I have to say that I love my dogs and I want them to have a healthy and active life. I can’t always be with them so here are things that I have done to keep them safe. Invest in some kind of fencing to keep them safe. If you have a fenced in backyard, make sure your pets have access to it when you are not home. If you cannot afford a fence. Here are some alternatives:
1. Petsafe offers several types of fences that are affordable. One is the radio fence that requires you to run a wire under the ground to establish the fence boundary. The second, which I have is the wireless fence. The base station inside your home sends a signal to the reciever located on the dogs collar when they are close to the boundary. You teach your dog the boundary for both products so that they know their area before they receive a shock from the collar. My wireless collars have 5 settings that can be used to warn and shot the dog. Most dogs will not need settings about level 3. Each collar uses a battery and I find that it lasts about a month before needing replacement. So far, they haven’t come up with rechargable batteries for this. The wireless system that includes one collar will run you about $290-$325. A pack of Batteries for the collar runs about $7-8. Additional collars run around $150.00. Total investment less than $500.
2. Doggies doors activated by magnets on their collar. I have one that I purchased through Moorepet-petdoors.com, the model type is "Solo". This can be ordered to fit inside your door or between wall joists. I ordered one that fits between the wall joists and is wired so that all I had to do was to plug it into an electrical receptical. It took about 1-2 hours to install and the dogs were trained in two days. It allows them to come and go during the day but also protects them from other animals. The magnet on their collar opens the door but it does not stay open to allow other animals in. This door allows me to manually shut it off. I find this is helpful when I have deliveries being made or if my Jack Russell keeps darting out in thunder showers. This equipment cost about $475 and labor to install would be additional.
