Canadapets - Radio FenceŽ Training tips

All Radio FenceŽ Products carry a Lifetime Warranty.

If your dog starts to test his Radio Fence^Ž boundary or has accidentally managed to run through the system, their may be a few simple trouble shooting steps to solve your problem:

1 ) Check your Batteries in the receiver unit - when the batteries are low or need replacing, they may not have sufficient power left to consistently pick up the boundary signal. Use the tester that came with your system to ensure the collar is actually correcting ( LED will light up ).

2 ) Ensure the collars Contact Probes are touching your pets skin. If the collar is too loose or you have the wrong size probes on the collar ( long & short were supplied with your system ) - your pet will not feel the correction at all. One finger width should be the gap between the collar and your pets neck. In some breeds, it may be necessary to trim the immediate area a little for the probes to touch. the bottom line on this one is very simple - if the probes do not or cannot touch the skin, the collar cannot work.

3 ) Check that the range dial on your transmitter for the boundary zone is not set too low. Your boundary zone needs to be sufficient enough to deter your pet from venturing into or near the area - this allows the collar to step up between the "low" warning beeps to the "high" warning beeps and then finally correction mode if necessary. If set too low, the collar may not have a chance to step up - we recommend a minimum of 6-8 feet back from the buried wire ( collar should beep at this distance ). If you have a larger property or a more stubborn dog, this zone should be doubled.

4 ) An old collar such as PG-250 or RF-250 receiver collar ( 6-volt alkaline battery ), generally is the problem. This collar has been replaced with far better technology - we would strongly advise replacement with a new UL-275 or RF-275 receiver. All of our collars are fully waterproof and carry a manufacturers Lifetime Warranty.

5 ) Training: There is absolutely NO reason that your pet should be receiving a correction on a regular basis. The whole method behind Training your pet is to teach them to recognize the audible warning tones from the receiver collar as they near their hidden boundary. They should recognize and heed this warning. If they do not and all other parts of the system have been tested and proven to be working correctly, then you should repeat the training phase one-on-one with your pet for a few days to a week ( with absolutely no distractions ) as obviously, your pet has not understood the lesson. Training can be broken down into 3 simple steps : Recognize - Reinforce - Repeat
Recognize your boundary zone by the boundary flags and the audible warning from the collar
Reinforce this with voice commands and lots of praise when your pet shows he is learning
Repeat - simply put, dogs learn very well through repetition (realize some may learn faster than others).

If these simple steps have all been done and you are still experiencing a problem, the following retraining options have proven to be very effective:

Tie-out Training
48 Hour Crash Course
Field Fluctuation
Stubborn Dog Receiver Collar

Tie-out Training - First, make sure the probes are making good contact with the skin, without good contact with the skin, the dog will not feel the correction. Also, make sure the battery is at full strength. Once a battery loses half its' voltage, the receiver will no longer correct properly. If the receiver is working properly, try the following training suggestion.

Try using a tie-out that has enough rope to allow your dog to get the correction area but no farther. Once your dog reaches this area, there is no choice but to come back into the yard. Let him out on the tie out for the next several days. At some point a distraction will tempt him to leave the yard and he will receive a correction and have no choice but to return to the yard. This should get your dog trained to the boundary even when distractions are present.

If this training fails to contain your dog, you will need to order the Stubborn Dog Receiver - the RF-275. You can order directly online by Clicking here or by calling 1-888-792-PETS (7387).

48 Hour Crash Course - The following training procedure is recommended for use with any Radio Fence^Ž Pet Containment System. Keep in mind that the key to the success of a Radio Fence^Ž Pet Containment System is the training your pet receives. The strength of the correction alone will not keep your pet within their boundary.

Set aside 48 hours ( most people will pick a weekend ), and dedicate it to training your pet. It is important to have as little disruption as possible during this training session.

On an hourly basis, take your pet on a leash out towards your boundary ( with flags installed ). Let him wander on his own will into the edge of the boundary, just far enough that he can hear the beep of his receiver collar. As soon as that happens, pull sharply on his leash and bring him well back inside his safe zone. Once he is there, command him to "Sit" and "Stay" and give him praise or a treat. Repeat this step along different points along your boundary during each hourly session. If possible, do this training with a distraction present on the other side of the flags. Distractions can be anything that might normally occur in your particular yard that might tempt him to cross the boundary: children or other family members playing, other dogs or cats, a friend of family member walking down your sidewalk, etc. It is OK for the people participating as your "distraction" to pay attention to the dog, but they must not give him any commands such as "Come!" or "Here!" or even calling his name. This would only confuse him in the future.

When you are not actively training your pet during this 48 hours, you MUST keep him either inside your home or confined on a leash that is not long enough to allow him near the boundary. This rule must NOT be broken! If he gets loose even once you are back to square one!

Towards the end of your 48 hours, give your dog the following test to see if he is learning:

As you allow him to get near the point in your boundary where you would normally pull him back...don't. See if he starts to turn around on his own. If he does, you know he is starting to learn the routine. Don't let this be an indication for you to discontinue training. Continue for the entire two-day period. The dog must be pulled out of the boundary at least 50 times for this to work well.

Field Fluctuation - During the training process, make your boundary wider than your normal setting. Be sure to always pull your dog back as soon as his collar begins to beep (regardless of how close he is to your "normal" boundary). This will help your dog understand that the "beep" means turn around and come back towards the house. NOTE: Do not make the boundary narrower than your normal setting.

Stubborn Dog Receiver Collar - We manufacture a specially made "Stubborn Dog" collar for hard to train dogs. It produces approximately three and half times the amount of shock as the standard receivers. Very few pets require them, however we have found that on hard-to-train dogs such as Huskies, Rottweilers etc. it can help as long as it is used in conjunction with retraining the dog. For more information call our customer service department at 1-888-792-7387. NOTE: Use of a Stubborn Dog collar is most effective when combined with the 48 Hour Crash Course.

Need more information or would you like to talk to a real person?
Please feel free to E-Mail us or Order by Phone 888.792.PETS (7387)