Originally posted by james peterson:
"I just read an article in whole dog journal about a dog who was left alone and his collar got wet shorted out and caused severe damage and injury to his neck."

The owner of the dog is said to be some kind of electronics expert but from what I read on the link page it sounds like the collar was made in someones basement as part of a school project.

I find it VERY strange that despite all the text there are some main things missing;

1. At no point is the actual make of the collar mentioned, why not? if it was conclusivly the e that did it then why not name the manufacturer.

2. At no point did the manufacturers refered to ask for skin samples so they could have tests carried out to establish what caused the skin problem shown in photographs.

3. As regards skin tests it is a point to note that Radio Fences took up 20 cases of 'alleged' burning by E collars. They got skin samples and sent them for conclusive analysis, in all cases the conclusions were that the damage done to the skin was not by burning but skin Narcosis caused by the steel contacts due to wearing the collars over long periods of time when not in use and against all reputable manufacturers instructions.

4. Why does an electronics expert buy some cheap old collar in the first place.

5. All reputable E collars are safe in water, gundogs are probably one of the most prolific users of them, why so many 'non-incidents' under regular wet conmditions?

On a purly personal level I support all reputable E collars but I think it's just damned stupid to go out and buy cheap gear and I am surprised an electronics expert did.

As far as I can see and because the name of the manufacturer was not named to defend themselves I am not convinced the E collar was in correct use or that the skin damage is actualy burns, as alleged.

Good piece of critical reading Denis. I too thought it strange that the brand of Ecollar wasn’t mentioned. You’d think that as angry as the author claims to be that he’d splash the name of the product all over the article to warn us. Instead we get lots of vague references but nothing concrete.

I think the whole article is a hoax put on by PETA or it’s sympathizers.

And Mike I just saw your question. The answer is, “It depends.” It depends on how driven the dog is to get to the female in heat or the prey item. If the dog is highly driven for either item, it won’t stop him. And once the dog is out, chances are he won’t be driven hard enough to get back. I’m a bigger believer in fences and walls, but in some areas they’re not allowed.

BTW I don’t get to this forum every day. If you have a question and I don’t get back in a couple of days don’t hesitate to send me an email. The address is at the bottom of all my posts.

Just for the record, my female GSD would NEVER be contained by an electronic fence! She is not at all concerned by an electronic correction when she is fired up!! All she would need to see would be a neighboring dog,and she would be through it in a minute!! I have tried to use a regular tri tronics with her while I was out with her and she still doesn't care about the stimulation, she is a very hard dog.I am currently looking into a solid 8 foot stockade fence for the entire front of my property!!( not cheap, but better than being sued!)

Now, this is just my opinion but I just don't think that electric fences are very effective.
I have seen multiple cases of high drive dogs just running thru the fence area and taking the correction to recieve a drive item on the other side.
For a dog with low drives I guess they'd work, but does anybody who posts on *this* board have a low drive dog? Didn't think so....

Originally posted by Jeannette Polowski:
Just for the record, my female GSD would NEVER be contained by an electronic fence! She is not at all concerned by an electronic correction when she is fired up!! All she would need to see would be a neighboring dog,and she would be through it in a minute!! I have tried to use a regular tri tronics with her while I was out with her and she still doesn't care about the stimulation, she is a very hard dog.I am currently looking into a solid 8 foot stockade fence for the entire front of my property!!( not cheap, but better than being sued!) That is an issue I'm facing also...currently I have a 5 mo old GSD who's quickly going to be too big for the 4' fence in the back yard. If I may be training him to jump when he's old enough, is a six foot fence enough, or should it be higher??

Can you hot wire the fence? I've been told that can be very effective.
I can't do it, but perhaps it might work for you.

As for heights,some GSD's can get over a 6 footer.

Hot wire...

I don't have a lot of experience with them, but I had a husky/GS mix once who used the "hot" wire as propulsion to help him get over the fence... and he wasn't concerned at all about coming back...

Pat