Aussie And The Invisible Fence

by Angela
(St. Louis, MO)

KELLY - Loves riding to starbucks: does not actually drink coffee.

We have a 2.5 year old Aussie rescue female. She is smart as a whip. While staying at my parents house for a long weekend she learned the invisible fence and did very well with it. So we installed one at our house. We left the rubber cover on the probes, showed her the boundaries for a few days and then let her go. She did well for a few weeks. Then the squirrels started gather food for the winter. She couldn't help herself, she'd bolt out of the yard in pursuit.

In doing this she realized that at lightning speed there is no fence. In human speak this means she ran too fast through the boundary area to receive the warning or the shock. So began the everyday chasing her through the neighborhood drama. (She does not come when called and loves the catch-me-if-you-can game.)

Has anyone had any luck with invisible fences and is there hope of retraining after these ridiculously smart dogs have learned this little trick? We've been walking her on a lead in the yard all winter, and the lack of run time is really starting to show in her behavior, but we don't want to walk her out of the yard for fear of reinforcing the "flexibility" of her boundaries.

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