# e-fence &dogs



## Briard'nSheep (Jun 27, 2013)

not sure if this is the right spot to post this, but here goes:

We installed our solar electric fence 2 weeks ago. The sheep all have touched it and started respecting it within days. 

Our dog is a whole different story.. he keeps touching it all over, whacks it with the tail, tried running through it and just doesn't get it. Felix is a Briard, so maybe the current gets lost somewhere in his coat. Do you run into the same problem with the LGDs?
First I thought maybe he needs to touch it with the bare nose, like the sheep (kathadin, they walked through it until they got a zap on the nose!)

Just when I was about to think 'he'll never touch it right, he got a zap on the nose today. Felix did a short yelp, then went to the next spot and kept whacking his tail into the fence. Pure Joy, he was happy as the sheep were walking back into their holding pen to get into the shelter.

He can be such a sensitive dog (ex: dislikes the rattle paddle sooo much!), but not the fence! Should I wait until he touches the fence again and hope it teaches him the respect or is there anything else one can do?

sorry, Briards aren't LGD but are considered "boundary dogs" in the world of herding/sheep, I hope I am asking in the right place.


----------



## Southern by choice (Jun 27, 2013)

*Let me just say, I so wish we had a herding dog section! It would be such an asset to the forum!*
.. and I love  Briards!!!!

As far as the fence... how many joules is it rated for. (the charger) 

Sometimes solar chargers are too weak, sometimes it could be a bad ground. Is it very dry there? Pour water around the ground rod.

You can get a $10 fence voltage tester to check it. 

We do not have solar chargers and our fences are pretty "hot" out 4 large LGD's which 3 are heavy coated Pyrs, can feel the shock with their heavy coated tails. They learn just how close they can get and run parallel to it ... and I mean close.

I have heard some people have problems with the amount of "juice" they get from solar chargers because of overcast days etc.

Don't know how much that helped but I would think it may be a juice issue.


----------



## Briard'nSheep (Jun 27, 2013)

Thanks Southern   I love my Briard too, such a goof, protective and cuddly  12 years with the breed and counting! 

It's the 6 volt charger, at the time of purchase I thought "better not fry the sheep with a 12 volt" I guess now I know better. Our ground rod is pretty deep in the ground, over 7 feet! The ground does consist of lots of sand and clay.  We've had a few rainy days, today being the first day of sun. Lots of sun before the rainy period..

I am not sure what our sheep will choose to do in the winter at -30C and 3 feet of snow, but we do have a battery waiting in the shed to juice it up on those snowy days. 

How big is your charger?

Our previous Briard x touched a cattle fence with his tail once, and he didn't even want to walk that (tractor) road for an entire year! 

Maybe Felix is stoic not wanting to feel that pain other then on his nose.. :/


----------



## Southern by choice (Jun 27, 2013)

I will give you the info tomorrow... it's midnight   not going out to look. 

We have 3 chargers, all different. 

We are heavily wooded here so can't really use the solar powered except for one place and we don't use that area year round. The trees and woods are thick so no light getting through those trees. In NC all fall winter it is rain, grey, overcast, dreary... they don't work well here. I wanted to get one but after I researched I thought better to get a charger that I can use ac/dc . 

BTW- I am a pic addict and I just know no-one would mind a Briard pic in the LGD section... what else to do... there isn't a herding section.   so the hint here is PLEASE put a pic up of your girl! Briards make me so happy!


----------



## babsbag (Jun 28, 2013)

Our charger is a 1 joule and it runs on a 12 volt battery. We have a solar battery charger hooked up to the battery so in a way it is solar, but it didn't come that way from Zarebra , it is just considered a DC charger.

We have a voltage meter and when the fence is working well it reads about 7.5 - 8.9 and occasionally a 9. That fence will set you down on your behind faster that fast and my LGDs and goats respect it a lot, as do I. I came out of the chicken coop one day and the fence was on. We had a hot wire about 4 inches off the ground that ran in front of the door. I was wearing clog type shoes and I as I stepped over the wire I got it caught between my shoe and my foot. You should have seen me dance; I couldn't lose that shoe fast enough. It is HOT.

We have three ground rods that are connected together and they are each buried about 4-5 feet. I "water" them in the summer since it is so dry here. It makes a big difference.


----------



## bcnewe2 (Jun 28, 2013)

ON a good wet hot day get your dog wet!  It sounds cruel and really it probably is but the shock will transfer through his wet coat better.

I've seen dogs just get lucky for a while, it's not a continuous shock so they just happen to hit it on an off pulse.  But if he hits it right I'd be surprised if he still doesn't respect it! Tails hardly count they are all hair! 
But that's just my experience.

My border collies would rather die than hit that fence.  Same with Jesse the LGD but my LGD's down in AR could of cared less. I heard them cry and yelp but still they went right through doing their jobs.

Is Felix young?


----------



## Briard'nSheep (Jun 28, 2013)

I imagine the charge can be pretty good, I heard the "zap" 10 feet away! Only a test would show me, time to invest 

bcnewe2: I might have to try the wet trick, Felix will be turning 5 in October. So young for a Briard 

We have heavy wood too  but do have open space around the house and driveway. On a sunny day the charger should get many hours of sun. 

Southern you asked for pictures, this is Felix after being groomed a few weeks ago




and here a head shot, all proud of himself for jumping on a large spider running across the living room floor and eating it! Yuck!!


----------



## Southern by choice (Jun 28, 2013)

One of our chargers...

http://www.jefferspet.com/patriot-p30-charger/camid/LIV/cp/TRU-A1/

and another....

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/zarebareg;-25-mile-ac-low-impedance-fence-charger?cm_vc=-10005

our  3rd one is very old...have no idea what it is.

Maybe it is just the fact it is a Briard!   What's a little zap? The Briard... will not be deterred.   
BCNewe has some good advice. Never needed to do anything special for ours.  I will say my F pyr- If a threat comes all the way up to the fence and will not back away SHE WILL go through that wire... she respects it in general BUT she doesn't mess around, I think the heightened guarding status has her adrenaline hyped and I don't think she "feels" it. 

*THANK YOU for the pics!* 

He is a nice looking boy! Makes me happy to see him. There really are a handful of breeds that steal my heart... the Briard is one! 
I noticed his ears weren't done... is that a "no-no" in Canada?  Here it is very hard to find a vet that can do ears properly, usually the breeders do them while the vet sedates them and stands there and watches. 

Hope it works out for you soon.


----------



## terrilhb (Jun 29, 2013)

He is beautiful.


----------



## Briard'nSheep (Jun 29, 2013)

I wouldn't have guesses it, but Felix got a zap on his behind yesterday! I didn't think it was going to happen with all that hair, and it sure was a big surprise to him too!
 He got zapped, yelped, jumped around growling and snapping at the air turned 360degrees only to get zapped on his bum again... poor guy, but I hope he learns that this fence "bites".. maybe not always, but sometimes.

Just when I start asking if something was wrong, my poor dog gets zapped 3 times within a few days

Southern: Thanks for your charger info. We decided to go solar as our rural electricity is very expensive. Somehow the electric company gets away with charging us twice for the power used, even if we don't use any they still charge us a fee. We will be going off the grid sooner then later!

Tonight we will start leaving the charger on over night. I found one of my shoes and hubby's hat in the sheep pen this morning. Pretty sure Mr or Mrs Fox stole them off our deck. The sheep get locked up at night and the fence turned off. I have noticed a few new dig spots in the catch pen. Pretty sure sheep don't dig 

most provinces of Canada still allow cropping/docking in dogs. I was born and raised in europe where it has been illegal for many many years. Our first Briard was born in Germany, had natural ears and I quite like the look of it. . Nor do I want to put a 6 week old puppy through anesthesia, pain meds, and constant gluing of his ears! Nature created perfectly good ears, why change it for north american fashion? If I wanted erect ears, I'd get a different breed, breed for those ears or learn to live with natures perfection 

If it ain't broke, don't fix it!


----------



## Southern by choice (Jun 29, 2013)

Glad he is learning! Stinks how they have to though.

I wish I could do the solar, I only have one area, a front small field, that will get the sun. The woods are deep thick ... great for goats and the dogs stay so much cooler but not good for the solar. :/
I know what you mean... we have commercial property and buildings, the electricity is 2x what our residential is...  Try not to plug up much to those buildings! The one uses a car battery basically... not too bad.

I like the ears both ways too!  I did see a lot less ear infections with the cropped ears, but just like any drop eared dog, ya gotta check them more often... with my 6 dogs all but my GSD have drop ears ... I feel like I am always looking down someones or cleaning someones.. silly dogs that they are they love their ears cleaned!


----------



## bcnewe2 (Jun 29, 2013)

Felix is a beaut that's for sure!

Sorry Lil man but you did have it coming!  

Hopefully he learned.  3 in a row? ? ? That's allot even for a briard! 

My pyr down in AR had horrid ears.  He always knew when I was going to do his ears and he'd run. 

All my dogs have flex ears.  Up when concentrating down when relaxing.  Jesse the Toli's ears are down but not heavy and she loves for me to clean them? She moans with joy


----------

