hidden fences

DogWatch Dealer Meeting 2015

2015 DogWatch Dealer Meeting

DogWatch dealers from 31 states and 5 countries met in Texas this past weekend, February 6-8, 2015, for the 21st Annual DogWatch Dealer Meeting. The 2015 Dealer Meeting was a special one as it coincides with DogWatch’s 25th Anniversary. More than 200 Dealers, employees and family members attended the meeting at the Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort in Lost Pines, TX, 30 minutes east of Austin.
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DogWatch celebrates 25 years

DogWatch 25th Anniversary Celebration

DogWatch, maker of the safest and most reliable hidden pet fence in the business, celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2015. In 1990, Fred King, DogWatch’s Founder and President, had a problem – his family needed to keep their feisty pet cat Slapshot and her claws away from the new furniture in their living room. After looking at the options available, King saw an intriguing business opportunity, and set out to make a quality, dependable and technologically advanced pet containment solution to meet the growing needs of pet owners like himself. “25 years later,” says King, “DogWatch has grown into an international industry leader, and our Hidden Fence systems have given nearly 500,000 dogs the freedom to play outdoors safely.”
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Two DogWatch dogs

Enjoy the Great Outdoors!

For those of you who are experiencing the change of seasons from the gray and white of winter to the verdant green of spring, you understand how good the transition feels. It’s a good bet that your pooch feels the same way.

Chances are you’re eyeing the flower bed and your garden patch and trying to remember where you last saw your good gardening gloves. The garden centers have stocked up on fertilizer, bags of mulch and those tempting little the seed packets that carry so much promise.

If your dog enjoys spending time outside, he may be happy to get his paws in there to ‘help’ with your gardening, but that might not work out so well for your garden . . .or for your dog. Your dog’s gardening penchant can be dangerous for him because many beautiful plants, and the fertilizers and mulches that we use to nurture a beautiful landscape, are toxic to dogs.
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Help Protect the Right to Keep Your Pets Safe

U.K. MapThis week on Dog Tails, we want to bring to your attention a recent controversial decision concerning electronic radio collars (e-collars) for dogs and cats. These radio collars (often mistakenly referred to as ‘electric’ collars) are widely used worldwide for pet training and containment. None-the-less, all e-collars have been banned for any purpose in Wales (see map), including for use with hidden underground fences. In addition to voicing our objection to such a blanket ban, we want to alert you to the possibility of this ban spreading to England, Wales’ neighbor to the east.

What was a debate between individual dog owners about whether to use electronic collars became political when the Welsh Assembly – supported by several animal rights groups – banned the collars outright. The ban went into effect one week ago (March 24, 2010). Punishments for noncompliance include fines of up to 20,000 pounds (approximately $32,000) and six months in prison. There is now talk of introducing a similar ban in England.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA), who support the ban, argue that there is “no place for shock collars in modern animal training and recommended the use of reward-based methods instead.” Opponents argue that the ban will have a negative effects on a large portion of the dog and cat populations. (There were roughly 20,000 e-collars in use in Wales prior to the ban.) They point to the animals whose lives have been saved by pet containment systems, and aggressive dogs who benefited from e-collar training and as a result, kept their homes or found new ones. In passing the ban in Wales, the legislature seems to have largely ignored the positive aspects of e-collars, the safety features and the lack of evidence that e-collars cause either pain or harm when properly used.

As a company that specializes in pet containment systems, DogWatch Hidden Fences has a clear stake in this debate. Yet in addition to being professionals, we are also pet owners and pet lovers ourselves. We believe that electronic radio collars are a valuable and effective tool to help you keep your dog or cat safe, healthy and happy for life. Our hidden fence collars are designed not to inflict pain, but rather to protect pets from potentially life-threatening injuries caused by automobiles and other dangers when they leave their yards. Hidden fences allow your pet to run and play outdoors as they were born to do. We like nothing better than to see a dog or cat enjoying the freedom of roaming free in their backyard, sniffing and digging and rolling around to their heart’s content. Banning e-collars, especially for pet containment systems, will cause more harm than good.

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