Since there is some good advise and feedback from experienced dog guys on here, what do you think of the Halo GPS dog fence?
I have a bit of room for my future dog to run (about 4 acres total) and wondering if this would be something worth getting. Spending other people's money is always easy, so my question is....does Halo work as advertised or buyer beware?
There is an entire FB page dedicated to customers who have nothing but problems with Halo. The theory sounds amazing, but the reality is it is total garbage. Here are the major issues:
1. Consistency. If you looked up the most important aspect of dog training that one word would rise to the top. Halo (or any other GPS/wireless fence for that matter) is anything but consistent. Take your phone sometime and track your path down a 2-3’ wide trail with OnX. Turn around after a mile or so and stay on the same trail. Zoom in to see the discrepancy. When I did this my OnX trails at times were 80’ apart even though I probably walked in my own footsteps on the return trip. This is the same technology any GPS fence uses. A few feet of variance is probably enough to spook a dog, 80’ is insane. It should be illegal really.
2. Battery life. Measured in hours. That is a joke right? No. Initially their collars had a 4hr battery life. I think it has “improved” to 8. Still worthless. Also, as with anything rechargeable the battery will need to be replaced eventually…but they don’t offer that, so it is an entire new collar at some point.
3. Size. It looks like you are strapping a life jacket made to look like a collar around their neck.
4. Warranty. Essentially there is none. I think it is 30 days. Don’t blink, because it will be gone before you know it. If an underground pet containment system doesn’t offer a lifetime warranty on their hardware you need to keep looking.
5. Training and support. Good luck.
6. Operating costs. A subscription based model may be great residual income for a business, but it comes at the expense of the consumer. I’ve had a professionally installed fence in my life for the last 12 years and have put new batteries in my dog’s collars every 2-3 years at $20 a crack and have never had a wire break for any reason.
For pet containment there is nothing that compares to a professionally installed underground system. Everyone in America is always trying to save money, I get it. But when I look at the time people invest into doing these projects on their own, with cheap, low quality products, and witness the results they achieve, they always come up short. Spend an extra X hours doing what you do to earn a living and pay a professional. It will be time and money well spent.
. It's a neat concept, but GPS is just not accurate enough to make it practical my experience.
