Average Price: $299 – $349
Pros: smallest wireless collar, rechargeable collar, small transmitter
Cons: small capacity, boundary wobble, slow correction response time
Best Uses: smaller properties, renters, people who can’t install a buried wire fence system
Overview
The PetSafe Stay + Play Wireless dog fence is the updated version of their 10-year old original wireless fence system and is compatible with the older system as well. This most recent version makes some great improvements over the old system including a much smaller transmitter and collar, a rechargeable collar, and a transmitter power loss alarm. The wireless electric dog fences are the fastest and easiest electric containment method for your dog. There are no wires to bury and you can even take the system with you when you go on vacation or move.
Hands-On Review
Small, Ergonomic Receiver Collar
The folks over at PetSafe designed this wireless collar with the dog in mind. This is the smallest receiver collar for a wireless dog fence on the market. The collar is safe for dogs as little as 5 lbs. and fits dogs with neck’s between 6” and 23” but we find it more suitable for dogs 12 lbs. and up. It is small compared to other wireless receivers but it’s not as small as some of the wired in-ground fence collar options. The receiver box itself is also curved to follow the shape of your dog’s neck and the contact points are pet-friendly plastic points – supposedly more comfortable than the traditional all steel version.
Rechargeable, Waterproof Collar
The collar on the PIF00-12917 is rechargeable and features 2-hour quick-charge technology. We prefer the rechargeable battery collars over the disposable battery collars in most situations and in this case it saves you the cost of batteries and the hassle of trying to change them. A fully charged collar battery will last about two weeks of regular use.
The collar battery is built into the receiver and is not user-replaceable if and when it needs it. For this, you’ll have to send the entire collar back to PetSafe to have a new battery installed. Fortunately, these rechargeable lithium-ion batteries have really long lifespans so you probably won’t even have to replace it.
The collar is also waterproof which is convenient if you’ve got any lakes, pools, or streams on your property.
Compatible With Older PetSafe Wireless
The new Stay + Play Wireless fence components are compatible with the original PetSafe Wireless Containment Transmitter (PIF-300) and Receiver (PIF-275). So, if you have the older model, you can use a Stay + Play transmitter to overlap and expand the boundary, or use a new compact Stay + Play collar in place of your older collar.
Five Correction Level Setting Options
The Stay + Play Wireless fence collars offer 5 static correction level options for each collar on the system. You can use an unlimited number of collar simultaneously and each can have it’s own correction level settings. The correction level is set on the collar itself and since you can change out the cloth collar strap on these collars, it’s easy to identify each dog’s Stay + Play collar so you don’t have to fiddle with the correction level settings each time you want to send your dogs outside. There range of correction level strength is sufficient for most dogs that the collar would fit. There is also a Stay + Play Stubborn collar available separately for extra large dogs or those with very low stimulation sensitivity.
¾-Acre Capacity
Wireless dog fence systems never have the capacity that wired in-ground fence systems do and the Stay + Play is no exception. The fence emits a circular boundary with a max diameter of 210 ft. (105 ft. radius). If you need to cover more space or want to make the boundary less of a circle and more of a rectangle, you can add additional Stay + Play transmitters, overlapping the signals to create a larger containment zone.
Reliability
Across the board, wireless dog fences are less reliable than underground dog fences. The boundaries are prone to variation (what we in the industry call ‘wobble’). Boundary wobble is acceptable up to a certain point, but the more wobble a system has, the harder it is for a dog to understand where the boundaries are and respect them. This results in dogs that become skittish around the outside of the containment zone and may have trouble learning the fence altogether. Wireless fences like this one also have big issues with interference. For wireless fence to work well, you really need a relatively flat tract of property with no large treed areas or big structures (especially metal structures). Obstacles like this all give wireless fences trouble transmitting the signal consistently and you can end up with dead spots where your dog can escape or the opposite issue, places where your dog is being corrected inside the boundaries, in the safe-zone. If you have a hilly or treed property, metal roofing or siding, or any other large obstacles, you’ll want to consider an in-ground electric dog fence.
Value
The Stay + Play Wireless offers great value. The least expensive of the wireless fence options, it has a good set of features and intercompatibility with the older model wireless fence and the stubborn receiver.
Conclusion
We recommend the Stay + Play Wireless for people who have relatively small suburban or urban properties who don’t want to or can’t install a wired fence system. This fence is also great for people renting or those who know they’ll be relocating in the near future.