PetSafe Stay & Play Wireless Pet Fence Collar

I’ve been using this product for over 2 months, and I trust it more than a physical barrier.

Application:
We have 2 dogs, one older, tougher, more passive dog and a younger, higher energy german shepherd. The younger one would take off and there’s nothing we could do to stop her. She ripped tethers out of walls and tore the clip out of her harness. With a physical fence, she found a way over, under, or through. With the petsafe, she breeched once willfully, and after that, nothing. I leave them out most of the day, without any problems. I have 2 emitters set up, one inside and one outside in a weatherproof insulated box, overlapping in two areas.

Pros:
The collars rechargable batteries last very well, and neither dog has seemed to figure out that’s what’s causing their discomfort. The training manual is fairly simple and easy to read, and you should follow it to the letter, however it works better for simple yards than a more complicated one, in the simple yard the flags stand out and the training is easier, with other distractions they basically ignore the flags, and kind of figure it out as they go.
It’s easy to adjust the size, with 2 people at least.

Cons:
The price. We spent almost $1000, and although it is considerably cheaper than a regular fence, it’s still a lot of money, if you think about it. The perception of security isn’t as strong for other people (even though the dogs will absolutely not cross it), as a regular fence, but other people don’t know that.
Metal definitely messes with the signal, even away from the emitter, a metal shed set off the collars even though it should have been within the boundary, which isn’t a big deal really, but good to know.

Overall I’m happy with it, and if I want to expand the area its relatively easy. If anything changes in a year time I’ll update this review.

This is an excellent product, in my experience, and I’ve had it over five years. I use it with a rambunctious German shepherd and added a housemate’s stubborn little husky; I have two transmitters so they have a little over an acre where they can romp to their hearts’ content. My pup is out there a good four hours total on an average nice day.

Setting up the second receiver was easy, and adding the second collar was just a matter of charging it and putting it on the dog. Make sure the receiver is placed in a fairly high location; I have one in my attic.

I’ve taken this when traveling and staying in other houses. Bring some flags if you do this, but it was a great way to confine my dog w/o having to tie her.

I keep the correction for my shepherd at the top level, and it’s remarkably effective. The deer in my fields know as well as she does where the perimeter is, and the rotten creatures will come within 15 ft of her (I swear they’re snickering at her).

I get 2-3 weeks on a charge with the collar turned on all the time. Original collar… at least 5 years old. Be sure you remove it during power outages. Also, ALWAYS MAKE SURE IT’S OFF BEFORE LETTING THE DOG IN A CAR (the metal will block the transmitter signal). And especially resist the temptation to leave the collar on the dog all the time, esp. when left alone: power outages and other problems do come up.

It was a pain to determine the perimeter on a rocky and steeply sloped part of my yard (the rest was easy). The base transmits in a sphere, so take that into account during setup, and don’t be surprised if the perimeter is quite irregular. I kept checking every 2-3 feet when placing flags (for large properties you might want to get extra flags). The perimeter sometimes varies as much as 3-4’. Trained my dog by walking inside the perimeter every day for about 3 days, and after that she had it down. Like a lot of dogs, she knows what it means when she’s wearing the collar and when she’s not, but she still stays in the perimeter from habit, and many other dogs will probably do the same. She looks forward to having the collar put on, since she knows it means she can go chase squirrels. Some dogs will take off as soon as you remove the collar, though, so be careful. Truly devious dogs will hang out in the audible correction range and let it wear down the battery so they can run the perimeter. I suggest replacing the dog in this case. (Okay, maybe not)

Customer service is either Canada- or US-based, and they were very helpful whe I had questions about the correction levels. The rep mentioned that part of their training involved testing the correction levels on their own palms to get an idea exactly what they felt like. I tried it: ouch! But it’s not inhumane (for the dog). Once they know the perimeter, there’s generally no reason why they’ll need to feel the correction more than a couple of times. The audible signal starts well before the correction, so they have plenty of time to decide if they’re really going to be stupid.

Problems: I’ve had to resynch the transmitters twice now after power outages. That’s all.

This product is more expensive than many on the market, but in my experience the quality, design, and customer service make it well worth the cost. Can’t find a manufacturing location on the base, but the collar is (or at least was) made in Canada.

I recommend this product for anyone with a reasonably sane dog and a property that’s at least moderately level, with no metal obstructions. Place transmitter at least 4’ away from large appliances, radiators, and other sources of interference. Once it’s set up, it’s great!

Complete rip off, bought it in november, never used until now, just tried it out and it does not work at all, beeps half the time when across the boundery and does not give a shock regrdless of the setting. As we bought it in november it gives no option to return or exchange even tho it was not used until now. Do not waste time and money on this junk. Wpild rate less than 1 star if i could

I have a 16 lb King Charles spaniel. He was fully trained on this in a week. I was afraid to use this kind of a system because I was afraid it would hurt him but really wanted him to be able to run free in the yard. Started at level 1 setting on the collar, but he didn’t notice or respond until level 5. He ended up testing the boundaries a few times but quickly learned them and so far hasn’t tried to cross them again – even for a ball, butterfly or lightning bug. Love to see him running free and to be able to play fetch in the yard. Extremely happy with this system.