"Shocking" weekend

alex-n-jean · Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 2:42 am Post subject: "Shocking" weekend

well my weims alex and jean have dug sooo many holes in the gate in my backyard it is useless. i attempted to get estimates on a new gate but with the slope it's on and the soft dirt around it, most companies adviced that it would be a waste of money and they will continue to dig holes. so the only choice i was left with was an invisible fence (electric fence). i always thought they were cruel but i see dogs all the time in my neighborhood that react well to them. also i was embarrassed everytime a neighbor or jogger would knock on my front door w/ jean and alex in hand so i got one. the first couple of days it only beeped when they would get close to the parameter but today i took them out and they got shocked! it was so hard i couldn't watch, i feel like a bad weim owner. is this normal? is there any other way? hopefully they understand and will get to roam around the house free without crossing the boundary.

GrayGhost · Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 3:31 am Post subject:

Sometimes they work fine, but sometimes don't always work well for Weims. Weims with a strong chase instinct that see a cat or some other small animal will blast through it, and the shock just makes them run that much harder… LOL They work for some people, but in general, they aren’t always reliable for Weims.

DucksWild · Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2006 10:40 am Post subject:

I guess you'll just have to wait & see how they respond to it over time. I rememeber many years ago we tried a bark collar on Anja. She just kept barking through the shock - didn't phase our stubborn weim at all. Just keep in mind that while electronic fences may keep your dogs in, it won't keep other dogs out.

RK · Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 2:21 am Post subject:

are you leaving them out in your yard unsupervised? weims are diggers. and like grayghost said, when their prey instincts kick in, there isn't a lot that will distract them and dogs can certainly withstand a high amount of pain. i also just think with the weim temperament, shocking just doesn't seem like it would be healthy for them emotionally.

my advice would be to train them to dig in a certain area of your yard so that it becomes "their" area where it is okay to dig and other areas are off limits. it might take some doing but to me, that just seems like a better alternative to shocking.

heathr · Posted: Tue Feb 21, 2006 12:14 pm Post subject:

I can't speak from experience because thankfully Riddick isn't a digger, but in one of my obedience classes a fellow student was having similar digging problems with her dog. The instructor recommended that she go and buy one of those plastic kids swimming pools and either fill it with sand or dirt and teach the dog that that was their place to dig. I am not sure how easy that would be to do, but it seemed like a good idea. She said you could also hide stuff in there for them to dig up, bones, toys,etc...

My thinking on the whole fence things is that if a dog wants something bad enough (ie. squirrel, other small furry creature) a shock won't stop them. I know this probably isn't what you want to hear, but rather than put up a fence to curb the undesired behavior, teach them the correct one. For me Riddick was terrible about being off lead in the front yard and my recall wasn't as strong and I would like, he would take off after people walking by, chase cats, etc... So Riddick can't be off lead in the front yard until he learns that being off lead in the front yard means staying on the grass. The minute he steps off and into the street, playtime is over and he has to go back in the house. One thing I have learned from others on the site is to teach them the correct behavior at an early age, because trying to correct an bad behavior later on is much more difficult.