Electric fences for pets?

[lizzard]

We have a 25 lb dog and small cat and are trying to decide the best way to keep them out of a room in our house that doesn''t have doors or even a doorway . The room expands off our living room and is currently not really used for anything (it''s basically a large room separated from our living room by 2 columns). With a baby on the way, we thought it might be nice to use this spare area to keep the pack n play, swing, toys, etc., esp since we''re running out of room in our condo. My concern is how to best keep the animals from going into this area of the house. I''d love to be able to let the baby sit freely in the room, but I''m afraid the dog will eat the toys and the cat might jump inside of the pack n play when the baby is in it. I''m also concerned about the excess pet fur floating around the room if the animals get in there. Maybe I''m overreacting

I was curious to hear if anyone has any experience with electric pet fences that are used indoors? It sounds so inhumane to me, and I''d love to know if they are painful to animals? I love my pets and don''t want to inflict pain by any means. Just trying to explore any available options.

Thanks in advance

 

[lyra]

I''ve never heard of one of these being used indoors. I believe that a shock is sent through the pet''s collar, right? The idea is that they learn to avoid the area, and thus do not get shocked after a time. I don''t know how I feel about it. We''ve always made do with gates, but I think you''d need something custom for such an open area. I can see the dog being much less of a problem than the cat, which has less problems jumping in and out of and on top of things.

 

[Pandora II]

My parents have PetSafe electric fencing round their whole property for their cats but I don''t think it would work for one room.

It doesn''t hurt them, but they learn fast how to get past it - ours just sit at the point where they get the warning beep and run the batteries in their collars down!

Honestly I would just put up a gate to keep the dog out and not worry about the cat - normally they keep well away from babies.

 

[elrohwen]

I''m really not a fan of electric fences or any kind of electric training device because I find that they''re not very effective. An unafraid animal will learn to get past it, jump over (in the case of mats), etc while many animals will develop a fear which is not really good for their trust in your or mental sanity. I would look for some kind of gate as there are definitely some out there for very wide doorways. I think the cat may be more of an issue since cats can jump, but for a dog a gate should be fine. Oh, and the pet hair will definitely cross over the doorway, so you won''t be able to keep it away from the baby 100% (at least if you have hardwood floors; I find the pet hair just blows from room to room)

 

[Puppmom]

As a soon to be new mommy, I can understand your concerns but I think there are much better solutions to keeping that room safe and calm for your baby. Our dog is trained not to cross the threshold of our kitchen while we''re eating but knows he is free to be in the room any other time. Situational training isn''t terribly complicated (trust me...I''m a total NOVICE). It may be worth having someone come in to work with you. I haven''t a clue how to train a cat but, in my experience, they generally aren''t nudges like dogs can be. Cat people - feel free to set me straight on this one

You can also get a dog bed for your dog for that particular room so he/she knows that, in that room, they must lie on their bed. An "on your bed" command is also not terribly difficult to master.

I know all of this depends on the personality of your pets but it may be a good idea to just see how it goes. Your furry babies might surprise you with their good baby manners!

Best of luck with your little one!

 

[MustangGal]

I don''t know if they still make them, but there used to be a version of the pet fence intended for indoor use. It was a disk that plugged in and sent out a shock within a certain raduis. The people I knew that had it used it to keep the dogs off the furniture, so it might work for your situation. It is a shock that the animal feels, and some of them are a bit too stupid to realize why they''re being shocked and don''t "get" it.

I have a baby, a dog and 3 cats, and honestly it''s the dog that''s the issue. He''s eaten 3 pacifiers, a remote, and 2 baby toys already, and that''s with us being vigilant with what we leave laying out. We just put up a baby fence to keep the baby and toys in and keep the dog and fur out of that section of our living room. Our cats pretty much ignore the baby and baby related items.

You could try training the dog to stay out of that area, or just see if they even pay attention to the baby stuff once you start putting it in there.

 

[soocool]

You may be better off hiring someone to put a door/doorway in for you to keep your pets out.

 

[kindred]

My parents use two electric fences inside with their dog. One of them keeps the dog away from the front door (he uses other doors to go in and out) and the other one keeps him off of the living room furniture. The both work really well. He gets two warning beeps if he gets too close, and he has learned to just stay out of those areas. I''ve never heard of anyone using an electric fence with a cat, so I am not sure how that would work.

Date: 9/9/2009 5:33:03 AM
Author: Pandora II
It doesn''t hurt them, but they learn fast how to get past it - ours just sit at the point where they get the warning beep and run the batteries in their collars down!

That is very diabolical of them!