Good day Steemians, and welcome to my blog this new week. I know quite well that a lot of us may not had heard the term invisible fence before (or have you?) and are surely enthusiastic to know what's it that I am up to with this article. Well before I unfold the real course of this article as well as give a simplified definition to what invisible fence is, let me start by describing a scenario that most of us might have witnessed before in our lives.
[Source: pexels commons. CC0 licensed]
Imagine you were strolling down the street and noticed a dog running across a lawn to join you on your stroll mission; and just when he was about to hit the sidewalk, he inexplicably came to an abrupt stop just at the edge of the lawn as though he had hit a wall [2]. And you really wanted the dog to accompany you on your strolling expedition. You then threw some meaty bones into the lawn; the dog quickly devoured it. But when you placed the baits outside the perimeter of the lawn, the dog would make an initial attempt to get at it, but would always stop short of the lawn boundary just before the sidewalk, disobeying all the entreaties to go beyond the lawn. Incredibly unbelievable, right?!
Naturally, you will wonder what could have caused the dog to stop? Is there a possibility that there is an invisible fence that restrained the dog from running beyond the lawn perimeter? [2]. To a naive person like you, the answer could be no such thing or, at best, you associate it with some mysterious manifestation or superstitious craps, and perhaps, begin an endless fasting 😂.
However, someone with knowledge of invisible fence systems will answer in the affirmative. Why? Because the marriage of science, technology electronics and training has made it possible for pet owners to restrict the movements of their animals within a predefined boundaries. I guess you can now tell what the theme of this article is about? Sure, you can. That said, let's look at the definition of invisible fence.
[A shock collar. Source: Wikimedia commons. Author: Polymath38. CC BY-SA 4.0 licensed]
Invisible fence system
Invisible fence system is also known with various names such as electronic containment system, fenceless boundary, pet fence, etc. It is defined, according to Wikipedia, as:
...an electronic system designed to keep a pet or other domestic animal within a set of predefined boundaries without the use of a physical barrier. A mild electronic shock is delivered by an electronic collar if its warning sound is ignored.... Source
It was an invention of Richard Peck who also patented it shortly after invention in 1973. Invisible fence is used for a number of reasons including health and reproduction, housing covenants, keeping wild pets in check, leash laws, keeping pets from wandering about in the cities, etc [4].
The technology of invisible fence and how it works
Conventional invisible fences are made up of cables buried in the ground along a predefined borderlines. A transmitter that emits radio signals is connected to the buried cables. When this transmitter emits radio signals, the signals travel throughout the buried cables. [2]
Another essential part of an invisible fence system is the receiver which is built on a collar and is worn by your pet (dog). The receiver is inbuilt with ability to detect the radio signals traveling along the underground wires, and is capable of emitting a warning hum. [2, 1]
[A wireless network. Source: Wikimedia commons. Author: RRZEicons. CC BY-SA 3.0 licensed]
When an animal that's wearing a collar-bearing receiver is approaching the borderlines of the underground cables, the receiver will emit a warning sound which only the animal can hear. The function of this sound is to remind the animal that it would receive a static correction (i.e a mild electric shock) if it doesn't fall back and gets too close to the lines of the cables buried in the ground or matches it. In situations where the animal ignores the sound and gets too close or matches the boundary lines, it will receive a static correction, the so called mild electric shock, from the collar. [2, 3]
The stimulus is first applied slowly as the animal approaches but at a greater strength as it comes even closer. Typically, the animal learns to avoid the invisible fence location within a couple of hours. Invisible fence systems are a very effective way of containing animals within a set perimeter. [3]
The latest or improved version of invisible fence system is a wireless system and does not involve burying of cables in the ground to establish deterrent boundaries. Instead, it uses global positioning satellite technology (GPS) in the place of underground cables. Here, the boundaries are marked by GPS and only exist as a line on a computer. [1]
Training the animal to master the boundaries of an invisible fence system
Trainers of animals will first mount flags along the boundaries of an invisible fence system. And then, animals are taught to fall back whenever they hear the warning sound as they approach the mounted flags. Over a period of training, animals will recognize that getting nearer to the flags will trigger off a warning hum, and failure to fall back will lead to receiving a static correction. As they are repeatedly rewarded for stopping short of the flags, they will soon understand that the flags represent the boundary location and hence learn to respect and avoid them. [2]
[A dog being trained. Source: Wikimedia commons. Author: TheHidden. CC BY-SA 3.0 licensed]
The flags can then be removed eventually after the animals must have mastered how far they can travel within a set perimeter with neither receiving a static correction nor hearing the warning sound. [2]
Indeed...
Invisible fence systems allow you to keep your pets safe and close to home without the expense and trouble of building conventional fences. With a bit of training, your pet will soon be running around the yard without worry! Source
References for further reading
- [1] Theguardian.com
- [2] Wonderopolis.org
- [3] En.m.wikipedia.org
- [4] Science.howstuffworks.com
Yours truly,
@eurogee
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