Dog Owners Tell `Invisible Fence' Stories

I tweaked some tender nerves with my March 14 column about invisible "pet containment" fence systems and inspired a class project.

The invisible fences, marketed as an alternative to conventional fencing, have been the answer for some pet owners but clearly they have caused nothing but aggravation for others.

One woman said her dog was attacked by another dog that ran right across the "invisible" boundary into her dog's space. Others objected to "shock" conditioning animals to respect the fence line. And several of you sharp-eyed types pointed out that I confused the words "lineal" (genealogy) and "linear" (dimensions) and the difference between "square feet" and "feet square."

The fence is set up by running a wire underground along the invisible boundaries the owner wishes to set. A radio transmitter sends a signal through the wire. The dog wears a small receiver-collar that picks up the radio signal. If the dog penetrates the boundary, it receives a shock.

Dr. Stan Coe, a longtime Seattle veterinarian, says he has not heard of any negative experiences associated with invisible fencing.

"Most of my clients who have used it are pretty satisfied with it," he said. "And I don't think the shock would do much damage. Once the dog experiences the first one or two shocks, it usually stays away from that area."

But not all experiences have been so positive. Here are excerpts from some of the letters I received. The first is from the woman whose dog was attacked.

". . . Unless every dog in the neighborhood wears one of the shock collars, they are free to run rampant through your yard, eating your dog's food, messing in your yard and quite possibly injuring your pet as he tries to protect what you have described to him as his `boundary.'

"If, by chance or by chase your dog ends up on the other side of the `boundary,' what options are there for returning to his yard? The dog has been conditioned to avoid the stimulus of the shock, and will be just a bit confused each time he approaches his yard . . . he is warned away, first with the tone and then with the shock." - C.R., Sumner

"I consider this animal abuse! Would you enjoy being shocked by electricity every time you walked out your door?

"A neighbor had this installed until people complained because the dog howled so loud every time he touched the perimeter of the yard. They removed it! How sick of you to advertise for the company." - M.P., Edmonds

". . . You don't teach a dog by shocking it. . . . The attachment is not a small collar. It's large and horrible looking. I can only imagine what suffering you are to bring about to animals by your article. I don't like the media. It's very destructive." - D.C., Issaquah

". . . Without the special collar or blueprint there's no way to know tell when you enter the dog's territory. My husband is a landscaper who went to replace a dead tree in a customer's yard. Fortunately for him (A) he's got enough animal smarts to not run and (B) the owner came around the corner of the house behind the dog and shouted "NO!" before the dog carved his name into Bob's body.

"They look nice, but they can be problems as well. I hadn't thought about invisible fence negatives either until Bob almost got bitten during his job." - C.C., Kirkland

At the bottom of the mailbag was a package containing 19 copies of the column with numbers and drawings in the margins. Bernard S. Sadowski, a teacher at the Fairview Academy in Seattle, had his students calculate the cost of the fencing.

"Our students are high-risk kids," he wrote. "They are either on probation or parole. . . . So, you would have been pleased to have watched these students struggle, first with reading the article and then to do the calculation. I use the newspaper a lot in teaching my classes. Thanks for your assistance."

And thanks to all of you for taking the time to respond.

Tom Kelly is a private real-estate consultant. His column runs Sundays in the Home/Real Estate section of The Times.