Just received a press release from the KC and I LOVE it. The KC went to the Labour party conference and let people try out electric shock collars on their arms to see what it was like. There's several comments from what people thought about it, and how it FELT. (Painful!) I'm sure the whole thing will be in the dog papers this week.

Great stuff, you know I never really think about the KC doing positive things like this to actually help dogs! I'm very happy to review my thoughts on them though, hope it does actually help to bring about some sort of legislation :)

I'm so glad!  (and I do hope our closet shock collar users - you know who you are :rolleyes:) read this!

Margot

Are they the same fools that argued with me when I told them that I thought they were cruel?? Unbelievable that people can think they're ok!!!:rolleyes: About time the KC did something positive! All the best, Dawn

Fantastic! I think anyone who thinks about using one of these should put it around their own neck and zap themselves with the strongest setting. If they don't kill themselves hopefully it would make them think better about using it on their dog.

I'll look forward to reading/hearing more about this Marianne :)

Users of the collars however, as we know, always have some excuse - I believe the excuse  previously used for when a KC person tried one was "it was the wrong make/brand/type" or very commonly "the wrong level, we don't use it at that level" :rolleyes:

In the US it's quite popular to use TWO on Malinois...... Sick, sick, sick. Pathetic excuses.

TWO??? I can't even understand one but two - why????

I am definitely ANTI  shock dog collars, but a couple of years ago i used to walk with a guy who had absolutely no control over his dog regarding recall, it was a large GSD who just used to run over to every dog, although it was not vicious, other dogs were alarmed at seeing coming to them as obviously were the owners, I would like to add this was down to the owner not the dog, just lack of training, however to my horror I was out walking one day and was shocked to see he had resorted to one of these electronic collars, I noticed that his  dog didnt come running over. He said he had been using it for about 3 days and it had worked wonders, had stopped the running off completely.  The dog still had the collar on just as a deterrent but it was not being used.  The strange thing was after a couple of weeks of wearing this collar the dog would not go out without it,,he used to have to drag him out of the door, if he put the collar on it was all exctied, needless to say after a coupe of weeks fortunately he got the dog out of the habit.

I live on a private estate which regulates fence height.   I cannot install a fence that is high enough to contain my dogs - and they are Cairn terriers.  The boundary fence has to be four foot chain link - period.   Rudi can just about jump it, but he has no problem climbing it.  I cannot have any fencing in the front of my property whatsoever.  The fences are not visible because everyone grows hedging or some kind of boundary shrubbery which obscures it. 

I have a large garden which I want my dogs to be able to enjoy, which they do.  I use a Freedom Fence, which of course uses a shock collar.  The dog gets a warning sound and if it ignores the sound and crosses the boundary it's shocked.   Since I've installed this there are now spray collars available, however, given dogs sense of smell is many more times more acute than ours, I don't think a noxious spray any kinder.  I have tried the shock collar on my own arm and the sensation is like a sting and startling to experience. The dogs know what the warning beep means so they don't cross the boundary, they stay in the garden, and they do not get shocked.  They are not allowed in the garden when no one is home and they are confined to the back garden and don't have access to the front garden which is open to the street. They enjoy the garden and I enjoy the fact that my dogs are not going to run into the road and get hit by a car, or leave my garden and get lost or stolen.

I've never had to use this before, I always lived somewhere where I could install proper, dog proof fencing.  I don't like the Freedom Fence, but I like the idea of restricting my dogs even less.  They get a lot of exercise in the garden, running after various critters, and there is no way they could experience that freedom any other way. Of course they are walked every day and exercised outside of my garden as well, but that's no substitute for the amount of freedom they have now.  I have dogs flaps installed in the rear door to my house and if they spy something in the garden worth chasing/barking at they are out of the flaps and into the garden at top speed.

Do I feel good about using the Freedom Fence or would I use it if there were any other alternative, no.  Would I ever use a shock collar for basic dog training, no.  Would I use it if all other training methods had failed to correct a behaviour that was potentially dangerous to my dog, to other dogs, other animals or people. Yes, of course.  I would rather my dog was given the chance to correct a dangerous behaviour than rehome it (where the same might be repeated), keep it a prisoner, or have to face the prospect of putting the dog down.  However, the shock collar would be a last resort.

Stacey

Someone I know used a shock collar on her GSD. The first time she used it the dog ran back in home frightened.The second time the dog took off in fright in the opposite direction down to the road.She was missing for a while.So waste of time as there was no control with the dog anyway.

There's an excellent article somewhere regarding the use of invisible fence system, written by a US behaviourist - she has seen so many problems with this system, including dogs becoming seriously human and dog aggressive on their boundary due to associating the passers by with the shock/stimulus. Gwen Bailey, a UK behaviourist, has seen problems caused by this, including one dog who was too afraid to go into his own garden for a long time. I accept some dogs and owners may not experience problems, however I hope it never becomes an acceptable solution over here.

I know of one dog, a great dane, who was killed due to his owner using this system -I believe she forgot to either put the collar on one day, or forgot to check the battery. Dog ran off and was run over by a car :( 

They also don't prevent dog thieves, or other (perhaps aggressive) dogs coming onto the land ...and dogs can overcome the shock/stim to chase something and then find they can't get back into their own garden. My main fear to be honest would be dog thieves, and for that reason alone,  I'd prefer to keep my dog in sight and behind a fence at all times.  

I can't beleive you would admit to using a shock tactic! You can still use an 'overhang' on the fence that will confine a dog and stop him climbing, even at a small height they work as no dog can climb upside down!

Sorry Cairnmania, I can't bare stories like this. It does not need to be done this way.

I understand your fear of your dogs getting loose and you wanting them to enjoy your garden, but it is not a necessity for a dog to have a run in a garden, that is more a pleasure that you are enjoying watching them out there.

Look at all the people, who live in flats and have small dogs, (some even large) my grandfather one of them, he had three Jack Russells, lived in a flat and he and his dogs enjoyed wonderful country walks every day and then spent the rest of the day in his flat, they did not miss out on running around a garden at home too. His dogs were happy, healthy and very content.  As long as your dogs have good exercise everyday, why do they need to go in the garden aswell. My girl wants to sit in the house after our walks and very rarely goes in the garden, unless to keep me company out there. If it is not safe then they don't need to be there, I would rather give them a nice walk with me a couple of times a day and then have them indoors with me if the garden was not safe, I certainly would see no need in a freedom fence and a zap of my dogs every now and then, that's not love it's control, there is no need for it at all.

If you can walk your dogs, give them good exercise, then give them a loving home to come home to thatis what makes a dog very happy, I'm sure if they could talk, they would tell you that too.

Stacey - if you lived in the US, I could believe this - but you live in Surrey!!!   Sorry - just don't buy it!   If you have to have dog flaps into the garden which your cairns will dive through when they see "critters" (what critters - cats?  squirrels?) - then train your dogs NOT TO!   Or build then a run in the garden - via their dog flaps.   That way, THEY will be safe from anyone who might come in an otherwise "open" garden and steal them.

Margot

How could a CAIRN jump or CLIMB 4 foot chain link anyway? I used to have 4 foot chainlink in my former garden -first on one side only, then I also fenced off the bottom part to keep it dog free, as a play area for the kids. None of my dogs managed to get over -Goldens, Cavaliers, not even the Border Collies I had. Sure the big ones COULD have jumped but they were taught NOT to. The Cavaliers it was much too high for.

In a training book I have it says that the scale jump (in working tests) for dogs of 10" or less is 3 foot; for dogs not exceeding 15" it's 4 foot and for dogs over 15" it's 6 foot. Cairns should be 11"-12" so would come in the middle section, and a 4 foot fence shouldn't be a problem for them to jump if they haven't been trained not to.  It'd certainly be enough to keep my dogs confined because they've never been encouraged to jump.

A secure run, however, is far safer for the dogs than an unreliable (there are so many ways they can fail, apart from their total lack of protection from intruders) 'invisible' fence.

Absolutely agree with you Margot - if the littluns can't be trained not to dash through the flap, then a dog run should be installed to contain them.  And I'm in the same position, or will be soon - in a month I'm moving to a house with a 3' picket fence boundary, with two dogs that cannot be trained not to thunder through the dogflap at the slightest hint of something small and furry, so I'm having a 6' high dog run (with roof) installed as soon as I'm moved in.

The alternative is not to have a dog flap, and only let them in the garden supervised - but of course this depends on the situation.  I'll be in full time work so my dogs need garden access to relieve themselves, hence the run; but if an owner is home often enough to let the dogs out to toilet, then a dogflap isn't necessary IMO.

I'm not advocating shock collars or static containment systems, like Freedom Fence, or Invisible Fence, or whatever the brand.  It is the only solution to giving my dogs the amount of freedom that I believe they need and for me (and two happy dogs) it has worked well.  Maybe Surrey is a hot bed of these systems, but several of my neighbors use them, for exactly the same reason as I do. In answer to some of your comments:

Critters in my garden include: frogs, toads, birds, mice, rats, foxes, squirrels and badgers.  No rabbits, they were around one year and disappeared, probably thanks to a fox.  The only cat that visits keeps to the front garden, it likes the way the gravel path heats up in the sun. 

I like the fact that my dogs can zoom (or walk) out of the dogs flaps, I don't see it as a problem.  In fact, the dog flap to the outside exits into an enclosed tarmacked area created by the back of my house, the front of my husband's workshop, a high (8 feet?) decorative concrete wall, and a decorative iron scrollwork gate/door that leads into the garden (six feet). At the top of the gate is the top of a concrete wall, so it cannot be scaled. If I don't want my dogs in the garden, I keep the gate closed.

My dogs do not have access to the front garden. Unless they are looking out the front window of my house, they are not visible to people passing on the street.  Someone is always at home because I work at home and my husband is retired.  My dogs have never been left alone for more than three hours, and then they are confined to the house.  Unfortunately, no type of fencing deters thieves, neither do owners at the end of leads these days.  Cairns are small dogs and they can be happy living in flats with a few walks a day, but that does not mean it's the ideal situation for them.  I want my dogs to have free access to my garden (under my terms) because they enjoy it, not because I enjoy it.  It offers opportunities for mental stimulation and exercise that are not possible confined to a dog run or kennel or house.  They also get walked every day. 

One of my dogs would not even attempt to scale or climb a four foot fence, if I only had that one dog I'd install some form of dig-proof barrier at the base of the fence and be done with it.  My other dog is incredibly athletic (and taller than 12" at the shoulders) and not only can he scale four feet with the right amount of speed and motivation, but climbing chain link is a doddle for him.   On a four foot fence, an overhang would only serve as a landing platform for him.  

Both dogs adjusted to the Freedom fence without a problem and with no trauma.  I am personally aware of problems with this type of fencing.  Not about psychological trauma, but about dogs that don't care about the shock and ignore it. It takes weeks to train a dog to this type of system, and before everyone reacts, the weeks are to teach the dogs where the boundaries are first with a visible indicator (small flags), then adding the warning sound only from the collar the dog is trained to move back away from the boundary as soon as it hears the warning beep. Only when it's clear that the dog has learned the boundaries is it allowed to experience a shock and for most dogs one experience is all that is needed. It is startling and unpleasant enough so that it reinforces what the dog has already learned.   When I tested the collar on myself, even though I knew what would happen it was very startling.  It's not nice, I felt horrible about it, but I would feel even worse about the alternative. Both my dogs reacted to the shock by moving back from the boundary and then carried on as if nothing had happened.  All this is done on a long lead and when the owner is confident the dog has been fully trained the dog is allowed off lead, supervised at first.  If the dog isn't properly trained, and people expect a dog to figure this all out themselves, then I have no doubt that there could be problems.

I respect that people have strong views about these systems.  On balance several weeks of training and one small shock has been well worth the return in the quality of my dogs' lives. 

I'm surprised - I do have friends living in "stockbroker belt" Surrey as well as the more rural enclaves - and no one of my acquaintence uses these fences - as I understand it unless you have 60' plus all around, the dog is likely to be "shocked" all the time - and those friends who do live in houses with 60' plus all around do certainly have well-fenced estates :)

In fact, in view of what you say about where your dog flaps exeant - I would think that you are wasting your money in paying for a boundary shock fence - they are already secure!

Margot

Margot,

The gardens in my estate are minimum of 1/2 acre.   It's a relatively small estate in a conservation area managed by a residents association, all the roads and verges on the street are collectively owned by the residents.  It's not rural, it's suburban. 

There are two types of dogs in my estate, the dogs that frequently get out of their gardens and wander the roads.   The dogs that stay in their gardens because the four foot chain link suffices to confine them and those people like me who need to use the invisible fencing as a deterrant.

As others have said dogs don't really need their gardens for exercise, some don't even bother with them when they are freely available.  If I was in your situation I would either use an enclosed area for toileting or supervision when in the garden.  Like the others,, I think the fence overhang would prevent a climber and I really can't see a small dog being able to clear, what amounts to 4 foot and a spread without the ability to touch foot this side of it.  If he is such a remarkable springing dog other options such as a second line of fencing prevent a run at it could also be explored, certainly electric shock would not figure on my list of options anywhere.  I have had terriers and I would never put it past them not to stoically charge through if something really stimulated them into chase mode.

>Critters in my garden include: frogs, toads, birds, mice, rats, foxes, squirrels and badgers.

You are of course aware that badgers are protected animals and it's an offence to allow your dogs to harass them, and it's now also illegal to allow your dogs to chase foxes and mice? You'd be very sensible to prevent your dogs doing this by restraining their access to your garden if you can't fence it securely to keep these animals out.

Jeangenie,

My dogs don't harrass badgers. Badgers are nocturnal animals and have acute hearing and senses of smell.  As soon as it turns dark I shut the gate to my garden and when I let them out at night I always make enough noise first so anything in the garden has more than enough warning. I also stay in the garden with them. Badgers are only in the garden at night, although I've never seen them. I've heard one once, but that's been it.  It does explain the large patches of torn up turf get in my lawn sometimes though. In fact, I didn't even know they were around until my neighbor mentioned he saw one in my driveway a few weeks ago and that he's seen them in his garden for years.   (He has floodlights that go on with movement, so the badgers light up his garden.)

My dogs rarely see a fox, if they do its their rear end going over the fence.  The dogs however often pick up the scent of what must be fox or badger in the garden, which is more than enough stimulation for them.  I've had to clean up enough fox scat to know that they are frequent visitors.

Please show me where it's an offense for a domestic animal to chase fox or mice or other vermin, of their own accord.   If chasing mice was illegal, does it also refer to cats?   I'd really like to meet anyone that keeps their dog - or cat - restrained so that rabbits, mice and other vermin are safe.  That's just plain silly, not sensible.  And who do you know that secures their garden to prevent mice entering?  Foxes and the rest are now a natural part of suburban life and the idea that someone would barracade their garden to keep them out is equally silly, and most likely futile. 

>I'd really like to meet anyone that keeps their dog - or cat - restrained so that rabbits, mice and other vermin are safe.<

Same here :rolleyes: If something ventures into my garden it does so at it's own peril,not that my dogs have ever hunted down an animal,lettalone killed one,and there is no way on earth i would stop my dogs chasing a mouse :p Had no idea it was illegal to do so...surely they arent endangered ;)

Cairnmania, you said:

>They get a lot of exercise in the garden, running after various critters

When asked what sort of 'critters' you included foxes and badgers. Now you say your dogs don't chase them. It's very difficult to understand the situation when the given facts keep changing! ;)

>Please show me where it's an offense for a domestic animal to chase fox or mice or other vermin, of their own accord.   If chasing mice was illegal, does it also refer to cats?

You haven't heard of the Hunting With Dogs Act? Allowing your dog to chase a fox or hunt a mouse (rats yes, mice no :rolleyes: ) is now illegal. It's legal to allow them to chase rabbits, but not hares. And no, cats aren't included in the legislation - it's not called the Hunting With Dogs Act for nothing! ;) :D

The Defra site includes the following:
"This may include the wilful failure to prevent dogs from chasing wild mammals."

Of course I've heard of the Hunting with Dogs Act. So how then are hunts still going on and some hunts are starting to breed litters of hunting dogs again?  I don't know the finer points of the Hunting Act, but from what I see in the news some hunts are continuing and they are using dogs.

The link I posted will help you understand. Drag hunting (using a whole pack to follow a specially-laid trail) is legal. Using hounds to flush out foxes to be shot is legal. It seems that you are one of the many people who thought the law would only apply to 'proper' organised hunts, rather than affecting them and their pet dogs.

Read it, the Q&A section is interesting.   Many of the Q&A are geared toward clearing up what would happen if someone was trying to circumvent the Act by pretending that their dogs "accidently" chased an animal. Which is why I assume the last sentence below was carefully worded to say that, "this MAY include the wilful failure to prevent dogs from chasing wild animals."  The Act clearly does not apply to a dog that chases or even catches a mouse in their garden or a fox or whatever.

"The Act deliberately does not define hunting with dogs because the term should be understood in its ordinary English meaning, which includes using dogs to search for wild mammals, chase them, or pursue them with the intention of catching or killing them. The deliberate use of dogs to chase a wild mammal, even if there is no intention of catching it, is hunting and as such is prohibited by the Act. This may include the wilful failure to prevent dogs from chasing wild mammals. "

>which includes using dogs to search for wild mammals, chase them, or pursue them with the intention of catching or killing them.

Exactly. Allowing your dog to run out of the house to chase a wild mammal could be construed as 'hunting'.

>Please show me where it's an offense for a domestic animal to chase fox or mice or other vermin, of their own accord.<

The Hunting With Dogs Act. Dogs can chase  rats and rabbits but not hares, foxes or mice.

Can you please tell me exactly where you live so if I get a prospective puppy buyer I will know there might be an electric fence control system in use.

Polly,

I am sure you are more than capable of screening puppy buyers. 

In fact, my second dog I acquired when he was 18 months old.   One of the first things I told his breeder was that I used the fencing.  She visited me and my husband and my other dog before she agreed to let me have him.  And both she and the breeder of my other dog have visited my house a number of times. Both are well respect breeders that care for the dogs that they breed well beyond puppyhood, and both are happy that the dogs they bred are in good hands and leading happy lives.

On a four foot fence, an overhang would only serve as a landing platform for him.  

The overhang is at an angle, the point being that the dog would have to move backwards, up and over, not just up and over, and the overhang isnt' level, it's at about 45 degrees to the ground...

Fencing may not completely prevent a thief taking a dog, but it does mean more protection than an invisible fence.

I think people have different ideas as to what dogs need - you obviously feel your dogs have a good quality of life with so much freedom. I have a BSD who needs a lot of exercise, but she actually spends very little time in the garden on her own - she is either on a walk, being trained (possibly in the garden) or in the house. She enjoys being inside with us. I don't believe that any dog needs what you have given your dogs although obviously we will need to agree to disagree on this one.

Lindsay
x

I've just found a related link:

http://www.dogworld.co.uk/node/408?PHPSESSID=5751b05bc06330b7ae9e77913147d425

Note the mention at the bottom of the article about the new "wireless crate" and "electric lead" :rolleyes:

Lindsay
x

Lindsay,

Thanks for the link, I believe the debate has gone on now for several years.  If electric collars were banned for the invisible fencing, I'd switch to the type of collar that emits the spray if necessary.   The fact is neither of my dogs have had a shock of any kind for years and what keeps them in the boundary is first knowing where it is because they were trained and every once in a while the warning sound.

Hi Lindsay,

On the fencing, the type of overhang you describe works reasonably well on a fence that by itself is too high for dogs to jump except in extreme circumstances (e.g. with an extremely atheletic and determined dog).  Four feet, even with an overhand, pointed in any direction, simply does not work on a four foot fence with a dog that can not only scale the fence, but can climb chain link.  

My dogs are well protected in the backgarden, which is why they are not allowed in the front garden, because there is no solid (the four foot chain link) fencing along the front of the property. 

We do have different ideas about what dogs need.  Lots of people post here that they are working all day and leave their dogs alone.  They say it works for them and their dogs, I'm not going to argue with them.  It's not something I find acceptable.   I don't have large, active dogs because I don't believe I can provide them with amount of exercise and stimulation they need.  My dogs also love being in the house, it's where they spend most of their time. 

I cannot give the dogs the amount of lead and off lead exercise that many people here do.  It's one of the reasons that I chose Cairns, rather that larger and/or more active dogs.  I have a garden that's large enough to compensate for it and despite the stupid regulations I have to live by with regard to fencing, have found an alternative. 

Stacey, the overhang on a fence will keep a cat confined to a garden, so should be perfectly adequate to keep a dog in. Obviously the sloping part of the fence slopes upwards and inwards. Your dog may well be able to climb vertical chainlink fencing (I've seen it happen so know it's easily possible) but I guarantee it won't be able to negotiate an inward slope of about a foot at the top. It's the system used to stop humans climbing fences, after all!

Jeangenie,

I know how the fences work, but the overhang is not going to be effective unless the fence is of sufficient height.

Stacey

I've yet to see a dog able to climb upside down, which is what would be required.

Stacey, I'm not sure if you understand the principle of the overhang? As JG says, it would require the dog climbing upside down for it to get over...the overhang is sloping upwards too, not downwards...

Lindsay
x

I understand the principal Lindsay.  It does not work if the fence is too low to begin with - it's a failsafe for a fence that is already at the right height and a deterant to climbers.  If the overhang is like a U shape so it slopes down and then up then Rudi could still get over it because he can leap over the top of a four foot barrier.   I've seen him do it.

I'm confused now ... as the overhang I'm thinking of isn't a U shape ...

If you imagine a Y shape, with the right hand of the Y cut off, and the dog on the left hand of the Y, that is what I and others are thinking of :)

The overhang can be quite small or much bigger. I honestly can't see a dog getting over it unless he could literally jump the height and if he had great scope too...is this what you mean?

Lindsay
x

Yes, you're right, when I've seen it recently it has been more like a Y with the right arm cut off.  And the times I've seen it it's been in place to keep people out (or in) an area - usually with barbed wire strung along the edge of the left hand arm of the Y for good measure.  

The problem is that Rudi can literally jump the height and he does not need great scope once he's over the top edge.

I appreciate the time you've taken to help, btw.

Stacey surely the freedom fence works the same way as with a horse and an electric fence once you have walked the horse over and shocked it the horse knows what to do and doesn't do it again?  Maybe a necesary evil my Mum had Cairns they were a bit like superman leap tall obstacles in a single bound and crawl through the smallest hole she has a rescue westie now who is a little bit heavy she is full of beans but only escapes when the door is left wide open :rolleyes:

Hi Cindyloos Mum,

The invisible type fencing is different then the type of the electric fencing used to contain livestock.   The fencing for horses or cattle has an electric current running through it at all times.  The invisible type fencing has no electric current running through it at all, it's just a very thin coated wire which transmits digital radio waves. The collar the dog wears has a battery in it which is activated (switches on, like you would a torch I supppose) when it gets close enough to the signal created by the radio waves. So you can cut the transmitter wire with scissors, chew on it, place in under water, do whatever you want to do with it and there's no shock and no harm.  There is no physical barrier as such for the dog to see, which is why the training involves teaching them the "invisible" boundary and in effect the warning beep on the collar takes the place of a physical reminder.

And yes, my dogs did learn with one shock that if they ignore the warning beep and continue toward the boundary they would get shocked. 

Trouble is if the dog does get out it then gets punished for trying to get back & of course doesn't stop other dogs getting in(or people).

From their site

When the pet comes within the signal range (adjustable from 2m/6ft to over 5m/15ft) , he hears a continuous warning beep from the receiver which he must learn to obey.

If he ignores the warning - as he may just a few times at the beginning - he receives a correction similar to the static electricity sometimes experienced from a car door or lift button.

The correction doesn't harm him at all, but it startles him and he doesn't want to repeat the experience.

Most pets are trained within a week or so, and everyone can then begin to enjoy the benefits of the Freedom Fence(TM)

So the dogs can't be less than 6 feet from the fence before getting zapped ! & there are a lot of assumptions in there like the dog learning within a week or so & if they are males & an attractive in season bitch is around(can affect castrated dogs)then the training learning goes out of the window & they will go through the barrier & as happened in one case never seen again as the dog couldn't get back without being punished

Sorry I'm with the locked enclosed run people

Moonmaiden,

Agree absolutely that a physical barrier is the best, without question.  Not foolproof as long as there are gates and people that open and close them, but nothing is completely foolproof.  Unfortunately I don't have the option of installing a proper physical barrier if I want my dogs to have access to my garden, which I do.  One of the dogs on my estate continually ends up at the local police station because of exactly the problem you mentioned.  He's a huge Bernese Mountain dog and when there's a bitch in season he literally pushes the chain link out of his way and he's off.  Apparently he can't or does not want to jump the four feet, but he can use brute strength to push it down low enough our out of the way.

Not sure why you think the signal range is relevant, in most situations where this so-called fencing is installed there's no physical barrier at all.  It's a wire much thinner than an electric wire that in most cases is laid on the ground. The signal range is only relevant in that this system cannot be used in a small garden. 

Not sure why you think the signal range is relevant, in most situations where this so-called fencing is installed there's no physical barrier at all.  It's a wire much thinner than an electric wire that in most cases is laid on the ground. The signal range is only relevant in that this system cannot be used in a small garden.

This example another dog without the shock collar show friendly greeting to dog wearing shock collar through the fence-dog wearing the collar gets shock because it goes towards fence to greet in  friendly manner-result dog associated getting zapped not with the fence but with greeting the other dog

Believe me if your dogs do get out they will not want to return & BTW I have a feeling that all collars that emit a shock will be banned & that includes yours

Ok i have been reading this post for a while. I don't usually get confrontational but I just have to say my piece.
Firstly I think it is absolutely awful that you are using a shock collar in the first place. But if that is not bad enought you are making excuses for your dogs "needing" to wear it. I just can't see why anyone would want to hurt there dogs (even if the shock hasn't been emitted recently, you still did it in the first place). Some people do it out of ignorance to what other things there are that can be used. But instead you do it for conveinience to your self.

Ok rant over. Sorry but it is something that I could never consider and I am apauled that a "Dog lover" could even consider using one.

Anna I don't think Stacey likes the idea of using the collar but it is a necessary evil to keep her dogs safe when she is unable to keep her dogs in using a physical boundary by my Mums there is a beautiful french bulldog all black his owners find it convenient to allow it to roam around the nieghbourhood instead of using anything to keep it in its garden he is all black and we have nearly hit him several times in the car. Other people are really horrible and aggresive to him as they mistake his snuffling for growling but his owners won't keep him in Stacey is trying to keep her dogs in and safe she doesn't like the collars and i am sure she would listen if you had any ideas of how else to keep her dogs in.