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.

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.

Before I review this product, I would like to make a comment on the packaging. It is perhaps the most difficult to open packaging that I've ever encountered, and can actually cause you harm when doing so. Like many products, this one comes encased in a hard plastic shell, the type that requires the use of a very sharp scissors or box cutter to open. The difference between this and the others, is that in addition to the hard plastic, there are 4 areas on the plastic front that are stamped/locked, so that regardless of how you open the package, you'll have the additional chore of trying to rip apart the 4 sealed/locked areas. It's absolutely mind boggling that a company would come up with such a poor design. At first, I tried using a scissors to break through the plastic. When that failed, I brought out a box cutter and cut all the way around the circumference of the transmitter. Once done with this, I struggled so much to rip apart the 4 sealed areas, that I ended up cutting my hands in several locations. I called up the company and told them that their packaging was downright dangerous to open. They explained to me that it's done this way, so that thieves won't be able to open the item and steal it from a store. In this respect, I guess they're correct. If a thief attempted to do so, he/she would become so frustrated that he/she might decide that it's just a lot easier to rob a bank. At any rate, although the packaging is absurd, I'm not deducting any points, as this is a review of the product, not how it's packed. After bandaging up my hands from opening the package, I read the easy to understand instructions for setting up the device. I should note that the reason for my purchase, was that my cat was peeing in our dining room, and I needed to find a way to keep him out of there. The round transmitter requires 3 AA batteries, while the receiver comes with a set of tiny silver ones like you'd find in a watch. The transmitter has the ability to be set for a distance of 2 feet to 12 feet in diameter. It also comes with the ability to set it for additional receivers, should you need to use the device for more than one pet. For this, you'll need to purchase an additional receiver collar. I set the transmitter up for the 12 foot diameter, and used the included tool to test its effectiveness. I found that it did cover an area that was 12 feet wide, but there were some dead spots within this range. Next, I decided to see what the static shock was like before placing the receiver on my cat. To be quite honest, it was slightly painful to me, so I can imagine what it would be like for a small animal. It's not something that I would recommend, unless you're in a situation where it's absolutely necessary to correct problem behavior. I really didn't want to use it on my cat, but I also didn't want him peeing in the dining room. The use of the device won out. My next step was to place the receiver around my cats neck. I did so, than removed it, so that I could adjust it to the proper size. I put it back on, brought him over to the "static" zone and to my surprise, nothing happened at all. I determined that the problem was that the hair around my cats neck was so thick, that the 2 prongs that are supposed to touch the skin, were only touching his hair. I brought out a scissors and tried to trim his hair, but he totally freaked out. Next, I brought out an electric haircut trimmer, and trimmed his hair down to the point where the prongs would be able to touch the skin. Again, this was not an easy task, as my cat freaked out again when he heard the sound of the trimmer. At this point, I was feeling extremely guilty and I really didn't want to use the device, but knew that I had to. I placed the receiver around his neck for the second time, than brought him back to the "static" zone. This time, it worked immediately. As soon as he entered the zone, he switched direction and ran off like a cheetah. I immediately removed the receiver from his neck and let a week go by. He did not return to the dining room, nor did he pee anywhere else in the house. A week later, I placed the receiver on his neck one more time. As a reinforcement, I brought him back to the "static" zone and he immediately ran away. Apparently my problem is solved and unless I encounter any more behavioral problems, I'll never use the product again. The bottom line is that this pet barrier works as advertised, but is not the most humane method of teaching an animal not to enter a certain area. It's listed on Amazon as being a teaching aid for dogs, however when I spoke with a representative from the company, they said it is also designed to be used on cats. My cat weighs 11 pounds, which is well within the acceptable limit for it's use. It can actually be used on pets weighing a lot less, so I can only imagine how painful the static shock would feel to them. Pros: More or less works as advertised. Easy to set up. Easy to use. Quickly teaches your pet not to enter "no pet" zones. Collar is adjustable to any size pet. Transmitter can be set for an area from 2 feet to 12 feet in diameter. Comes with a tester so that you don't accidentally shock yourself. Company representatives are very friendly. Cons: Infuriating packaging I consider shock sufficient enough to be considered inhumane. Receiver collar is uncomfortable, as prongs have to touch pets neck. Pets hair may need to be shaved for prongs to work properly. Would I purchase this again: Yes, but only if every other solution failed to work. Rating: 3.5 stars

I bought 3 of these things and I've used them for about 2 months so my review is pretty solid. 1. The range is half of what is advertised. About 5-6 feet maximum. 2. The plastic is very poor quality so the casing breaks easily. I can't close one of the battery doors because the plastic "hook" snapped off while being shipped to me. Also one of the collar adjustments snapped. From the breaks, its obvious that the plastic wasn't melted properly (tiny bubbles) and so a little stressed caused it to split. 3. The metal connections to the battery aren't springy enough, so once in a while I have to bend them up a bit to complete the circut. 4. The collar quality is pretty low too. I have 3 dogs, and they simply chewed through each others collars with ease. They haven't been able to do that with any other collars. 5. The barrier is a bit slow to react sometimes so if your dog gets excited easily, he'll run through the barrier so fast that he doesn't notice the shock. This happens A LOT. 6. And worst of all, it doesn't show in the picture, but the way this device works is the collar has two long metal prongs that MUST have contact with the dogs' skin. For one, I worry about the comfort for my dogs, but also it is too difficult to get the prongs to make contact with the skin. My dogs' fur isn't unusually long. Naturally one thinks that the best solution is to make the collar tighter. I've made the collars so tight that I worry that its hurting my dogs, and it STILL doesn't always make contact. The instructions even say that the dogs shouldn't wear the collar for more than 12 hours or else you risk damaging their skin. I was hopeful because so many other people gave this product good reviews, but now that I've owned three, I can't understand how this product has managed to earn such a high review score. This is the first time I've been disappointed by reading reviews. In conclusion, this is a pretty expensive device that just doesn't work very well. If you love your pet, you're not going to want to put this very uncomfortable looking device on them. And even if you feel that you're desperate enough to make them wear this, its too difficult to make the prongs make consistent contact with the skin. Even if you manage this, they will be smart enough to run through the barrier if the barrier is protecting something like a door way.

06/12/2015, I received the device, excellent shipping speed! I usually do not like writing Bad Reviews. Unfortunately, a couple of issues need to be presented for maker for better improvements and future customer knowledge. 1. The tester working as described, the beeps get stronger and stronger as the collar close by the barrier. However, the strongest beep still has a very quite volume, which required you to put the collar close by your ear (about 3 inch distance from your ear) in order to hear the beeping. The strongest beeps maybe enough for animal to hear the warning, but a very low-whisper beeping for human. 2. My cat is only 14lbs, and has 11inch neck wide. Sadly, I don't think the device work on my cat. She just walked passed by the barrier as it wasn't there. I tried to tighten the collar and brush her hair for direct contact with the metal, hoping for stronger shock, but, it is not doing anything so far. 3. I have ordered "ScatMatt" (Electric Matt) just in the case this device is not working. It will be coming in 3 days. Meanwhile, I will see within that 3 days of my cat reaction toward this device. Although, I am thinking of returning this device. Meanwhile, I will see within the next 3 days what will be my cat reaction and will update the review. Let's hope this work, because I dislike inconvenience of going to FedEx and returning any items. UPDATE! 06/17/2015 It has been 5 days of me having this item. This is what I can say, This item REALLY WORKS ON CAT!! At first, my cat tried to ignore the barrier as it was nothing. However, as the time goes by, my cat start to get annoyed everytime she goes nearby the barrier. My advice for future-buyer, 1. "This device work more effectively when the barrier is ON THE FLOOR, not on the top of the table or anything else. My cat get more shocked as I moved the barrier on the floor because the wave is wider on horizontal-wave rather than vertical-wave." 2. "Introduce the device for your cat, activate it, put it on your cat, bring your cat nearby the device, they will get shock a bit (it's not strong) and they will know how it feels. Next time, they won't budge to go nearby it." 3. "Wait for at least a day, I found it that the device work more efficiently as the time goes." Now, My cat will never go to the bedroom. She is even afraid to go nearby the hallway near the bedroom. I should have bought this item a long time ago! FYI: If you are wondering about how strong is the shock, My fiancée held in on her hand and walked toward the barrier, and she said that it tickles. Very Efficient Device for Cat!

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.