Those a-holes over at the H.O.A. are insisting that I take down my rabbit fencing (18″ high galvanized mesh) that keeps Vinnie in the backyard and keeps the friggin’ rabbits from eating my ice plant.
Sumbitches want me to put in an 18″ metal fence that matches the 5’ metal fencing that surrounds the yard. It’s a several-thousand-dollar, long-term fix for a short-term problem. Who elected these boneheads?
In an act of defiance, I bought an invisible fence online for $200. It is a buried electrical line that sends out a signal to a collar attached to poor Vinnie’s neck. There is a warning beep if he gets too close and a shock if he ventures into the “no man’s land’.
Of course, I had to check it out to see if it worked. Oh, yeah, it WORKED, just about knocking me to the ground.
I had the “intensity” setting at 5 out of 5: big mistake. So, I dialed it back to 3 and put the collar on poor, unsuspecting Vinnie.
I held him in my arms and we approached the boundary area. When we were ten feet from the buried wire, I heard the beep warning and then, much sooner than I thought, poor Vinnie got shocked. He yelped and we got the Hell out of there.
I have dialed the system back a bit but it’s probably unnecessary: Vinnie won’t go anywhere near the backyard gate or the metal fence itself. I’ve even thrown his favorite elk bone into the invisible “correction area” and Vinnie won’t go anywhere near it. He’s no Dummy: he got the message loud and clear.
I’ve taken down the rabbit fencing near the adjacent street (where the temptations arise, like people walking dogs, and Vinnie stays put on his lawn.
I’m so proud of him.
I think we will keep this regime in place for a month to make sure that there’s no backsliding. We’ve never had a problem with dogs exiting the yard through the fence and I’m sure that Vinnie is a smart as they were/are. He’s got a Paradise; why should he leave?
We are absolutely in love with our man dog. He’s a perfect fit with the other two dogs and is very loving toward us. We would hate to have him wander off; it would crush us.
If everyone does his/her part in this training program, we will turn the switch off by the end of April.