Keeping your pet in a safe area

Pet containment is not just keeping your pet where you want them but is also keeping your pet away from danger. Setting boundary lines will keep your pet in their safe zone and away from your garden or traffic. There are several ways to contain a pet, in this article we are going to cover the most popular methods.

The main ways of containing a pet are training, physical restraint, and wired/wireless boundary. Depending on your situation you may use multiple methods to achieve your goal. Which is the first question you need to ask yourself is – What am I protecting my pet from?

If you have a small area with traffic close by you may opt for physical products like runs and fencing. If you have many acres of secluded land then a simple training routine may be enough. Once you answer the question which one of them you will know – What type of solution will achieve the safety required.

Types of containment

The first and probably the hardest is the time-tested act of boundary training. Simply stated you walk the allowed boundary with your dog every day. Praise them when they stay in bounds and warn when they cross the line. It does help if the boundary is marked in a stand out way. A natural/created tree or hedge line is a good boundary to the property line. This method does take a long time and lacks any reminder when you’re not observing the pet.

The use of physical restraint is what the majority of pet owners use. Leashes and collars are affordable and easy to use. You can tie a lead to most anything and that is where your pet will stay. A lead does not give your pet much movement so not an ideal choice for extended use. A Run is a cable stretched out from pole to pole or using trees. Taking the “tied off lead” and giving your pet some more room to move. Getting tangled in an object i is still a problem with this system.

The second most common physical system is the kennel. Kennels come in soft tent-like structures, chain link fencing, wall panels, and homemade. Depending on your pet size and the area being kenneled will affect your choices. For small pets and portability, the soft kennels are great. Chain link fence usually requires profession install and large price tags. Wall panels offer the strength of chain link fence but you can install and move the kennel if needed, yourself.

The newest method of containment is the wired/wireless system. This system has two methods to choose from. You can go wired/wireless or full wireless depending on your intended use. The fully wireless system has a transmitter and a receiver on a collar the pet wears. Some of the systems work with an alert given if the pet gets too far from the transmitter. Other units work with an alert given when the pet gets too close to the receiver.

The wired/wireless system is normally marketed as “wireless” and this is misleading. This system works by burying a wire around your boundary and plugging the wire into a box that sends a small current down the wire. Your pet wears a collar with a receiver on it that gives an alert when it picks up the current in the wire. Keeping your pet inside the containment area and away from danger.

Which system to choose

Choosing a system to fit your situation takes just a little thought. Putting a 100 lb strong-willed dog in a soft kennel is probably not going to work too well. When a 6 ft wall panel kennel might be overkill for a 5 lb Terrier unless you’re keeping other animals out.

For property that has been landscaped and a kennel would be an unwanted sight. An underground wire system might be the right choice to contain your pet. If your problem is keeping your pet away from the trash inside the house a wireless repel system might just fit the bill.

As you learn what each type of system can do you will also figure out which system will work the best for your situation. There is no steadfast rule of you have to do it this way. Each set up is unique just as each pet being contained is unique.