Petmate Easyturn 18" Spiral Stake w/Cable

First of all, this is probably very much common sense (but I learned the hard way), that if you are going to use this stake, you need to make sure that the ground is not too soft (otherwise the dog will be able to pull it out). I used it one time in the back of my house where the soil was quite moist, and my dog was able to pull the whole thing out and run away. So if it's easy to put it in the ground, it's going to be easy for the dog to pull it out. Also, if you leave it in the ground in the same spot and it rains, you need to reinspect how sturdy it is in the ground. My dog is only 21 lbs so a bigger dog would have an even easier time pulling it out. That's the main reason behind the three stars I gave it. In a way, if used properly, it works well, but it can be also a misleading sense of security for the dogs who are strong enough to pull it out (or if the soil changes it's properties and becomes soft due to rain, etc.).That being said, it seems quite useful otherwise. The only problem is that my miniature schnauzer didn't care much for it. She would sit on the ground as soon as she realized this thing wasn't going to let her come close to me. She is a very social dog, and running around in circles on this thing didn't really seem appealing to her. Which is too bad, because I really was hoping that it would be a nice thing for her to do. The plus side is that I was able to have my dog outside with me while I was gardening. The drawback was that the dog seemed to be unhappy about the fact that she was essentially on a very long leash, and couldn't follow me everywhere I went, but every dog is different and it might not be an issue for other dogs.