind us its exact location.
What is the disadvantage of electric fence?
I would have to say the biggest disadvantage of an invisible dog fence is the lack of protection from other stray animals or people accessing your yard and approaching your dog. This worried me a lot when I first installed our fence however, we live on a battle-axe block and the fence is installed quite a way back from the street. It would be incredibly rare for someone to walk down, especially as it’s a busy road out the front so there is a very low risk of stray animals.
But the proximity of your property would need to be your most important consideration with choosing an invisible dog fence.
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