PetSafe Ultralight Pet Fence Receiver Collar

I got a puppy to replace a dog who died of old age and for company for our other dog. This created a fence problem. The new dog we got is a rescue doxie, and a digger. We have coyotes, so we had to do something other than tie him up each day. Our 2nd dog was forever going down into the hill and canyon area we live on. She was always covered in stickers and would go out and bark incessantly where we could not reach her whenever it was dark, night and day. But she never tried to dig out from the parameter fence. I was a nervous wreck trying this method. I installed it myself and it was not easy. The twisted wire thing is totally confusing. I could find zero good videos or direction on how to make that work. My handyman neighbor even came over to help me and he could not figure out. And he is fixing genius. So I ended up just running the wire under the eves on the side of the house I needed this fence to not shock. I am just running a basic square around my backyard property. Once I had it set up. I spent a week following the training and the dogs did not get it at all. They thought it was playtime, they grabbed and ran with the flags and it was stupid and frustrating. I finally decided to just turn the fence on. I had bought an extra collar, and one dog got shocked and the other one was not getting anything. I thought the numbers on the main controller were the shock settings , but I finally read the shock collar directions and found out that is the distance it will activate. Each collar has a button the goes from 1 blink to 5 blinks and that is the shock settings. Don't be lame like me. Read the directions first. Once I got that right it all started working. When I bought this system, I was scared. I did not want to hurt the dogs and I was upset while deciding to use this system but there is no way to build a fence like this one on the kind of property we have. Once I got it all figured out correctly it has been working exactly like I hoped. My older dog, a cocker, who runs away when she smells something, and is very bad with that, got shocked about 4 times in two days and is not doing it now. She is running right up to the shock line and stopping. Much to my utter amazement and the cats! Who are learning to sit right outside the line, which has been quite amusing. The new dog only needed two shocks. The first day he ran back in the house and did not want to go outside but the next morning he was back to himself and he has run through the parameter once and cried to get back in. It has only been 8 days since I turned on the fence, but I am truly amazed and happy with it. My animals have a large safe play space, and my older barking dog is not covered with stickers from running down the hill into the canyon area, and learning to control herself with the barking and craziness we have had for years with her. (Yes we took her to classes and training. When she smells all the wildlife in our backyard she goes nuts). That was a side benefit I did not even think of when I bought this. I am hoping after a few months I can turn the collars way down. I have them both set on 4. We tried the lowest setting and worked our way up and they both ran through the boundaries at 3 or lower. I also shocked myself on the 4 setting on accident, and I can tell you, it is the same strength as when you plug in a bad plug or outlet and get shocked. The thing to keep in mind, is the dogs do not get shocked all the time once they figure it out. Which only takes a few shocks. So it sounds worse than it really is to use a "shock or electric wired system". One final thing, this one I bought is half the price you will find of other petsafe systems, which do the same thing. This is a basic version I guess but I could not see the difference between the 180-299 one, (pet store price is 299) one and the 130 dollar one. I bought extra wire, which I did not need, but I am still glad to have it in case I have to replace wire at some point. Update: It has been over 6 months now and we love love love this system. I wish I bought this years ago. The dogs NEVER cross the shock lines, even when we have the collars off now after a bath. I am truly impressed and amazed at well this worked out. It solved all kind of problems I have been having for years.