Invisible Dog Fences: The Nemesis of Dog Walks

When a brief blast of warm air was enjoyed and then quickly taken away from us two weeks ago, spring fever really began to set in for me and my dog.

But as soon as I begin to drool at the thought of again enjoying warm, leisurely strolls with him, I quickly remember that these walks are often met with stress and fear.

Much of this fear is caused by all the invisible dog fences in my neighborhood. They are supposed to be this great invention; no wooden or wire fence to maintain and you don't have to worry about taking your eye off your dog the moment he decides to rush out into the street. But when I see an electronic fence, I smell trouble.

You may have read in my previous column how even though her dog was on a leash. The dog's drive to get at mine was so powerful, the leash ripped out of her owner's hand. The same thing can happen with invisible fences.

Often when I see a dog standing in a yard unattended, my pulse races and a pit forms in my stomach before I inevitably turn around and walk the other way. There is no way for me to know

1) if that dog is really within a dog fence, as it's invisible and the sign isn't always displayed or within sight,

2) if the dog will break through the fence, or

3) if the dog I see is even a resident of the home he's standing in front of or just a stray.

Just last week, a reported how two Labradors who were "usually" contained by an invisible fence attacked and injured a neighbor's dogs. The report doesn't say what went wrong, but after reading the warnings from Invisible Fence's website, I'm aware of many possibilities:

• Dogs can run through the boundary if their drive to is strong enough. After they do, they aren't likely to turn around to return and get shocked again.
• Electronic fences often stop working or become weaker in the winter when the ground is frozen and dry. Perhaps the electrical current wasn't strong enough.
• The batteries in the e-collars can die.
• Dog owners sometimes feel so secure, they don't consistently put the e-collar on their dog.
• The fit of the e-collar can change and may no longer be secure.
• The e-collar is water resistant, but not waterproof.

Another problem I have with invisible dog fences is they do not keep the dog in them safe from other dogs.

Stray dogs can still enter the yard. People still walk their pets off-leash, even though that is against the law in Summit County. Sometimes I am nervous just being in my own yard with my dog, because I never know if an off-leash dog is just around the corner. Loose dogs are often spotted running through my yard in the summer. I try to report these loose dogs to the as per Summit County Animal Control, but they run off so fast, all I can do is hope that others are also making reports and the dog is tracked down.

Invisible fences also don't keep dogs safe from theft or harm by non-dog lovers. Purebreds are often stolen for breeding if they aren't fixed, and any dog can be sold for lab research. I won't go into the horror stories I heard while working at the Humane Society of Greater Akron, of neighborhood animals being abused. My job was to answer abuse calls and dispatch them to the humane officers, so don't let anyone tell you these things don't happen.

I also feel that electric fences and their e-collars do not provide humane, positive dog training. One dog trainer wrote an eye-opening article on why she disapproves of them. Her reasons include improper associative learning linked to the pain they experience, as well as the e-collar malfunctioning and shocking the dog at the wrong time.

Invisible fence or not, whenever we approach a dog in a yard, I get nervous. My dog has been run up on by strange dogs twice in the past two summers. These dogs were just outside and off-leash for a few minutes while their owners got groceries out of the car or did some yard work. Both times the owner called out to me, "he's OK!" and both times I replied, "mine may not be!"

Dog owners need to realize that just because their dog likes other dogs doesn't mean a strange dog will respond in kind to an unexpected, eye-to-eye meeting by a fast-approaching dog. And since one of those dogs approached us with an intense stare and his fur raised, I'm not really sure he was "OK." I have long been considering purchasing some safe, citronella animal deterrent spray from for situations much like that one.

So this summer, let's all be more aware of not only our own dogs, but also the dogs in the neighborhood. If you want your dog to socialize with other dogs, take them for a fun day at , where the dogs they meet are more likely to be open to play and there is plenty of supervision.