I knew we had a problem when I came home and saw a stuffed
toy in the driveway. It was the same stuffed hippo/unicorn I had returned to
the neighbours the day before. Fergus loved it because it had floppy bits that
would rattle when he shook it. But the appearance of the toy on our property
meant that Fergus had been to theirs. Over his boundary and through his zap
zone. His wireless containment system was no longer working.
I went into the house and Mina confirmed my suspicions.
“The neighbour brought him home. She wasn’t happy.”
I put Fergus on a leash and handed the end of the leash to
the Farmer. Then I marched over to the neighbour’s house, where I apologized
for my dog-son the chicken terrorist.
“Oh, it’s ok,” the neighbour said.
“No it’s not ok!” I replied. The poor hens were standing at
the top of the ramp in the doorway of their chicken coop, too afraid to emerge.
I learned that Fergus had been over to the neighbours’ house about half a dozen
times in the last week, while we had been away in Mexico. More than once he had
been caught with one of the big, decorative birds in his mouth. No doubt he
loved the way they squawked when he chased them. I doubted he wanted to hurt
them. For Fergus it was all about the chase. But now we had a coop full of hens
with PTFD – Post Traumatic Ferg Disorder – and they were having trouble laying
eggs because their nerves were shot. Something had to be done.
We replaced the batteries and Fergus’ collar beeped, but no
longer zapped. What good is a beep without a zap? The system is meant to beep
when Fergus goes across his pre-set boundary, and then it is meant to deliver a
sound zapping – just like when you get static electricity from the carpet. This
“static correction” is meant to teach the dog how far he can wander on his
property. It’s meant to keep him home and out of trouble. Usually, it works.
I went to the local pet store to replace the collar, which I
thought had worn out. I discovered a new collar cost nearly $300 – the same as
a whole new unit. I decided to check out the website and call the company
before spending all that dough. Sure enough, they said my problem was more
likely that the system required a reset. It was still beeping, after all. It
wasn’t completely dead.
The base transistor of the wireless system can’t be anywhere
near metal. If it is, it might short circuit. Even a power surge or electrical
storm can cause this to happen. I moved the transistor base and, with the help
of the lovely call centre gentleman from Atlanta with the southern accent who
kept calling me “ma’am”, I reset the connection.
The next step was to test the zapping mechanism.
“When your kids were little, you tried the medicine before
you fed it to your children, right?” the call-centre Southerner reasoned.
“Yes, but I didn’t get zapped,” I complained.
“It’s just a little prickling,” he promised.
So I took a deep breath, pulled on my big-girl boots,
grabbed the shock collar and walked out into the yard.
They actually have a drinking game in Taiwan that involves
everyone at the table inserting one finger into this little disk. Someone
pushes a button and the circuit on the disk goes around and around like a
roulette wheel. Finally it stops, and the person whose finger is inserted in
that particular portal gets zapped. I’ve never seen a woman play that game. I
guess that kind of ‘fun’ is more appealing to men. Which makes me wonder, why
didn’t I ask the Farmer to test the shock collar? Fergus the Golden Retriever
is my husband’s semi-retirement dog, after all.
I passed the parked cars in the driveway. I crossed over the
boundary of the yard, and the collar in my hand started to beep. I pressed the
metal prongs against the palm of my hand, gritted my teeth and prepared to be
zapped. Nothing happened. I took a few more steps down the laneway and suddenly
I felt a prickling, like when you touch the cat after it has been rolling on
the couch.
That’s it? Well, I suppose it would have more of a deterrent
effect if the prongs were up against my neck, as they are on the dog. And I wasn’t
about to try the collar on. It isn’t my size or colour.
-30-
email: dianafisher1@gmail.com
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