When my wife and I moved to our new home we had a little bit of an issue to figure out. We moved to a golf course and were conflicted on either putting up a Fence for our three dogs or using an electric fence. We decided to go with the PetSafe Stay & Play wireless pet fence. This would let us enjoy our backyard, save us a lot of money on a fence, and let the dogs run around.
PetSafe Stay & Play wireless pet fence is a great option for anyone looking to set up a wireless fence with very little work. It will give you a good range to keep your dogs of all sizes contained in an area. It’s not as consistent as a wired version but it’s a very good alternative.
Pros of the PetSafe Stay & Play Wireless Pet Fence
- Simple setup: takes maybe 30 mins to 1 hour to fully set up and test
- Easy to move; if you decide to change the location of the fence just move the base
- Can use it for all of your dogs; just need to purchase another collar and it connects to the base
- Good price; These systems compared to others I have seen are not extremely priced
- None Permanent; this system is just as easy to remove as it is to install
Cons of the PetSafe Stay & Play Wireless Pet Fence
The main one is that if the power goes out you will see your dogs running and crying as the collar assumes that they have left the area.
If you are considering purchasing a PetSafe Stay & Play wireless pet fence and want a more detailed review, please read on. We will go over all the good and bad that we have discovered with ours.
PetSafe Stay & Play Wireless Pet Fence Review
We have loved our PetSafe & Play Wireless pet fence from the moment we set it up. I say that but it isn’t because everything about the product is great. I hate when I am trying to look at reviews and I find a bunch of recycled Amazon reviews. The review you will read below is from personal use of the product and not a recycled review.
The first thing you will notice when you open up your new wireless fence is that it’s a very simple system. There is a transmitter base that will go in your home. Next, there is a collar with an attachment on it that will go against your dog’s neck. The final part of your kit is used for the initial setup.
The initial setup is easy. You will plug in the base stations. Then you will take a small tester which is made of plastic and a wire. In order to test the barrier you have set up you hold the tester against the collar. Then you walk until it buzzes. Once it buzzed you put down a marker flag. You continue doing this until you have the entire area marked with flags.
For me, I felt bad at the idea of shocking my little buddies. So I help the collar and walked to the end of the area. I took the shock so that I would know what I was doing to my dogs. I am not saying that to tell you that’s something you must do. I’m telling you this because it really wasn’t too bad, more of a tingle that scares you.
This brings up one of the major flaws I have found with this system. It is not always accurate. Sometimes you can take an extra step past the flags before they will buzz. Other times it may buzz a little before the flag.
For me, this wasn’t a show stopper but I have been told that others did not keep using the system for this reason. The way I looked at it as long as the dogs understand that the flag line equals danger they will stay away from it. Therefore it is effective even if they could push the barrier and go out a little further sometimes if they wanted to test it. Once trained they never test it.
After you have your flag line set up it’s time to train the dogs. The system comes with a good set of instructions for this training. We have trained five dogs in total with this system and have had no trouble. This is true for even the most stubborn dogs we have trained.
How does PetSafe Stay and Play Wireless Fence Work?
When I was researching what kind of fence to get and residing between wired and wireless fencing the question of how they worked was a big one.
The way PetSafe Stay and Play Wireless Fence works is like a wifi router. It sends out a signal to the collars and forms a circle. If the dogs get close to the edge it will make the collar warn them. If they cross then it will give them a small buzz or shock.
In the end, it’s pretty much a plug-and-play system. There is no pairing of collars required or technical things you will need to figure out. Open the box, plug in the base, then adjust your radius. The only thing that will take you a little while is setting up the flags and deciding on how low or high to set the collars.
My dogs basically decided how high to set them for me. out of three dogs, only one required me to set the collars any higher than the first level of shock. The bigger dog was a little stubborn but once I turned the collar up another level he understood it was not worth it.
Do wireless dog fences really work?
Over the past few years I have had many people walk by my house a kind of laugh at how well the wireless dog fence works. IT even works when they don’t have it on.
The top question before purchase is “Do wireless dog fences really work.” Without question, these fences are very effective with most dogs. They will learn quickly where the boundary is and stay inside of it. Even when playing at full speed that invisible line is not forgotten.
My favorite thing about this fence system is that now after a year I don’t really need it. If I forget to put the collars on and the dogs go out, they will still not cross the line. If someone is walking by or a cat comes to tease them, they will run full speed at the line and then hit the brakes.
I have seen people who saw the dogs coming, they would brace for the impact and then kind of laugh when the dogs hit the imaginary brick wall. I can just feel what the dogs are saying. “If it wasn’t for this invisible snake that bites me I would chase you and play with you all the way down the street.
It only took a little over a week for our dogs to get the idea. Even the highest motor dog we have does not challenge the line. She will run around the line and to the line but will not cross it. I have seen her set traps though. She will stay a little behind the line hoping the person or animal steps inside her boundary. Then she will take a shot for the trap but has never been fast enough.
Conclusion
For anyone looking to give your dogs the ability to roam freely in the yard without putting up a fence, invisible fences are a great option. If you want a simple system that doesn’t require you to bury wires in your yard PetSafe Stay & Play wireless pet fence is a great option and can be used for multiple dogs.
Thank you in advance if you order through our link as we make a small commission on the purchase. We gave you an honest review of the good and bad. This system may not work for everyone but is a great option for most.