The main unit, or transmitter for the wireless dog fence plugs into a regular outlet in your home or garage, and emits a radio signal from that location, which becomes the center of a safe zone. The radio signal has a limited range, which can be adjusted from about 30 feet to 150 feet, and that 30 to 150 foot circle is your safe zone.
The wireless dog fence comes with a special collar that your dog wears that contains a receiver which receives the signal from the main unit. As long as the collar is receiving the signal, your dog is free to be anywhere in the safe zone. When your dog approaches the outer perimeter of the safe zone and moves into the warning zone, he receives a warning beep. If your dog continues to move away from the main unit and doesn't move toward the center of the safe zone (the transmitter), he/she receives a static correction which is not harmful, but does startle him/her. With a little training, your dog learns to move away from the boundaries at the sound of the warning beep and avoids the static correction.
The training for a wireless dog fence is virtually the same as the training for a wired fence. It involves placing flags, supplied with the unit, along the boundary or perimeter of the fence. The flags give your dog a visual queue of the boundary. Once the flags are in place, you spend some time training your dog as to where the flags are, and what to do when they approach a flag and hear a beep. Some dogs learn very fast and are trained within a day or two.
The safe zone of the wireless dog fence, because of its design, is necessarily a circle. It can't be adjusted to be any other shape. This is the wireless dog fence's most limiting characteristic, because in some cases, a circular shaped safe area just will not work. If that is the case for you, then the alternative is a wired fence.
For more information on wired or wireless dog fences and how to choose the right one for you, see the other pages on this website. If you know what you want and just want to get on with it, here you go.
