Top 5 Considerations for Choosing a Wireless Dog Fence

September 14, 2022

There are many reasons you may be considering a wireless fence for your dog. Perhaps you have large acreage, an odd shaped lot or lots of tricky terrain (ponds, boulders or brush). These properties may not accommodate a physical or buried wired fence, and if they do, it could be quite costly depending on the size of your yard.

Or maybe you’re restricted from a physical fence by an HOA, or simply want to preserve your view and sightline.

With a GPS dog fence, there are no buried wires, and no boundary is too big. Plus, you can make full use of that pond or stream by fencing through it so that your dog can enjoy a swim —and cool off in the heat — within his or her boundary.

Another great thing about a GPS dog fence is that you can take it with you wherever you go; a 2nd home, the beach, camping or visiting friends & family. Or if you move.

Whatever the reason a GPS fence might be right for you, make sure to do your homework. Here’s some key factors to keep in mind and guide your research.

Make sure your GPS fence works for your property & where you live

Property Size
Check if the fence has a minimum or maximum acreage requirement to work properly (SpotOn GPS Fence works for ½ acre to 1000’s of acres).

Ensure a buffer zone from any streets/hazards to accommodate GPS Drift. This is a natural boundary shift that occurs in all GPS products (you’ve likely noticed it with your phone GPS). SpotOn recommends a 15 feet buffer zone.

Live in a wooded area?

Ensure your GPS fence retains its GPS signal within dense tree cover. SpotOn is the only GPS Fence with a special Forest Mode, for reliability in dense woods and under heavy leaf cover. Forest Mode improves GPS reception and boundary reliability.

Make sure you have good cell service in your area if it's required to contain your dog

Some GPS fences do require you to have a cell subscription to contain your dog, despite it being a GPS containment system. SpotOn GPS powered fences work off of GPS alone, so you don’t need cellular to contain your dog (& spotty cell service will not interfere with creating, activating or maintaining your dog). You can however add optional cell service, which is needed for tracking and notifications in case your dog breaches his boundary.

Make sure to invest in strong tech for reliable boundaries & strong GPS signals

If you’re considering a GPS fence, the key to reliability and performance is the GPS signal, the tech that enables that signal, and the number of simultaneous satellite connections as well as the number of global GPS constellations.

SpotOn is powered by its patented True Location Technology™, which never requires calibration, ensures precise boundaries, and drastically reduces false corrections, making it the most reliable GPS fence (with less GPS drift).

SpotOn’s noise resistant antenna and receiver have the highest noise immunity in the market. The active dual-feed antenna filters out extraneous GPS signals to pinpoint your dog’s location to within 3 feet. So you get reliable boundaries wherever & wherever you need them.

Additionally, the collar is designed for optimal antenna placement. GPS works best when it has an unobstructed view of the satellites. SpotOn’s GPS antenna is optimally placed to rest at the top of your dog’s neck, where it has a clear view of the sky and your dog’s body cannot block it. This allows for more accurate positioning and more reliable fence boundaries.

“SpotOn invisible dog fence is the first of its kind, released back in 2017, has been providing the best invisible fence solution for dog owners.”
iPetGuides, 13 Best Wireless & Invisible Dog Fences 2023

Make sure you have the flexibility to make & use multiple fences on your property

With multiple fences, you can fence the entire yard for maximum room to roam, and additional, smaller fences like just the backyard. So if you want a big day fence and a smaller nighttime fence (to keep away from critters or other nighttime nuisances). Or maybe you want to allow your dog to swim in the pond on the weekend, but not during the week when there’s no time to clean off a muddy dog! Multiple fences also work well seasonally to keep your pup out of the garden or icy winter water.

Make sure you are willing to train your dog

All training is a learned behavior, and training your dog to any wireless or GPS fence is no different. You must train your dog - and yourself to some extent - to learn and understand the system boundary cues. As with anything, practice makes perfect. So it's important to train & practice with your dog to teach him or her to understand and respect the boundaries.

Unlike other wireless systems, the SpotOn GPS Fence uses two sets of tones, then a vibration before issuing an optional static correction. It’s important to note that your dog is trained to the tones, plus the vibration and optional static correction. He or she is not trained to the actual marker flags some wireless fences use. Our SpotOn training partner Rick Alto shares some training insight:

“In all aspects of training, you must take it in baby steps and crawl, walk and then run. There are no shortcuts in dog training. Dogs learn through association and with repetition and consistency. Training sessions need to be fun for the dog, because your dog initially sees this training activity as a game where they are being rewarded with treats, praise or toys for playing by the rules. Through repetition and consistency, your dog will learn that the tone means return to the safe zone every time, even with distractions present. Remember, if your dog experiences any difficulty, take a few steps back in their training to find a distraction they consistently succeeded with and start reintroducing higher level distractions. Train, test, proof and repeat!”
- Rick Alto, ExFed Dog Training