Do underground fences work?  

I've never had one myself, but lots of people do. I'm not sure about the cost... but maybe you could see if it would be cheaper to get just a regular fence to keep the dog in your yard... that would benefit the kids as well.

I once visited someone with a dog shortly after they'd installed their electric fence, and they were working on training the dog to obey the fence. So it's not just as easy as getting the fence, I believe they said they had to walk the dog around the inside perimeter everyday so he'd learn his boundaries.

they are very worth it...and the dogs get a beepingn warning first then if they move closer to the fence line they will get zapped...Or at least thats how ours works...Your dog being a lab is in your benefit too since they are very trainable dogs...Mine are too due to them being Shepard (the male) and Lab (the female) but they are also very headstrong and stubborn (the Chow in them)..none the less though, the electric fence works very well..

Hi Ravinskye,

I just finished installing an uderground fence. I can only speak for myself because I don't know how other people's fences have worked for them. Mine was about $200 and came with the 500' of wire that goes in the ground, the "correction" collar, and flags to put in the ground. The flags give the dog a visual reference during the training stage. It took me and my uncle about 2 hours to get everything installed and working.

As for the effectiveness, we've had it installed for about 2 weeks now, and our dog hasn't gotten out of the yard. As a matter of fact, he won't even go within' 20 feet of the boundary wire. It has 3 warning levels before it actually shocks the dog and you can adjust the distance of the warning area before it shocks. For example, you can set it on 10ft warning area. If the dog goes within 10 ft of the fence boundary, he will hear a warning tone, it increases as he gets closer, then if he crosses it shocks him. Our dog has only been shocked twice, and that is all he needed. You can adjust the level of the shock depending on your dogs size and coat thickness. I accidently shocked my self shen I was testing it, and it was on medium, I quickly realized that medium would be plenty of juice for my dog, because it got my attention quickly:)

So overall, I'm pleased with my fence. Just make sure you read the directions and watch the traning video that comes with it. Don't just install and throw your dog out there and expect him to learn on his own, spend time with him and praise and re-enforce after he comes back from hearing the tone. He will quickly learn his boundary.

As for negatives, the worse thing about these types of fences are the possibility of another dog or animal coming into your yard. Beacuse these animals are not wearing a shock collar, they can come and go into your yard at will, which can tease the dog into leaving the boundary to chase them or play with them. We have a lot of squirels where I live, and I was worried that our dog would chase them out of the yard. If a dog gets out of the yard, then it will shock him when he tries to return which is counter-productive.

The only other down side is that you have to monitor the collar batteries very closely, they go dead pretty quick at first(because the dog is constantly testing his boundaries), and if not changed, he could leave the yard without any correction.

Thank you for posting this. We also have a lab puppy. Well, I guess he's a teenager now. He was dumped off in the country by someone and we took him in. So, were not totally sure on the age. Were guessing close to a year. We had thought about the underground fencing as well. But we also have an American Eskimo. I wonder if you have to buy 2 collars and how much more that would be? Would the zap be too much for the smaller Eskimo than it would be for the lab? I'm glad you posted this question. I will be following this to see what people say!

Thanks alot for posting this discussion. I have been curious also and have read all the responses and the advise and other information is very valuable! Great help to ME

I love pets ,I think it's worth to cost money on it.Small town still dangerous I can't understand,there got alot of cars as my place LA?LA is so dangerous about pets,And I wanna got my pet back to LA... OK.... if you wonder the fences work or not you'd better try,you know ,just do it...if you do that ,you will know the answer...

I always wondered how well they worked myself. My sister has a neighbor that has an underground electric fence and she said it doesn't work, somehow her dog figured out that if he runs fast enough across there he can get out, it may shock him for a second but I guess he figures its worth it..lol. So I'm not so sure they're worth it, you would probably be better off just building a fence around your yard so your pet will stay in and won't get run over or something.