Equipment Malfunction-Electrical fences depend on underground wiring to stay connected and on the collar batteries to stay charged. The dog must also be wearing the collar at all times in the yard, of course. If any of these situations fail, the most common being the collar batteries running out, the dog will no longer be shocked when approaching the fence and thus will not be contained by the fence. This opens up the dog to all the dangers of roaming loose, such as being hit by a car. Occasionally, a collar will short-circuit and cause an electrical burn to the dog; these occurrences are rare but can cause significant physical and psychological damage to the dog.
Intruders-The largest drawback of electric fences is that they do not keep other critters out of the yard. A dog with an invisible fence is more vulnerable to an altercation with a roaming dog, skunk, raccoon or other wildlife; the other animal can easily get into the yard, but the dog cannot escape by leaving the yard. Without a physical fence, a child could wander into the yard, a highly potential bite situation. In addition, dog thieves typically find electrical fences far easier to overcome than physical fences.
Aggression-For some dogs, electrical fencing can lead to aggressive behavior. The frustration of seeing prey such as rabbits and squirrels or stimuli such as kids on bikes or skateboards, not to mention other dogs walking past, can lead the dog to charge the fence line and get a shock. The dog then associates the shock with the squirrel or other dog or child and becomes afraid of or aggressive toward them even when outside of the fence.When installing underground fence system try to remember when placing the wire (which is underground) place it mostly in back of your house and not to close too your neighbor’s property on the sides depending on how close you are to your neighbor’s house. Then in the front of your house go only half way up the drive way, depending how much frontage you have. If your dog has fear issue already I would even do less than half way up the driveway. Installing the wire this way will help prevent some of these hidden dangers with underground fencing. Any questions call the Sterling Animal Control Officer at-978-422-7331.
