Though technology has come a long way in the GPS/wireless fence world. It is not quite up to par of what we need yet. I have faith that one day it will work like it should but as of today we spent way too much money on multiple GPS fence brands that didn't quite give us the security that we wanted and essentially need.
After some research of brands we settled on Sport Dog Brand. One of the biggest reasons is they have a unit capable of 100acres. Another thing they do is rechargeable collars that are also waterproof. I also needed something that can grow with us as a farm. This fence you can add on as many collars as you need to. In the future we plan to add livestock guardian dogs. These LGDs will need this fence as a backup to the field fence. One of the things that a LGDs have is a mind of their own. They are trained to stay with the livestock. This free will, and or ability to think on their feet is what makes them good at their job. It can also keep them wanting more to do or more space to roam. Most LGD breeds can be escape artist. They can get into trouble while exploring beyond their territory. To prevent this many farm owners put this extra layer of fence up to prevent digging under or climbing over the traditional farm fencing.
We tried to get some LGDs. we adopted 2 brothers from another farmer who was looking to downsize. They were suppose to be fully trained to goats, cattle, and chickens. Well boy did we get screwed on that deal. We gave it a good 6 month go at retraining and keeping them. They were super nice dogs, good with kids, good with other dogs. But they attacked the pigs. like took large bites out of them. Not only that but they taught our house dogs to do this too. but again we changed every boundaries and tried further retraining. Ultimately they escaped the fence one last time and one of the dogs was shot by one of our neighbors. Long story short they were surrendered to a rescue. It was quite the expensive learning moment. We are regrouping and moving forward. we are continuing fence repairs and adding more layers of security. one day we will try again, but not now our hearts are still healing.
