Jill Bowen

Jill Bowen has practiced veterinary medicine in England and Texas and has taught at Texas A&M. She lives with her veterinarian husband and two cats in Blacksburg. If you have a question, please write to her in care of The Roanoke Times, P.O. Box 540, Christiansburg, VA 24068, or send an e-mail to mjbowen@radford.edu

Recent columns

• Wrap pets in protection this holiday season
• Take treats so horse associates you with something good
• Illness or change in environment may cause cat to stop using litter box
• Garlic and onions can create problems for some pets
• Column archive

We have recently moved into a neighborhood that does not allow us to fence the yard. What do you think about these electric invisible fences? My husband is afraid that by shocking our sheltie that we are being cruel. But on the other hand I cannot spare the time to be outside with him every time he goes out. Also, he likes to be outside in the yard when the weather is good.

Many neighborhood committees will not permit fencing a yard because they think it will look ugly and decrease the real estate values. There are several factors that need to be considered before investing in an invisible fence.

An invisible fence is a wire barrier that is installed underground along the perimeter of the yard. Each fence comes with a corresponding collar. The collar works by emitting a high-pitched tone when your dog gets too close to the fence, a tone that is clearly audible to your dog. This acts as a warning signal to the dog. If the dog ignores this tone and reaches the fence, the collar emits a shock.

Before purchasing an invisible fence, consider your breed of dog. Dogs with thick, long or excessive amounts of hair may not feel the collar’s shock, or if they do, it will be greatly muted, rendering the device practically useless. Some owners shave the fur around the dog’s neck so the collar is in contact with bare skin and the dog will feel the shock. With dogs that have many skin folds around their neck, the shock they feel may be negligible. Sometimes these dogs have fewer nerve endings and are less likely to feel the full force of the shock. If your dog is nervous or easily becomes afraid, this may not be a good choice. Nervous dogs, once shocked, could easily become afraid to go into the yard.  Some larger dogs with a fearless temperament  may simply choose to ignore the shock from the collar and chase after the cat, mailman or whatever it is that intrigues them.

While invisible fences keep your dog in the yard, it does not keep other pets, people  or animals out, so it offers only limited protection. Even after installing an invisible fence, it is important to keep an eye on your dog when roaming freely about the yard so you can protect him from any negative situations.

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Our family Thanksgiving was less than perfect as our visitors brought their totally untrained Lab mix with them. He stole food, peed everywhere and terrorized our nervous ex-shelter dog. Please write something about taking badly behaved dogs to visit even if they are family!

First, it is obvious that visiting pets, be they dogs or cats, should be well trained. Many pets do not enjoy being away from home and their normal routines. A strange house full of strange people can upset the most docile of pets, and some dogs can become snappy. Consider leaving your pet at home with a pet sitter or boarding your pet .

Many dogs have accidents when they are nervous or in strange places. Make sure to take dogs outside regularly and arrange a quiet place for them to get away from all the hustle and bustle. Bring favorite toys and blanket as well as food.

Cats do better if they are confined to one room with a crate and their litter trays from home.

When bringing a dog to visit, introduce him to the resident dog outside by taking them for a walk together, both on leashes initially. If the visiting dog is rambunctious, suggest that it is kept on a leash so that there is some control over his less-than-perfect manners.