“We are really happy with the system overall. It has met our needs for some unique terrain challenges we have used it both at home and at a new piece of property we recently purchased. The system's instructions were clear and it was a straightforward set up over a long afternoon.” 

– Owner, Sara P.

Meet the family of four pups - Sherman, Dewey, Poppi, and Gidget!

All of the dogs were adopted through rescue groups or surrendered to a veterinary hospital when their owners could no longer care for them. Sara, their dog mom, says that she didn't pick them so much as they picked her.

Gidget is the greyhound, Dewey is the black and white pup, Poppi is a white mix who is deaf, and Sherman is supposed to be a mastiff, but the family jokingly calls him their "teacup mastiff" because he looks a lot more like that than an actual Staffie.

The pups all range in age from 2 years to 10 years old. Sherman is the youngest at 2, Dewey is 3, Poppi is 7, and Gidget is 10. Funny enough, the boys are complete marshmallows. They look big and tough, but are both softies at heart! The girls are a bit "tomboy-ish" most of the time, but the greyhound does have her diva moments when she clearly feels like everyone else is being too silly! 

Before SpotOn, all the pups were typically only out when the family was outside so they could keep a close eye on them. The family had gone through lots of trial and error with other systems, including Invisible Fence™ and other collar-style systems, before finally finding the solution that worked for their needs. The limitations of needing a physical wire as well as a power source were major drawbacks. They were only able to use a small area of the property and when the power went out, the system was not functional. Having the entire system in the collar was definitely the option they needed for their home!

“The collar system is fantastic. I took a day to walk and plot it using one collar and then was able to transfer it to the other collars with no problem.” - Owner, Sara P.

Now, with the system, the dogs can come and go as they please, and Sara has the confidence and peace of mind that they won't leave the boundaries set.

Training their deaf pup Poppi to the system went surprisingly smooth as well! The family used food rewards to train her to hand signals for her basic commands. Fortunately for them, she is one smart cookie and tends to pick on things fairly quickly. It also helps that she is very food motivated! Poppi has a pretty extensive “vocabulary” and her owners even find themselves using some of the signals on their dogs that can hear as well.

The pups were also able to quickly pick up on the portable system in other locations. The family currently has two fences, one for their home and another for their new property. The family will frequently switch up their play areas and the pups know based on their training where they are allowed to roam.

“It has been great to be able to have them out there and not worry about them--and since it can be made in any configuration, we were able to include part of the cove, so they can swim and be out there when my husband is playing hockey as well. Also, since one of our dogs is deaf, it gives us peace of mind knowing she isn't going to wander off after a deer and suddenly not be on our property.”  - Owner, Sara P.

With all the pups trained to the system, they were able to go from limited time outdoors in a small space to having access to almost 70 acres of land! The property is in a very rural area, so the pups are always out looking for wildlife to chase. They love having access to the cove year-round, and in the summer can take a dip to cool off as they please. A game of chase is their absolute favorite, so throwing any ball or toy (or a hockey puck) gets them excited to get outdoors.

Do you want to share your pup's SpotOn story? Send it here!