In ground fencing and heavy snowload?

[NEWT]

For those that use the various brands of underground fencing do you notice any disruption of service when there is snow on the ground? Last winter we had about three feet of snow on the ground most of the time so if the systems fail during that time period I think it would be a waste of money for me. I've googled opinions on this but haven't come across any comments about this particular question.

Also, which brand is best: Pet Safe or Innotek? Or another?

Thanks!

[MistyBlue]

We had the buried wire fencing at our last house...even with 2' of snow and drifts on the ground it worked. (I'm in CT, it's very rare to have 3' on the ground, most often it's not more than a foot)
If the signal goes through ground, it goes through snow. :winkgrin: It still worked fine with my extremely large, tall and thick coated Malamute.
However, if you want a different option and don't plan on "fencing in" more than 1/2 acre or so, you can get a remote system instead of a wire system. A small unit sits in your house (or garage, barn, whatever) and is plugged in. Dog still wears collar with receiver. The unit sends out a radio signal for about 100' in all directions around it. (through walls too)
The difference is that instead of the dog crossing a wire and the wire sending a signal to zap the dogs...this system sends a constant signal to the collar so that it *doesn't* zap the dog. When the dog wanders out of the safety zone and can't receive the radio signal anymore, the collar zaps the dog. And another big difference is the collar keeps zapping the dog until it returns to the safety zone. This type works better for stubborn or excitable dogs. Some dogs will willingly take the single zap of a buried wire, some will get zapped and ignore it. Also a dog that crosses a wire can't come back without getting zapped. But the radio system will zap the dog in 1 or 2 second intervals continuously until the dog returns.
We bought that type when we moved to the farmette, I liked it better because a Malamute will take a single zap, mine was happily dealing with the zap a couple times a week to go walkabout or if he chased something. With the radio system he left the zone once. Once. Never again. :D
not to mention the Invisible Fence company charged us $1100 for .44 of an acre at our last house and the radio system cost $199 for the new house. :winkgrin:

[deltawave]

I have the radio one--it will continue to zap if the dog leaves the area, but not continuously. After either a period of time or distance from the controller, the collar goes dead.

[NEWT]

Misty Blue, I think you made me a believer in the wireless system.:D
Thanks for your great reply!