New here, but one of my 2 cavs is acting strange.

[BarbMazz]

I've not heard of an invisible fence before so please excuse my ignorance.

Does it work by giving a shock whenever approached? Is the only way a dog can work out its boundaries by getting a series of shocks at different points? I think if I were a dog I would eventually go and hide away and be scared to come out anywhere.

Is there no way you can install proper visible fencing? Her behaviour seems totally logical as a response to a frightening experience. I am trying to think from the perspective of my two young dogs who are 10 months and 14 months - I think they would be grossly affected by a similar fence. I am nearly in tears thinking about it.

Invisible fence training does not (in my experience) train the dog with a series of shocks. The receiver on the dog's collar emits a series of beeps when within 4ft of the wire. The dog is trained to turn back when the beeps are heard. There is a flag perimeter set up 4ft before the wire. The dog is trained to recognize that the flags mean "turn back". If they go past the flags, but still within the 4ft the collar will beep, which is the signal for the dog to turn back. If the dog does not turn back and gets to the wire there is a shock. My brand of fence has 10 levels, with 10 being the highest setting. None of my dogs has a setting higher than "4", and none have experienced a shock in almost a year, because they recognize the flags and the beep.

There are many opinions about invisible fencing; in my own personal experience it has been positive. My dogs were very easy to train, and they are not being shocked. Bentley, my tri Cavalier, does not wear a collar because I fear he may have SM. He is trained to the flags and doesn't pass them even without the collar.

I certainly don't want to start an argument, but this is my personal experience. While there are dogs who have problems with repeated shocks because they are not properly trained to the flags and beeps, my dogs are not experiencing that. Please don't berate me on my choice to use an electronic fence, because I already know the opinions of most here. I only wanted to share my experience because it is different than what has been described here.

[Moviedust]

Did you have to do anything special to train your dogs to respond to the sounds? If Gracie's issues are related to the fencing, perhaps you can give some training tips that will help her adjust without getting shocked (and scared into the closet!).

[BarbMazz]

Did you have to do anything special to train your dogs to respond to the sounds? If Gracie's issues are related to the fencing, perhaps you can give some training tips that will help her adjust without getting shocked (and scared into the closet!).

I trained my dogs on leash with clickers and treats. When they reached the flags I let them take a step past so they heard the beep, then pulled them back quickly, as soon as they turned back I heaped on the praise, clicked and treated using very high value treats. It didn't take long at all. I did go all around the entire perimeter everyday for a couple of weeks before I actually let them off lead. My husband helped out by waving the flags so they would be noticed during the sessions.

[Caraline]

Just a thought. Could the e-collar be malfunctioning? I don't mean shocking her, but sending off the warning sound at incorrect times?

Many years back when a neighbour shot 2 of my dogs, we got those invisible fences to run in conjunction with the regular fence. Wombats kept digging holes under our fence & on this one morning our dogs got out, one dead, the other thousands to fix her up & many painful operations.

What I found though was that the collars would occasionally send the warning sound at the wrong time and the poor dogs got terribly confused & upset. Needless to say the invisible fence got pulled down. In fact we moved from there. I couldn't live like that.

Anyway, just wondering???

[Karlin]

Just to return to this from a broader perspective: to be honest, I do not think behaviour this extreme has much to do with an electric fence though if the dog was shocked it could have exacerbated an underlying problem. I think it is primarily a medical issue. These are behaviours that a dog shows when in pain and when ill -- if the dog was shocked (and some training systems train by increasing the level of shocks to train the dog to stay away) that might add to this problem but I only think this would be *because there is a serious underlying medical problem*.

That is why I think it is a very urgent matter to get a dog that
* does not want to be touched
* is hiding in the darkest, most enclosed space it can find
* is clearly fearful
* won't go out of its own accord to relieve itself though housetrained, and
* won't eat except reluctantly

in to see a vet immediately. Given the nature of this behavour, I would in particular want the vet to be familiar with SM and the high rate of incidence in the breed, so that if nothing else seems to explain the behaviour, the dog is referred to a neurologist.

In all the time I have been working with dogs and rescues, I have never heard of a dog being this fearful simply from something it experienced in the outside world except in the case of abused dogs that have been severely mistreated over a period of time. As this isn't an element here, and the dog has been fine up til now, and the electric fence does not seem to have been in place that long, and as all these behaviours are consistent with potentially serious health issues, I think this must be the first consideration and a matter of some urgency.

[sophiaandgrace]

Thanks everyone!!! Gracie is going to the vet today so i'll let you know what we find out.

Funny thing about the fence is, both the dogs have never been shocked....we trained just as a previous poster had mentioned to turn around at the sound of the beep - and as we all know, cavs are very smart, so it didn't take much training at all. As a matter of fact after a couple weeks, the fence isn't even on anymore.

Trust me, if the fence wasn't needed, we would not have it, but had too many close calls with Sophia and traffic that I would much rather put some work into training them, then burying them in the back yard.

[Shay]

I hope Grace will be o.k. Please let us know the outcome.

[Remali]

Hello and welcome to the forum! Sounds like you got a lot of very good advice already, I Hope Grace is OK. Please let us know how she is doing and what the vet thinks. I had a dog with pyometra, it was many, many years ago when I was only a teenager and didn't know how serious, and fatal, that a uterine infection in dogs can be, it affects unspayed female dogs. I hope Grace doesn't have that.

Oh gosh, I truly hope that the collar is not shocking her....not to criticize (I am not a fan of those underground fences), but I do think that is a bit too severe for small dogs like Cavaliers, especially given the possibilty of SM. I live by a busy road with a lot of traffic too, and my dogs only go outdoors with me and they are always on a leash. If I want them to run more, I take them out to my sister's place where it is safe for them to run. Hope Grace is doing better.

[Moviedust]

Yes, please let us know what the vet says about Grace.

[Moviedust]

I know this is getting off topic of Gracie's medical concerns, but I think a discussion about fencing could be important. Not only does it bring out differing perspectives, but someone considering an invisible fence might like to see what others think.

My question is: If you (both) trained your dogs without needing to be shocked, and in fact the invisible fence isn't even on any more and the dogs stay in the yard, why bother with an invisible fence that shocks in the first place?? Why not simply do the training on its own?