A Question For Dog Owners of ATS

reply to post by DIDtm


I am hoping it will work for us as well. Basically I want to do what your folks have apparently done- get the dog trained to stay ON the property. Hopefully after a while we wouldn't even need the collar anymore!

Thank you to everyone for your input! I have much to think on. If I do end up getting one of these systems I am looking at it as a training tool. I don't want to hurt the dog. We have in past years lost animals to the road and don't want to lose another. We just don't have room for another inside pet and are willing to give something that previously we wouldn't have considered a "day in court" if it can help train the pup to stay on the property.

shock collars are painful and inhumane. and they do not work.
shame on you for considering it. put your lazy a** to work and get a bigger fence.

people like you dont deserve to have animals.

your dog is a home pet, that relies on you for care and instructions. the dog should not be out alone at any given time. he should either be fenced in or on a leash when out of the house.

you think a little shock will stop him from chasing after someone if he really wants to? come on.

if a dog gets loose he can either:
get hit himself hurt, or hurt someone else.

be responsible and humane and enlargen your fence.
if you cant. then dont get a dog.

reply to post by littled16


The system you mentioned works but its a pain in the neck to keep running . at the same time i know people who used it for a while and then stopped worrying about the dog being out - side of the fences too - it never went far , and if that was down to the fence training - i dont think so .
Before the dog is too big or old, you have to teach it roadsense . It will know the difference between curb and roadway - thats the key .
The dog is not allowed on the road except to cross it - when you say cross it - at the same time as you .
You wont even need a lead if its practised well enough . Beat the hindquater of the dog with backhands if it fails you - be serious, real serious to it about roads , and not going on them .
This way is then also a failsafe against accidents or forgetting/slip-ups . Dont claim the dog is too thick - its not .
Reward it well every time it does things right . Any dog that goes for cats should get a stern warning , told not to do it , until it doesnt.
Then again my dogs know i find cats pegging it hilarious - ever seen a dog laugh ?

reply to post by loueber


I'm sorry but that was harsh and unnecessary! She is trying to protect a dog that they rescued for pete's sake. If you don't like them, fine, but you don't have to be a jerk about it.

Originally posted by loueber
shock collars are painful and inhumane. and they do not work.
shame on you for considering it. put your lazy a** to work and get a bigger fence.

people like you dont deserve to have animals.

your dog is a home pet, that relies on you for care and instructions. the dog should not be out alone at any given time. he should either be fenced in or on a leash when out of the house.

you think a little shock will stop him from chasing after someone if he really wants to? come on.

if a dog gets loose he can either:
get hit himself hurt, or hurt someone else.

be responsible and humane and enlargen your fence.
if you cant. then dont get a dog.

edit on 21-8-2012 by loueber because: (no reason given)

Did you even read the whole thing before you started spouting hatefulness? I didn't ask for another dog, but my husband could not let this dog starve to death- which is what it was doing! The dog is currently inside of a fence, and I'm sorry that you can't understand me not being able to afford a higher one. I'm only concerned with the dog getting out of the fence and getting run over.

Since you think I shouldn't do what I can to save this dog, I guess I should give it to the local shelter where it will be put down after three days if nobody adopts it? I want to give this dog a happy life- not kill it! And there isn't anybody lazy around here. I just don't have the luxury of devoting every minute of my life to dog training. I am too busy "training" a two year old grandchild. I give what time to the dog that I can.

Shouldn't you be out running around with PETA throwing buckets of blood on fur coats or something? I'm sure they miss you- please go join them now!

Originally posted by loueber

your dog is a home pet, that relies on you for care and instructions. the dog should not be out alone at any given time. he should either be fenced in or on a leash when out of the house.

.

edit on 21-8-2012 by loueber because: (no reason given)

In actual fact the opposite is true . I have had plenty people ask me - doesnt your dog need a lead ?
I either answer that he has got one - me , or, that he wasn't born with one so no .

Originally posted by littled16
. I just don't have the luxury of devoting every minute of my life to dog training. I am too busy "training" a two year old grandchild. I give what time to the dog that I can.

I hope you dont mind me saying - neither of them needs 'training' , what they both need is _you.
Too busy for dogs is not pack mentality - you'll be in a pickle if you ignore that.
If both respect _you , thats more than half the job done imo. A dog is no respecter of fences , neither will anyone unless very deft indeed, train a dog to close a door. Just a 2c- best wishes

btw pit bulls are banned in this country (uk) bacuse they have a nasty habit of being viscious to and biting (and killing) small children , quite unpredictably as well.

It works well, just not with headstrong animals like pit bulls where nothing will stop them from chasing that squirrel.

But I have seen it work very well. Just make sure you check the batteries so it doesn't die and your dog starts wandering around the neighborhood.

reply to post by nixie_nox


Thanks! Believe it or not my inside dog is a Pitbull, and if I tell him to stop chasing a squirrel he will stop dead in his tracks. I had plenty of time to work with him, and he was only two months old when I got him. He's 7 years old now.

The dog we have outside now is 7-8 mo. old, a Great Dane/traveling man mix, and can jump like the "Jackalope". I don't have the time that I had with my Pit, and I don't have enough room to keep the new dog inside- not to mention I'm leery of an unproven dog in the house with my grandchild. I just thought it would be best to find a way to train this dog to stay on the property quickly, and hopefully she will be smart enough that I won't have to use it for too long.

I appreciate your input. I figured since there are so many dog owners here there had to be at least some who had tried out the system. I wouldn't want to go into this blind.

reply to post by ZIPMATT


Let me clarify for you: we are in the midst of pottie training!

Originally posted by littled16

Originally posted by loueber
shock collars are painful and inhumane. and they do not work.
shame on you for considering it. put your lazy a** to work and get a bigger fence.

people like you dont deserve to have animals.

your dog is a home pet, that relies on you for care and instructions. the dog should not be out alone at any given time. he should either be fenced in or on a leash when out of the house.

you think a little shock will stop him from chasing after someone if he really wants to? come on.

if a dog gets loose he can either:
get hit himself hurt, or hurt someone else.

be responsible and humane and enlargen your fence.
if you cant. then dont get a dog.

edit on 21-8-2012 by loueber because: (no reason given)

Did you even read the whole thing before you started spouting hatefulness? I didn't ask for another dog, but my husband could not let this dog starve to death- which is what it was doing! The dog is currently inside of a fence, and I'm sorry that you can't understand me not being able to afford a higher one. I'm only concerned with the dog getting out of the fence and getting run over.

Since you think I shouldn't do what I can to save this dog, I guess I should give it to the local shelter where it will be put down after three days if nobody adopts it? I want to give this dog a happy life- not kill it! And there isn't anybody lazy around here. I just don't have the luxury of devoting every minute of my life to dog training. I am too busy "training" a two year old grandchild. I give what time to the dog that I can.

Shouldn't you be out running around with PETA throwing buckets of blood on fur coats or something? I'm sure they miss you- please go join them now!

ironically i am a member of PETA. i also work with animal rescue and currently work with multiple dog rescue organizations.
and this is why i said what i said. If your going to rescue an animal or give it care you need to give it 100%.
sure i applaud the fact your husband stood up for this animals well being and took him in.and the fact that you have your hands full. and i applaud the fact you were asking for advice. Just do it right thats all.

perhaps i came off a bit harsh, but honestly, i see too many dogs each week hurt, lost, killed by cars, or worse hurt people because for one reason or another they get spooked and run. it only takes ONE time for it to happen.. 3 weeks ago i was consoling a gentlemen who had a 14 year old dog that never once left the property of his yard in 14 years!. he was trained since he was a puupy.. never needed a leash, never left the owners side. never ONCE stepped one foot off the property and always returned when commanded.... but after 14 years for no reason, while the owner was right next to the dog... the dog bolted out of the non fenced yard.. across the street and under an oncoming car... and is now dead.
it only took that one time.
i dont throw buckets of blood because i care for everyone, people and animals, but my job is to stand up for those that cant speak or stand up for themselves... get a nice long closeline runner and clip him to it. its cheap, and secure.
for the record, i cant afford my dogs, and i go many nights with out dinner just so i can feed my dogs premium food....

reply to post by littled16


Put it this way - if you (plural?) are in the middle of pottie training , then you'll have a hard task. You're in the middle of not having to change nappies , while the child is in the middle of not wetting herself .
Pottie training takes an hour max with a 'you to me' chat about it - tell the child how it is . No more than that @2 yrs old needs to be necessary, and ive seen it done /variables aside

reply to post by loueber

If you would have read the entire thread you would know that runners are just as dangerous. We had a dog get tangled up and almost choke to death on one a few years back. I left to go to the store and he was fine running up and down the line. When I got back he was all tangled up with bulging eyes and dang near dead. He almost lost a foot that was tangled up as well, and had to go through surgery and lots of medicine.

We had put him on the runner because he kept jumping the fence and getting in the road. We didn't even want to put him outside, but he had become too aggressive with our other pets and had tried to bite a friend of one of our kids- all this AFTER having him fixed to try to curb his aggression.

We''re not well off people and can't afford a taller fence, and a runner is not an option for us after what happened with Rufus. We just want to train this dog to stay in the yard so she will be safe. We live near a highway and railroad tracks and I've seen too many animals die needlessly. I'm trying to spend as much time as I can with this dog, but I'm in the middle of pottie training a two year old. I don't want the dog to suffer, but I need to teach it to stay where it needs to stay as quickly as possible. I understand that you feel totally against the concept, but the only other option is the city pound where she would be euthenized after 3 days. There aren't anymore no kill shelters around here.

And, tell the new dog about it , with words , tell him , dont go past the fence - make sure he's listening tho , look him in the eye and tell him .
No harm in trying - beleive the dogs your meaning - amke him beleive it - point the fence out all round the garden - 'you stay this side' will work on it , or help - the dog will understand you . Esp if it needs reminding, or gets a treat when it does remember , until its done .
Dogs are more faithful than any human friend - respect itself is a magical property.

reply to post by ZIPMATT


Although I'm sure you have the best of intentions, if it were that easy there wouldn't be any kids wearing diapers at two years old. I'm not a novice- trained my two kids, a niece and a nephew. Every kid is different. And trust me, there is no such thing as reasoning with a two year old. They don't call them the "terrible twos" for no reason I assure you.

I applaud what you have done to nurse this poor dog back to health.

I hope you don't take offence as it is not intended...I would recommend you find another home for the pup. You said it couldn't come inside because of your other cat and dog and your yard cannot contain the dog without use of a device that inflicts pain. It's not fair to him to be ban from the home.

In the mean time dogs in that breed need looong walks to stretch their legs and explore....maybe more time with him and very long walks or visits to a dog park will help. He's trying to tell you something through the only language he can speak to you.....action... behavior....etc....

reply to post by littled16


Yeah its just a chat - people think that i cant pull off what I just did quite often , they call my methods fluke too .
Seriously terrible twos is myth . Not being taken seriously is what's terrible . Not being given a chance to either. There s a difference between ' you're just (or only) a two year old - what would you understand yet - you're just a two year old.
And then , 'you're the most important person in the house - if you dont understand anything we will make it clear - as long as you're happy (because you understand) - we're happy too'

Its aworld of difference. ITs likely that - this __inventor the 'terrible twos' , was pig-headed eggplant. No offense to you of course , its a well known expression by now

reply to post by kinglizard

The dog has plenty of room to stretch her legs. Though a small area compared to the entire yard, the fenced in portion is an open space of over half an acre. We considered finding her another home, but the people we've found willing to take her all want to put her outside in a fence as well without nearly the space she has here. For a puppy she is huge!

reply to post by littled16


Since I dog groomed for 15 years and the place i worked at was the first in the mid west to bring in the 'Invisible Fence system" I can tell you that people make mistakes with them.So I'll try to let you know what to avoid.

1. They can and will rub a hole in your dogs neck! They should ONLY be worn when outside and taken off weekly and checked to see that the hair has not grown over the area its supposed to be 'shocking'.And that it is not wearing the flesh away from the neck or its reddened or looking strange.
2. If your dog learns that even ONE TIME it can stop the shocking by running past the fence line forget it. Its over right there. The whole point of the collar is to make the dog believe that if it goes over the fence it will be shocked non stop. Once it learns otherwise the dog will take the shock to get over the fence and keep going. Then it won't want to come back cause it will get shocked again trying to get back over the fence!
3.I would strongly recommend having a trainer come to the house and help show you how to train the dog with the collar so you enforce the right lessons on it.
4.If your going to go that far,why not just have the trainer show you how to train the dog to not jump a fence to begin with?
Hopefully this will help with your decision.