DogWatch Dog Story: Vinnie
Vinnie the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel puppy is a mild, sweet guy from Eden Prairie. When his parents got him, they had raised their kids and accomplished many things, but they had NEVER had a dog. Not even when they were kids. So they were a little nervous and wanted any help they could get.
They took a puppy class at PetSmart where they heard about DogWatch of the Twin Cities. They liked the fact that a dog fence would allow them to spend time outside with Vinnie without a leash and without a physical fence. They wanted some help decided where and how to install the hidden fence. “Should we cover the whole yard? Do an hourglass shape with the wire so Vinnie can be in the front yard or back yard, but can’t travel between the two?”
With some consideration and advice, we at DogWatch ended up giving Vinnie access to the front yard, back yard, and one large side yard. But the skinny side yard with hostas was off limits – we used the wire to cut off Vinnie from causing any trouble.
Vinnie is a little sensitive and nervous, so we started training him on a beep-only function. He didn’t receive a correction from his DogWatch collar until day 2 of training when he had done a few laps around the yard and started learning about his boundary. After 4 days and slowly increasing the shock level, Vinnie learned where he couldn’t go, but he also learned where he COULD go! He was afraid to get too close to the flags, but he wasn’t afraid to chase a ball in the front yard or sniff around the trees in the back yard.
We love working with unique dogs like Vinnie and unique dog people like his parents. We can help find the most effective ways to contain dogs and make dog owners’ lives easier.
