A few months ago, my dear friend was sharing a youtube video on her struggles with her LGD’s & the solution she had found. I may or may not have shed a tear or two. You see, when we moved here Tuffy was so excited but we knew containing her to our property was going to be a challenge.

This farm is not fully fenced. And the fence it does have, is ok for respectful horses but any pushy cow or dog will run right through it. It’s on our to do list but our first priority this fall was preparing the barns for our livestock to move in for the winter. We put up poly fencing for our sheep but the stress of the move really did a number on my sweet Tuffy girl and she kept digging out of the fences. It was a nightmare.

I didn’t sleep at all when she was out to pasture. I was worried she was going to either run my sheep through the fence with her new anxiety (we have a LOT more coyote pressure here) or she was going to dig out herself and get hit on the road. It was worrisome and eventually, I had to resort to tethering her. To say its not been ideal is an understatement.

When I found SpotOn, I reached out to them to see if they’d be willing to partner with me to truly put their collar to the test on our farm. To say I’ve been happy is the perfect description!

Here’s what drew me in first to try them:

1: If she somehow blew through her boundary, it activated the GPS tracker so I could find her! This has been HUGE! When I first turned her out after weeks of training, she took off and began patrolling the fence line. I could track her whereabouts from my phone while I was milking cows. It meant that I didn’t have to have physical eyes on her to know that she was staying home.

I even took Gracie to horse lessons, leaving tuffy to patrol on a sunny day last week and I was able to track her location from the barn about 10 miles down the road. It was wonderful to feel that kind of confidence.

I really love that should she run through the fence, I know exactly where she is. Prior to this, I had to resort to driving around calling her or stopping at neighbors hoping they had seen her, just hoping I could still hear her barking. This has been game changing for my stress level!

2: I could set multiple fence options! Tuffy guards both our sheep and our chickens. Depending on where I need her, I can set multiple difference fence options up and then activate which one I want to use. At the moment, I actually have it set so that she can patrol the perimeter of the whole property. This kind of freedom is allowing her to come see us up at the house, a spot she prefers to hang out.

3. Setup Required No Wires! Truthfully, I don’t have time to lay wires. I don’t have time to fence the property right now for my livestock let alone my dog. All I had to do was download the app and walk the fence line. However, I LOVED the “snap” feature. Because I was creating a boundary on a 35 acre parcel surrounding our home, I could drive to each corner of the fence line and click a button to “snap” a boundary line in place. It made it really simple and time effective! It also meant I wasn’t having to bushwack through the woods. I set a virtual fence post in one spot on the outskirts of the woods, drove around to the other side of the woods and “snapped” a fencline through to where I was. Doesn’t get much easier than that!

Another feature I have found really handy:

And lastly, their customer service and training has been, hands down, a huge asset.

Overall, I would highly recommend this collar from SpotOn. After a lot of training and time, it has really put itself to the test and we are so grateful that our Tuffy dog is finally able to get back to work!

Click here to checkout the collar we’ve fallen in love with!