PetSafe YardMax Rechargeable In-Ground Dog Fence System - 16 Gauge Wire Upgrade - Keep Pets Safe in Your Backyard or Garden

Lots of work to install. It took me just under a week to install as get set up on my 1/4 acre lot but I took my time and only could do it after work each day. Don't believe all the videos showing people easily and happily tucking this into the ground with little effort. I;m no small guy and have been working with my body all my life in construction and found it to be a tedious job that's hard on your back. I even used a high powered lawn edger and only installed it 1-2 inched below the grass. I didn't give this 5 stars because I felt the way they present the ease of installation was misleading. However with that said, once I had the wire installed I found the instructions on how to set up the fence and train my dog to be superbe. Very well written and easy to understand. What's best is it's effective and works but you need to follow the directions on set up and training exactly and completely. I have two large dogs that at times have bolted out of the yard at the first sign of freedom and would not come back. They love to run and chase things. After the two week training period neither one would cross the fence no matter what temped them. If they see a rabbit, dog, kid or goofer, they run up full speed to within a foot of the boundary (even with no marker flags) and stop. I literally have to pick them up (with no collar of course) and carry them across the line. It's wonderful beyond words how great it is to be able to let my dogs out in the yard and not worry about them. The Yardmax feature is great too. I have my wire buried only 6" away from the property line and my dogs can walk right up to it befor they get a warning sound from the collar. This gives them so much more yard to run in and it seems they understand the boundaries better.Bought this with an extra no-name brand spool of 16 gauge wire and flags as we have a larger yard. Live on a corner lot so lots have of sidewalk that we use as a boundary. Buried the wire right beside the sidewalk. Dog figured out the sidewalk was off limits the first day and has never attempted to go onto the sidewalk since. Love this system as we can set how close to the sidewalk she is allowed (about 1 foot) and she does to get reinforced unless she were to actually cross the wire. Since she can get so close to the sidewalk she is the darling of the neighborhood as everyone walking stops and pet her and say hi as they pass.Other systems seem to have have a 6 or 8 foot dmz on each side of the wire so if your dog learns to run through they would no longer get reinforced once they had escaped. Not so with this system. It is smart enough to let them play right up to edge, if they cross they are reinforced no matter how far out of bounds they go so they will learn this very fast and not try to out run the fence.Word of advice. Create a virtual gate and key that you ALWAYS use when when you want to take them for a walk so something. Shut off the fence before you go out the virtual gate but your dog does not know that. ;) Pick really obvious area for your virtual gate (like a driveway, or between two particular trees, etc) and tie it with some other thing or event (your key) so it is clear to your dog is allowed to cross the fence. Ours knows that if we put her leash (the key) on her and we walk down the driveway (our virtual gate) she is safe to cross. She does not try to go out the gate by herself as she knows she needs the key to pass. She also know that in the car is always safe. FYI, you car will work as a shield and you dog will not get reinforced as you drive out outside the fence.In addition we purchased a some of battery operated PetSafe Pawz Away Pet Barrier for a couple of places inside the house. These work great to keep you pet out of areas they are not allowed. Our formal dining room for example as we do not want her under foot when eating with company over. Just put it under the table and no one even notices it is there.I have had this installed for almost 2 weeks now. I have 2 Catahoula 6 month old puppies that loved to jump the fence or go under it. Ever since this has been installed they have stayed in the yard. They have only tested the line to get to the fence a few times but haven't gotten over it. This was very easy to install. My sons had it done in just a few hours. I have a fairly large back yard but they said it was really easy to install. I can now let the boys outside without worrying they will leave the yard. Yesterday was a big test when it was a nice day outside and we had dogs out on both sides of the fences. My boys would stay in the safe zone and bark from there. They never once went to the fence to talk to the other dogs outside.I would highly recommend this product and also recommend buying it from Amazon. I purchased it and had it at my door in 2 days.I'm really glad I bough this to help keep my puppies safe and at home.We have had this sixteen months. We have been very happy with it. We have had some variation of a petsafe invisible fence for almost ten years now and the Yardmax continues their excellence. Based on my experience it is definitely worth upgrading the wire gauge to the black 14 gauge rather than the yellow thinner 16 gauge that comes by default - many fewer breaks.Another thing is the customer service is amazing. I must have called 5 times over the years and they always answer quickly and are super helpful. And they are very quick to just send replacements. Just had an experience where my transmitter failed (probably due to lightning) and they sent it to me for free even though it was a few months out of warranty ("it would be silly for me to charge you $150 when you're only a few months out of warranty"). How often does that happen in this modern world?