[KT & SJ]

Another issue with stray dogs entering your yard is that they can carry diseases and can give them to your dog if not vaccinated. Strays can also carry worms transmissible to your dog through poop so you may want to get the dog checked for worms periodically if you choose the under ground fence method. Kids can get in to your yard and harass your dog or the dog might hurt the kids. Also I've run hot wire and the under ground fences and after a while mine have gotten grounded and stopped working or the dog figured out a way rub and damage or chew the collar up. After this happened the first time I checked the fence daily after that just in case. To keep every one safe I ended making a large dog run to turn them out in when I couldn't supervise them. Do you have any landscape you want to preserve? Some other important questions are how active are you and how active do you want your dog? How much time will you have for the dog? Do you want one for protection as well as a good family dog? There are a few others but those should get you started along with the other questions posted on this thread. Remember, many breeds live it to their teen and some live in to their 20's so view it as if your going to have another kid except this one will have the intelligence level of a three year old kid.