TRAINING TIP #4
Don’t take a fence!
Imagine the following horrifying scenarios:
- You are minding your own business in your backyard enjoying some tacos, and a stray animal swoops in and steals your tacos.
- You are supposed to be mowing your lawn, and your spouse is going to be very upset if you don’t, but a taco truck slowly passes by your home. I understand that you NEED to go get some tacos, so I am definitely not going to judge you. I get it, tacos are about as exciting to me as a squirrel is to a dog, so I don’t even blame you. But your spouse is now angry because you left to get tacos instead of mowing the lawn, and you feel bad that you made your spouse mad.
- You ran after a taco truck hoping to get back in time before you get in trouble, but it took longer than you thought and now you’re locked out of your home. So, you wander off instead, hoping to ease your sadness with another taco, but now the taco truck is also gone.
Now imagine you are given two options to prevent these nightmare scenarios in the future.
- You can try to prevent yourself from leaving by installing an underground electric fence that shocks you when you leave your yard.
- You can prevent yourself from leaving and block your view of the street with a lovely, stylish wooden fence.
This is an incredibly easy decision, and not just because you really hate getting shocked. The underground electric fence does nothing at all to stop other animals from entering your yard and stealing your tacos. It will not deter you from chasing a taco truck if you love tacos even 20% as much as I do. I’ll run full speed and just get a split second of pain, but the tacos will give me a satisfied feeling that lasts for hours. But an underground electric fence will prevent you from re-entering your yard if you do run out chasing a taco truck. You may ease your disappointment by wandering off to get yet another taco, but eventually getting back to your home is going to be a painful problem.
The wooden fence, on the other hand, does keep taco thieves away, plus it blocks your view of a taco truck, so you won’t chase it because you don’t see it. (Taco trucks don’t yet have an adorable musical tune like ice cream trucks, so there is no temptation.) If you get locked out of a wooden gate, you’ll probably try knocking on the gate door and waiting, rather than wandering off because you don’t want to get shocked. The physical, wooden fence is a better option in every way.
The difference is even greater when it comes to which type of fence you should install to keep your dog safe in your yard.
- An underground electric fence will not stop some person or animal from stealing your dog’s things, or even worse, attacking or stealing your dog.
- An underground electric fence will not always stop a dog from chasing another animal. In a study by Dr. Nicole Starinsky from Ohio State University, 44% of dogs contained to their yard by an electric fence escaped at some point. Dogs sometimes find ways to escape from a physical fence as well, but only half as often.
- Some dogs that do get out of an underground electric fence don’t come back because they are afraid that they’ll get shocked, so they wander off instead. Dogs that escape from a hole in a wooden fence can re-enter by whatever hole they found or created by digging. They are less likely to stray than a dog that has to pass an electric fence to get home.
I understand the desire to have an underground electric fence: maybe you don’t like the look of physical fences, maybe you have an extremely large property and it’s not practical, maybe your lawn is very uneven and it’s hard to install a physical fence that can contain your dog. Those are all perfectly understandable reasons for installing an underground fence. But some fences look lovely – you can find a design that appeals to you. You don’t need to fence your entire property. You can install a fence in a portion of your backyard that is close to home and on a relatively even surface area, so your dog still has a little bit of outdoor running space. There are many options that are safer, more humane, and more reliable than an underground electric fence.
One final point: You can’t decorate an underground fence, but you can paint tacos and squirrels on your physical fence. Now you and your dog can relax together in your backyard, enjoying the fresh air while staring lovingly at a taco or a squirrel, safely and happily.
Happy Taco ’bout Training Tuesday everyone!
– Daniel
Boston Terrier Rescue Canada does not require all adopters to have a fenced yard, although sometimes a fenced yard will be a requirement to meet the needs of a specific dog.
BTRC recognizes that physical fencing is expensive, and that some homeowner’s associations have rules against fences. Still, we do not believe that the lower cost and perceived convenience of an underground electric fence outweigh the risks involved in using this method of containment. It is therefore our policy not to adopt to homes with invisible, electric, or underground fencing.