PetSafe Pawz Away Indoor Pet Barrier - Battery-Operated Indoor Invisible Containment Area with Adjustable Compatible Collar - Easy Setup for Furniture Protection

UPDATE: collar just randomly stopped working after 2.5 months. My dog wears it pretty much nonstop during the day, but she is not rough on it at all, the receiver still looks brand new, Still... it's annoying that a product as expensive as this wouldn't work for long. I contacted pet safe via phone (their website says they have a customer chat but I couldn't find any link to do that) they called me back within 10 minutes and the customer service rep was insanely helpful and friendly and sent me out a replacement collar no problem. I just had to have proof of my Amazon invoice and it falls under their 1 year warranty. Hoping this one works longer than the first one! WHERE HAS THIS BEEN MY WHOLE LIFE?? First, a little background: I am an experienced dog owner, I used to train dogs in college and I have owned 2 labs of my own (both very well behaved) before getting my food obsessed yellow lab who is now 7 yrs old. The last 7 years this dog has tested my patience to the max. She is a high drive, "working" lab who once ate through a Chewy box to get at her bag of food and ate 9lbs of dog food without us knowing (that was a trip to the ER vet and a story for another time). I have tried EVERYTHING to get her to stop stealing food from the counters/table, but she still thinks my kid's food is an all you can eat buffet. Finally my mom mentioned this little indoor pet barrier and after reading up on the several options out there, I went with pet safe for a couple of reasons: 1. I've had a pet safe wireless fence system for 10+ years and it still works. Hopefully this is just as durable. 2. This is battery powered with replaceable batteries so you can literally put it anywhere in your house, unlike some that need a plug. My dog is already trained to an e-collar and a wireless fence so she is very familiar with the "beep" and knows to back off. I put this collar on and turned the barrier on, and the results were IMMEDIATE. As suspected she went right for the piece of jerky I put on the table. She got the beep and then a shock and off she ran out of the kitchen. She now sits outside of the kitchen looking sad and dejected trying to convince you she is starving. We have left all kinds of food out to test her and nothing has been touched in 4 days. -Be aware that if your dog is not familiar with an e-collar they will likely need a little more training. -The level of shock can not be adjusted, it appears to be sufficient for my 60lb, VERY persistent lab, however if you have a super stubborn dog, or very sensitive dog, this may not be great for you (although I think it's worth a try!) - you will likely need to buy a couple of other bases if you have a weird shaped room/large area to cover. For instance, I want to keep my dog off the counter and the table. If the base is on the table, the 6ft radius doesn't quite make it to all of my counters, and vice versa. For now she's terrified enough of the beep that she stays out, but I may need to get another mini barrier for the table in the future. -I think the price is a bit expensive for what it is. The collar strap is cheap (I compared it to my OG pet safe fence collar and the quality is lacking). I can stomach paying $75 for the collar and barrier system, but I wish the add on barriers were less money. That being said.... if you're desperate like me, it's worth it. - this isn't really training her to not take food, which I don't love because I believe in correcting the problem in your training instead of putting a bandaid on it (I'm sure the second the collar is off she will take full advantage and go right back to stealing), so I intend to do some training with her on top of the barrier, but at least this can keep her from self rewarding when she steals food. Overall I'm so happy I came across this and as long as it continues to work without issue, it's a home run!

Update: I had the device set at its highest (12 foot) setting and placed in a 2.5 foot doorway at the end of a long, narrow hall. After 2 successful weeks, my cat walked right past this device, went through the dog door, and got torn up my another cat. This unreliable POS cost me an ER visit, a huge vet bill, and almost cost my cat an eye! At the vet, I was further horrified to find that the heavy collar had rubbed the hair off my cat's neck, and it was starting to weep and bleed at the top. The collar had been removed every evening, except for the roughly 24 hours he snuck out, and was tight enough to zap him a few times when I watched him "test it" earlier in the week. The batteries are still good, so either my cat ignored the zap long enough to stroll 12 feet past the transmitter, or it is NOT functioning consistently and reliably. The fact is, my cat is a 100% indoor cat and has been his whole life. When he HAS snuck out of the house in the past, he has never stayed out for more than a few minutes, and he doesn't go very far. This time, he was gone for about 24 hours, which makes me think that the collar might have actually kept him from COMING BACK INSIDE. He got past the transmitter once, then wasn't able to come back in! And he's not really the type of cat to stand outside and howl for help, he would just sulk and hide, unless he's in pain, which is why I wasn't able to find him for 24 hours, until he finally heard my voice and crawled out from underneath the house all torn up, eye swollen shut and oozing, covered head-to-tail in blood. "PetSafe" my ###. I should also add that I have experience with other electronic collars. I had never needed to use one before, until we adopted our recent pound puppy, a slightly-insane husky who streaked 1/2 a mile out of a fenced-in schoolyard AND across the four lane highway, because he thought the person calling him (ME) was one of the people standing over there. Since then, that shock collar has <literally> saved his life. That being said, this pathetic device would not work for most dogs. It is NOTHING like the device (in size, quality, or power) I trained our dog with. Maybe a small, timid dog, but I still doubt it. The collar is bulky and heavy for small animals. The shock is minimal. The beep it makes is pathetic and useless, almost inaudible, and there's no loud warning tone well in advance of a shock... which I've found to be VITAL when using these types of products. The beep should do all the work. They can get used to the shock or find a way around it, but the warning beep and anticipation of shock is worse, and ultimately what discourages them. This device might keep a timid dog out of a garbage can. Maybe. But DON'T COUNT ON IT KEEPING YOUR PET SAFE.

TL;DR: It works. Make sure the collar is tight enough to get proper skin contact and the barrier is set to a good distance. The shock feels at worst like a tiny rubber band lightly snapping the skin, and at the lightest like a finger giving you a tap. UPDATE TL;DR: About 6 months later, it's a great product when you take the time to work with it. It was my last ditch effort to save my cat from being rehomed after over two years of trying hormone diffusers, sprays, collars, extra food dishes, extra litter boxes, and it's the only thing that's ultimately been successful in protecting the furniture. The details: I'd about given up trying to keep my male cat off our kid's bed and a giant lounging pillow that he can't seem to help spraying on despite being fixed. I decided to set up the barrier in the doorway of the room with said furniture to just keep him out of it entirely while still allowing our other two cats who don't pee on anything to come in as they pleased. At first, I tried the collar on myself. As others have said, it's no worse than being snapped by a small rubber band at the strongest setting, and that's proven to be plenty for our guy (He's 2, not super fluffy or thick-coated). I did at first think it didn't work at all. I watched him literally walk over the barrier on max distance while it beeped at him incessantly (the beeping is pretty quiet) but he ignored it entirely. I looked at the directions in the kit for troubleshooting why it wasn't working, and one of the primary things was "make sure it's tight enough/getting proper skin contact." So I tightened the collar a bit, making sure it was more snug, still thinking it wasn't going to help, and waited to see if he'd cross the barrier into the room he's been banned from. Eventually, I heard the beeping once more and watched him attempt to walk past the disc. He suddenly stopped, jumping back and running away from the door. Success! I gave him treats and love for returning to the space he needs to stay in. He attempted it a second time that day with the same result, and now, the beep is enough to deter him from even trying. I love him very much, and as a result, I've spent so much money and time trying hormone sprays, collars, diffusers of all different brands to try and stop this happening without success. Waterproof cat blankets on things helped, but we needed a way to stop him entirely, as the blankets only provide so much protection, and I didn't want him to think he could keep spraying on things when we moved into our new house. I also hated keeping every door closed, as it restricts the other two well-behaved cats from being able to roam the space as they please, and three cats confined to one area because all the doors have to constantly be closed really sucks, and probably doesn't make the issue for him any better. I will definitely be buying more barriers to keep him out of bedrooms and any other rooms I don't want him peeing in. I will also give putting it on top of furniture a try to allow him to come into some rooms, but stay off the furniture. It's been a week since I got this, and I'm so relieved to see that it works. My furniture is finally safe, my other two cats can have the run of the whole place again, and the best part is that now I don't have to consider rehoming him, as this was literally the last thing to try before deciding that he needed to find a new home. I haven't seen how long the batteries last, but others in the question section reported roughly 3 months depending on how often your critter tests the barrier, so I'll keep an eye out for that when the time comes. UPDATE: It's been about half a year now, the system is still working great. I purchased two additional barriers to refine the space my cat can access so I can block objects he pees on rather than entire rooms being blocked off for him. It's worked insanely well. I routinely replace all of the batteries every 3-5 months to ensure they stay on. I now have a barrier that lives on the couch when we're not sitting on it, one to block him from the lounging pillow, and one for our son's bed. The bed was miraculous in how well it works; I put it underneath, close to the center, set it on level 4, and it's strong enough to go through the bed, frame and all, and trigger the collar when he gets on top of it. He can now come in the room and hang out again, just can't get up on the furniture he pees on. These really work well when you take the time to adjust them and find out how best to set them up for your situation. One thing I will say is make sure you're frequently checking (and you should always be checking pet equipment anyways), as after 3 months, one of the barriers had shut off and just wouldn't turn on anymore. Thanks to the training it gave my cat, however, nothing bad happened. He learned not to get on the couch, and he stays off even without the barrier. Customer service is amazing, too. All I needed was a screenshot of my Amazon order info, and I followed the support link Amazon provided, chatted with a PetSafe representative, and they immediately sent out a new device under the 1-year warranty.

We have a 1 year old golden retriever with lots of energy and likes to get into everything, including our cats' food and liter boxes. This system looked like a great solution for us. It really does work as described and for the most part kept our dog out of key places. We purchased extra discs to put in several locations all over our house. As long as you remember to put the collar on each day (you are not supposed to have the animal wear it more than 12 hours in a row) it does the trick. It delivers a warning beep when our dog approaches a disc area and if she gets too close delivers a mild repelling shock. The shock is not exactly pleasant but it is not inhumane either - I would put it on the level if you bang your elbow and get that tingly numb feeling for a few seconds. It's not fun but it isn't really that big of a deal but enough to deter the dog from wanting more of it and hence staying away from the area once she hears the beeps. In this aspect of the product we are satisfied. The frustration we have is in the poor design of the product. I know that cost effectiveness is a strategy that many companies are employing but who ever designed the product was clearly going for cost reduction and not durability. The entire collar function depends on a nickel sized circular battery cover. The circle cover holds two 2032 batteries inside it and pushes down into the center of the back of the collar. You use the included plastic tool (or you can use a coin) to twist the circle cover to an "On", "Off", or "Open" position depending if you want to have the collar on, off, or take the batteries out. The circular cover is held onto the collar back by three FLIMSY plastic prongs that break extremely easily with normal wear. Once a prong breaks the cover will no longer stay on the collar and hence the collar will no longer function. We are on our second collar in less than 6 months and have just called the company customer service for a new battery cover replacement which would make it our third breakage in 6 months. Whomever designed the collar needs to either provide better materials for the prongs so that they are not so prone to breakage or rethink the design so that the battery cover and the on/off are not so interlinked. In summary the product concept and functionality is as advertised but the design and quality of the product can ruin the entire satisfaction with the product. This is not that complicated of a product so it shouldn't be that hard for the company to look at updating it for durability. I would expect a product like this to last at least a couple years given the price.

My 4-year-old male cat was quite reluctant to follow simple rules we tirelessly attempted to instill in our household to the point he acted out without fear of repercussions. I believe in animal discipline to maintain a balanced and happy home. My cat was hell-bent on taking a less than agreeable path. We tried - and failed - using a variety of tactics. My wife and children held their collective breaths when I explained to them that we were out of solutions, that the PetSafe product needed to work or else our kitty cat would need a new home. And worked it did! In the first hour alone, he was zapped at least a trio of times. He fought back, wanting to be on the counter, to tear into any morsel left in the sink, but the collar did its job. In the first week, we placed 2 barriers in our home, and he learned quickly to avoid them. He literally avoids these areas altogether. Before the barriers, it was impossible to put meat or fish out to defrost. With the barriers, it's no longer a concern. The Pros and Cons: The product was designed to create an invisible barrier up to 12 feet, in 2-foot increments. While it worked to alter our cat's pattern of bad behavior, there are some things that are a concern. First, the radius is imperfect. We tested the collars before using on our cat. We found the distance programmed into the barrier was not true to spec. Second, the barrier's signal is directionally strongest east and west versus north and south. This means it works best along a flat surface like a floor or countertop. However, the collar might not activate if the cat walks along the floor adjacent to the protected counter. We had to dial it up, increasing the distance, to recognize the kitchen floor area right next to the counter. The signal, simply, is not strong enough to travel through walls or objects - metal or otherwise. It should be noted that the user guide does make a reference to this (i.e. not setting the barrier next to a dishwasher). Third, the collar's design has our cat scratching at it from time to time. I understand the instructions guide users to use the collar in spurts. When first deployed, I left the collar on for the first few days. As his behavior modified, so did the time he wore the collar. Still though, he scratches at it when worn. The material on the collar has frayed from the scratching - he is not declawed. So, it's something to think about for those who have kitties with claws. Lastly, and most importantly, we are no longer the bad guys. You can only do so much to discipline an animal and we were extremely unwilling to cross the line and become abusive. While our cat knew he was wrong for his actions, he was less than pleased when we attempted to put him in timeout. I know what some might be thinking, but trust me, he hissed and growled and sometimes attacked when we chased after him. That tactic simply did not work. When he chooses to make a bad decision, he shocks himself. We are no longer involved. That, all by itself, has made a significant difference in his attitude. He is much happier, friendlier, and entirely too playful now. But so are we. Our home has balance once again. Overall, I am pleased with the results because it worked to modify our cat's behavior, which meant that we did not have to relocate him to a new home.

While these CAN work great, and sometimes do, there are a few things causing me to write this review and give a low rating. 1. The battery cover is terrible. It has broken on all of our collars (we have gone through 3 between 2 cats in ~2 years). We were able to change the batteries a few times on each, then boom. A plastic piece breaks off and it won't stay sealed for the collar to work. 2. The collar has to be quite tight for the collars to work. My cat had an open wound from how tight the collar was at one point. Luckily, I check the collar fit often when petting the cats, but it was still a pretty bad sore. We are trying to decide if we want to stick with this brand (we have already put about $500 into it between the collars and pucks), or just switch to a different brand with less issues. I wish there was an option to just buy a 10 pack of battery covers or something so that we don't have to buy new colors when the battery cover breaks. Also, a lot of times when I read reviews, it's obvious some people don't have a ton of common sense, and you can attribute their poor review to that. If you look at other negative reviews for this product, we are all pretty much saying the same thing. Take that as you will. Does the product work? Yes, most of the time. Does it work ideally? No. For the price we paid, I'd expect much better quality, especially from the battery cover. I have a toddler, and it terrifies me to think of the battery falling out because of the faulty covering and having her ingest it. Also, it makes me nervous how tight I have to put it on SOMETIMES. Sometimes, it works fine comfortably loose for the cat. Other times, I feel like I have to make it too tight for the cat to even breathe to make it work. Very inconsistent and frustrating. I have bengals too, so it is not like they have long hair. Hopefully the company improves their battery covers or offers the option to buy spares because the battery cover issue is rendering these collars temporary.

If you own an obnoxious young Siamese cat like I do, you understand the frustration of demolished house plants, tracked-all-over counter tops, and strewn trash. But not anymore! To my great suprise, cats shock-collar train really well :D This device is really easy to use, though you won't be convinced after the first day. You DO have to make some adjustments to the system before it starts working the way it was designed to (zapping mr. kitty so he learns to not be into stuff!) Some little pointers you need to know when setting up your system. 1) Placement of the trasmitter (the fire alarm looking thing): be sure you understand that on the maximum distance setting (6 notches) it is only projecting a radio signal out 6 feet in any direction (a total diameter of 12 feet). So, if you set it next to your house plant, kitty is only going to stay a maximum of 6 feet away from it (which is plenty to make your plant feel more comfortable ;o) 2) Collar fit (very important!!): this system will not work AT ALL if you do not have the collar tight enough! Remember that animals have fur, and it will mat down under the collar after about an hour. My mistake was to adjust the collar to a comfortable fit, which basically left the contact prongs just floating in fur (they have to contact the animal's skin in order to correct/zap them). So, the first day I was a little frusterated when Khemos just laid all over the transmitters and never got zapped. There were a lot of warning beeps, but no response from him. The next day, I got smart and adjusted the collar to a VERY snug fit, and was sure to move the hair out from under the prongs (you should be able to get just a finger tip under the end of the prongs when fitted correctly). And that's when the product started to work.....and boy did it! :D Don't be afraid that it's too powerful for a cat though. I zapped myself when I was testing it, and where it made me drop the collar (I was not expecting the shock when I got shocked) it didn't stop my heart or "hurt" me *lol* Also note to be sure not to make kitty wear it all the time. It will eventually irritate the skin at the contact points, and there can be some hair loss. We keep Khemos locked up in 'his' bathroom at night, and put the collar back on him in the morning when he has run of the entire house. Also note that you can save the battery life on your transmitters if you turn them off when not in use. If you have a long haired cat, you may want to shave a little bit of hair under the neck when you first start using this collar. You won't have to keep kitty looking that way forever (don't worry ;o) as the collar tends to train pretty quickly. It doesn't take long before the warning beep is enough to send them running away from the transmitter. Some people are afraid to use training collars on animals because they believe they are inhumane. Nothing could be farther from the truth though. Think of it this way.... *lol* If you had to be "trained", would you rather be beaten with a newspaper, hosed down with a spray bottle (and thus start associating water with punishment) or be shouted at constantly? Personally, I would take the shock collar ANY day! :D MORE HELPFUL INFORMATION 4-6-2011 Ok folks....I realize that I've already written enough about this product, but there are a couple additional pointers that will help you get the most out of this product: 1) Both prongs must be touching the skin at the same time in order to transmit a shock/"static correction". So if you're testing the collar on yourself before applying it to your pet, you will need to be touching BOTH prongs in order to experience.....well, the experience ;O) 2) If you happen to have a kitty with razor sharp hind claws, you will probably have to replace the handy-dandy collar this unit comes with (our's was scratched to smithereens within 6 months). After spending a great deal of time trying to find a replacement collar that would easily thread through the receiver's slots, the thought occurred to me that I could easily make a new collar! So I went down to our local JoAnn's Fabric store, and purchased about 18 inches of black, 3/4" wide elastic. To construct the collar, simply cut the old collar off the buckle, and thread one end of the elastic through it. Pull about 1 inch through and stitch through both layers to secure the buckle (it's easier than it sounds). I chose elastic over plain nylon web for it's stretchiness, and it's made a BIG difference (don't know why Innotek/PetSafe hasn't thought of this yet!?) The elastic gives a little making the collar MUCH easier/faster to fasten to a snug fit on a squirming cat. It also helps the prongs stay in better contact with the skin if the animal scratches the receiver out of position. Lastly, I think the little bit of give provides a more humane fit (which i know is a weird point to make about a 'shock collar' ;o)

I read all the reviews and I still purchased this product. I never worked. Let me outline why you shouldn't buy this product 1. The product is poorly made. All the battery covers are very thin and fragile plastic that will brake with any minor force. This is important because if they break, your batteries fall out and the product is useless. 2. The actual range of the base is not even close to the advertised range. Using a tape measure, I calculated the range to be half of what was actually on the package insert. Now this isn't a major issue, if you know this from the begginig. 3. The collar fails to work if you dog has any significant amount of hair around the neck. For some reason, the prongs failed to make contact and thus this rendered the product useless. I have no idea if this problem would be solved by shaving your dog, but this seems a bit excessive in my opinion. 4. This is the most important flaw of the product. The range of coverage of the base is actually a horizontal line, and not a dome. What I mean by this is that the base has to be EXACTLY at the level of your dog's collar. Anything below or above this line renders the product useless. We placed ours over a small chair, but if you have a very active dog , they could jump over the base without being shocked. Adhering it to a wall also does not solve the problem, since the line of coverage is horizontal to the plane of the base (the coverage are would go from floor to ceiling if you adhere it to the wall) 5. The beeping sound is very faint. When testing this out on my dog, i had a hard time hearing when the beeping initiated. This may be a minor issue if the whole system worked adequately. I tried this out for over 24 hours and could not get it to work properly. Please, do not purchase, you are wasting your time and money.