Does your dog give you the slip??

All of we pet owners have faced this situation of looking around the neighborhood for our pet or calling out of the widow trying to find our family dog who gave us the slip, yet again.

Its high time to look for a better dog control system and the underground fence is exactly one such device. There are many reasons for using this type of pet containment system, including health and reproductive issues, housing covenants besides being a good and responsible neighbors. There are conventional fences around the homes, like wooden, aluminium or wrought iron ones, but the underground dog fence is a popular new choice of many a home.

Origin
The underground dog fence is a blend of training, technology, and electronics. To trace the history of the underground fence would be a bit difficult, however, available estimates point to the first such fences being seen sometime in the 1970's. Over the years many manufacturers and brands have come up and every brand of underground dog fence has its own history and interesting background.What started off as a mere tool for protection of pets, has now become a wildly popular system for dog training as well.The big companies who manufacture the underground dog fences, toady have an elaborate network of distributors and retailers. Right next to you in your neighborhood also, you can find a few shops selling this equipment. The underground dog fences are approved by the regulatory authorities, looking after animal welfare such as the humane society in US, the ASPCA vets and most veterinary associations.

Working
The underground dog fence works through a network of hardware and software.A transmitter, underground wire and a reciever worn around the dog's collar are the three components.The transmitter is installed, generally near to the electrical output point. Care has to be taken that the area is dry.This transmitter connects to the underground wire by sending signals. More than one dog can also be controlled by the underground dog fence. An insulated wire is laid along the specified boundary. It makes sense to earmark this boundary on the ground by some paint so that in future need for any change, it becomes easy to find.The wire should be buried about 2 inches below the ground.All areas where you do not want the pet to go, can be enclosed, e.g. swimming pools, gardens etc.The receiver, worn around the dog's collar runs on a 6 volt battery.The average life of the battery is about 3 months.Signals are transmitted by the transmitter through the wire, to the receiver in the dog's collar when the dog comes close to the wire .The initial signal is a beep and should the pet come any closer, it gets a mild shock. This dissuades the dog from continuing.One can have different intensities of this shock depending upon the nature of the dog.Over a period of time, the dog learns , not to cross these invisible boundaries.

Limitations
What the underground fence lacks in keeping out unwanted visitors.It may also allow some people to violate privacy, which is not the case with structured fences.