Professional vs. Retail Systems

There has been a company selling retail pet containment systems for as low as $499, claiming to be as good as the professional systems, yet costing 100’s less.

Here are the facts:

Success Rate: Retail pet containment systems have LESS than a 50% success rate in containing dogs. Professional systems have over 90%. DogWatch brand has over 99%.

Omni-directional receivers: Retail pet containment systems do not use omni-directional receivers (for the most part). Professional systems do! What an omni-directional receiver means to your dog is the collar will give warning beeps and corrections (shocks) at the same location INDEPENDENT of the angle the dog approaches the wire, while the retail system’s beeps and corrections can vary by many feet or yards. (for example, an AM radio is not omni-directional. Rotate the radio and the radio signal is lost. Similarly, the same will happen on retail receivers (collars)). Would you expect to get a consistent result (a dog that stays on the property and uses all the property) when the equipment is inconsistent?

Surge protection: Retail systems have little or no surge protection. Professional systems will have internal surge protection to protect the system’s Transmitter. Additionally, DogWatch systems (and ONLY DogWatch) will install an exterior surge protector with a Grounding rod to protect your home from potential incoming lightning surges from the dog fence wire.

Dealer support: Retail system being installed from rouge dealers have no dealer support for warranty, problem dog issues and relocations. If you were to move, for example, there are hundreds of DogWatch dealers worldwide that can re-install your equipment, service your system and process any warranty claims. With rogue dealers installing retail systems, you’re out of luck if they go out of business or if you move out of the area.

Insulation: Retail systems are packaged with thin 20 gauge wire covered with thin insulation. The professional wire we use is direct-burial rated and has over 4 times the weight in copper per foot and over 3 times the wire insulation thickness. Our wire has far superior durability and will account for fewer service calls saving the customer hundreds of service- related dollars over time.

Warranty: Retail systems come with a 1 year manufactures warranty (not a lifetime as falsely claimed). Professional systems are normally warrantied for the customer’s lifetime (with a few exceptions). All our DogWatch systems come with a LIFETIME warranty on both the collar and transmitter. In addition, our receiver has an unlimited chew warranty. We are the ONLY company to offer this additional warranty!

Training: Training provided by any professional dealer is significantly better than found by any rogue dealer. Our DogWatch trainer is also one of the owners. He is a certified expert dog trainer and has been for over 17 years learning from the likes of Raymond McSorely, Martin Deeley and dozens of other trainers from around the country. His training plan will be catered to your dog’s specific needs and, in most cases, can have your dog trained in 1 extended training session and unleashed in 6 days.

Signal: Retail systems are most prone to stray signals. Garage door openers, TV’s, Wii’s, lightning storms etc. can all falsely trigger your dog’s collar inside or outside the home. DogWatch is the ONLY system using a patented digital FM signal (safelink) to eliminate the chance of any false correction.

Frequency: Retail systems come in only 1 frequency. If a next door neighbor has an invisible fence, and their wire is close to yours, the systems can interact causing the collar to either work intermittently or not work at all allowing the dog an escape path. Professional systems, including DogWatch, can change their operational frequency to eliminate any neighboring fence interaction and allow the system to function properly. Even if no neighbor currently has a hidden fence, this can become a problem down the road if a neighbor later has one installed.

Batteries: The retail systems the rogue dealer is selling, which use replaceable batteries, use a manufacture specific battery which are expensive and short lived. The battery plan offered will cost $30 - $44 per year ($420 to $616 over the dog’s lifetime) and require changing every 3 months. Our DogWatch batteries will last either 6 months or 2 years (depending on the receiver purchased), are common and can be purchased from most stores for less than $8 per year. Also, keep away from their rechargeable battery system. The battery has a life expectancy of 2-3 years and cannot be replaced. A new receiver will need to be purchased every 2-3 years yielding no cost savings over replaceable batteries plus requiring on-going recharging every three weeks or less.

As you now know, you get what you pay for. These $499 systems have significant issues and disadvantages over our DogWatch Hidden Fence system. They risk containment and cost MORE in the long run. DogWatch has the lowest cost of ownership over ANY other system on the market- Professional or Retail.

If you still do not have the initial wherewithal to afford the extra few hundred dollars upfront for a Professional DogWatch system, then we can install the same system the rogue dealer is advertising for far less.