We've been training Snickers since Saturday on the Invisible Fence. I think I mentioned previously that it was finally time to get it going since Snickers feels comfortable visiting the neighbors for any various reasons: stealing toys out of their garage, knocking on their deck door to see if anyone wants to come out to play, and also - relieving himself in their yard.
For the first three days he trains with the protector on so that he hears the beeps, and begins to learn to back away. Today was the first day to take off the protector and allow him to be shocked for the first time. I am proud (a proud mother) to say that he did not get shocked at all today!!! The training manual suggests having one person hold the leash while another person leaves the free area. The dog is supposed to follow the person out of the free area, to experience the shock for the first time and know that is why he's been trained the last few days to back away from the beeping. Snickers ALWAYS follows everything and anything out of the yard. I was the bait this evening......and MUCH to our surprise HE heard the beeping and stopped in his tracks.
What does this mean? Well - we are proud of him - and we'll have to add on more distractions in the next few days to test his obedience. I'm thinking he is going to have to discover exactly why he shouldn't pass the beeping to fully understand. Anyway - we'll use balls, toys, neighbors, and other dogs as bait. Next we will move on to letting him off the leash to have free reign under supervision. Exciting times at the Harder Household!! :)
I was thinking of the electric fence down at my grandma and grandpa's farm - it keeps the cattle, pigs in their restricted areas. I can remember growing up that we learned very, very early on - to NOT touch the electric fence. I always steered clear - typically being lifted over the fence when I wanted to "help" with feeding, or play in the corn bin. As I got older I know I began to wonder what exactly it would feel like to be shocked, or "Can you Touch it with a Stick?" The answer to that question, of course, is no you cannot touch it with a stick..... still get shocked!! It's a weird feeling, not really painful - just surprising. So - I became an expert electric fence hurdler - after all the most fun always happened on the other side of the electric fence. (Playing in the creek, looking for old forts, following my brothers around, and looking for creatures)
Was it fool-proof (or shall I say cow-proof)? Nope, there would be those nights we'd pull into the lane and there a cow would be staring back into the headlights. Soooooo, I suspect Snickers will have to test it out himself - and probably escape once or twice before it is all said and done. We'll keep you updated!!
15 years ago
3 comments:
In the famous word of someone down south............wellllllllllll,ya have to protect the public from that kleptodog.haha Good to hear he is doing so well with it!
When my Dog used to take off, I'd kick him in the throat...not real hard, just enough to knock the air out of him. An alternative method if the fence don't work. (Just kidding!)
Jill & Dave - I'm really enjoying your blog! I think almost everyone who ever lived on a farm (or their grandparents) got shocked by the electric fence. Worst case I remember (I sound like grandpa) is when my cousin, Dwight was trying to crawl between the upper electric fence & the lower one, got tangled up and couldn't get out...we ran as fast as we could to the barn to turn it off. Next worse case was when someone ran into the one down by the bridge - it hit him right in the neck (It was taller down by the water so the cows wouldn't cross over there). Oh, and speaking of cows, my sisters and I have great (not really) memories of cows getting out and we had to help get them back in. Kind of scary when they were running right at you and you had to keep them from going past you. Memories...good or bad, there still there! I'm glad Snickers isn't getting shocked! And - I think those hett twins are just trying to think of funny things to say!
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