Teaching Your Dog to Respect His Boundaries
It is very important to teach your dog where he can and cannot go. Otherwise, he or she may think it is fair game to just wander out into the neighbor’s yard, or god forbid, out into the road!
Even inside of the house, you don’t want your dog to think he has free reign. Perhaps you don’t want your dog to have access to your bedroom, or another specific area of your choice. It is up to you to train your dog to keep out of these off-limits areas.
Physical Boundaries
Logically, one easy way of showing your dog where his boundaries are is by erecting a physical fence. However, many communities and subdivisions don’t allow them. Not to mention, erecting a physical fence is a costly undertaking that some people simply cannot afford. This brings us to our next option.
Invisible Boundaries
When it comes to keeping your dog in your yard, some people use an invisible dog fence®. After a few weeks of training, this can be a very effective way of keeping your dog in your yard where he or she belongs.
How It Works
Many people have never heard of an underground dog fence. Here is how it works. There is a wire that encircles your property. You place the wire where you don’t want your dog to be able to cross. The great thing is that you can customize the boundary, to keep your dog out of specific areas.
The wire is attached to your dog fence transmitter, which is located inside of your home or garage. This transmitter emits a radio signal throughout the dog fence wire. Your dog wears a special receiver collar. When your dog approaches the wire, his collar activates and a static correction is delivered through contact points on the dog’s receiver collar.
What Is a Static Correction?
You may wonder what a static correction feels like. It feels similar to running across the carpet in your sock feet and then touching a doorknob. It is uncomfortable or surprising to the dog, but by no means painful.
Dog Fence Training
You can’t just put the collar on your dog and let them out the door and expect them to understand what is going on. Proper training is essential with any electric dog fence. Here is how it all begins.
First, you put the collar in beep only mode. Then, you take the dog out on a leash. You allow the dog to approach the boundary. You don’t encourage it, but you allow it. When it happens, you pull the dog back, saying “no.”
Then when the dog comes back into the “safe zone,” you say “good dog,” and give him or her treats. Each training session should begin and end with playtime, to keep things positive. After the dog begins to understand what it is all about, then the correction is added to the collar. After a week or two, the dog learns and respects the boundaries that you have set for him or her.