We're moving to a new/old house next week and will have considerably more acreage. I want my dogs to stay outside the majority of the time and have been looking at the electronic fence systems. Does anybody out there use one or have experience with them? Any brand or system that you'd recommend?

I used a petsafe system with my two dachshunds. Trained them on it for about 6 weeks before they got the hang of it. My male dog was so scared of it I only put his collar on him about once a week, the female was a whole different story. She absolutely despised birds, flying grasshoppers, butterflies, bees, wasps, and helicopters. Anytime something that flies would come through she would go crazy trying to get to it and started getting out of the fence. I watched how she did it one day, she would run as fast as she could and right before the shock zone she would shake her head back and forth. I guess with the probes on the collar moving it didn't hurt as bad, she would yelp and be out. She ended up getting run over in the street.

I installed mine, it's not hard. I used a edger to make a small trench around the perimeter of the yard and crossed the driveway in an expansion joint. Lightning will wreck the control box if it hits a close by tree. There is nothing special about the wire, I used some cheap wire from Lowes. I may still have the collars if you end up going with that system, let me know and I'll look.

They will work to keep your dog in. only draw back ive seen is other dogs will come in your yard.

I had one at my last house. I think it was Sport Dog brand and was supposed to cover up to 10 ac. It worked very well with our lab, but not worth a flip with a stubborn boy dog beagle we had before that. Just depends on the dog I guess. CD.

One of my dogs would probably be scared and not test the system. The other isn’t scared of anything and I can see her getting out regardless. I guess I’m
going to price a chain link fence as well

Had a Jack Russell when I was 8ish and he got smart enough and learned that he could run and it'd only hurt for a second after leaving the yard he ended up ran over

They work ok if you train. Some dogs take more training, some less. Typical hunting/trailing/working breeds are a lot harder to keep contained in them than the smaller "pet" breeds. The big draw back though is anything else can come into your yard. And unless something has changed, once the dog is on the outside by several feet, they stop getting shocked and are gone. They can get a running start and just blow through them if they are motivated enough.

Tractor Supply has some fencing that I would consider instead of that high priced chain link:

https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/product/max-tight-horse-fence?rfk=1

I used the underground fence for a couple of years, but that stuff has drawbacks. Lightning loves it and will fry that little transformer. The dang underground wire breaks a lot. And it doesn't keep all the other dogs, etc, out of your yard.