Compare and Contain: Picking the Right Fence for You and Your Pet

Open Up Their World

Picking the perfect containment system for your pet and your needs can be tricky. Accounting for your pet’s temperament, containment size, cost and more, you may find yourself asking: “What’s so deluxe about Deluxe?” Or “why go wired when wireless is so much easier to setup?” We've come up with this guide to simplify your search.

Containment size and set-up time

For people with small to average sized yards the Wireless Fence is your best choice. The system covers a circular area of up to 3/4 of an acre. It's easy to turn the size of coverage up or down based on your needs. Set up only takes a few hours. However, if you need more than 90 feet of coverage, you can either buy a second Wireless Transmitter to overlap barriers or consider an In-Ground Fence.

Our In-Ground fences have three different coverage options. The In-Ground fence systems cover up to 25 acres of land. Each system includes 500 feet of Boundary Wire and 50 Training Flags. To expand your coverage, you will need an additional wire and flag kit. Installation typically takes a day or two as you have to decide how you will wire your yard, dig and bury the wire. However, with an In-Ground system you can purposefully design a layout so your pet can roam without getting near off-limit area like a pool or garden. Be sure to have any underground cables marked before you dig to bury your wire. In most areas this is a free service.

Receiver Collars and Correction

You can add as many pets to your fence system as you’d like as long as they are wearing the proper Receiver Collar. Each containment systems comes with a unique collar, coming in different shapes and sizes. The Wireless Fence’s Receiver Collar features five adjustable levels of static correction, plus tone-only mode used for initial training. Some well trained dogs use tone-only if they don’t need the static reminder. In-Ground Fence Receiver Collars can not be used with any Wireless Fence systems.

However, you can mix and match systems In-Ground systems and Receiver Collars depending on the temperaments of your pets. Each wired fence comes with a Receiver Collar specially designed for the type of pet that would use it. The In-Ground system comes with a basic collar with one level of static correction. Deluxe series (In-Ground, Little Dog and Cat) collars all come with four levels of static correction and tone-only mode. Both the Little Dog and the Cat Receiver collars are designed to fit smaller pets. The Cat receiver also features a stretch section for your cat’s comfort. The Stubborn Dog Receiver collar features four levels of adjustable correction and a tone plus vibration mode. The tone plus vibration mode is perfect for getting your stubborn pet’s attention or training a deaf dog to use the system.

Training time

When it comes to training time there are NO shortcuts. For your pet to properly learn and understand his new boundaries, commit to going out and physically training your pet for 10-15 minutes three times a day everyday for at least two weeks. Some pets learn faster than others, but its important to give training the time it requires. The first week of training is about getting your pet used to his new boundaries. You will set up flags along the boundary of the fence, get your pet used to the Receiver Collar and distract him with things outside his limits to teach him to stay within his new, owner approved play area. After your pet learns to stay within his pet area you will move onto the supervision stage.

Each day you will gradually increase the amount of time you spend outside with him to ensure he stays within his boundaries, even if left out to play for an hour or more. When your pet has proven he understands his boundaries, we recommend you monitor your pet’s activity for another two weeks. Once your pet understands his new pet area, you will remove every other Boundary Flag every four days and training will be complete! For more information check out our containment product page, frequently asked questions and the 10 things you must know about installing an In-Ground fence.

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