The Innotek Instant Pet Barrier is the perfect solution for a cat or dog owner who needs to protect certain areas. My mother, for example, will be purchasing one of these wireless pet barriers because she has a cat that keeps trying to get outside. Today I plucked a tick off of him, and last week my mom bathed him for fleas.

I got a dog earlier this month — a four month old female pug, Leah. She’s great, but I know how puppies and even young dogs can be when it comes to housetraining, so I decided from the get-go that the living room and areas beyond it would be off limits to her. Unfortunately, the kitchen opens up into the living room. We didn’t want to put up a fence or pen the dog in, so I started looking around for wireless solutions.

Innotek’s Instant Pet Barrier was the easiest solution I found, especially since it’s suited for indoor use. I bought it at That Pet Place for $74.99, and set it up within a few minutes that night (minor complaint: my friend had to adjust the slots that hold the required AA batteries, because they were too loose to make a proper connection).

It works perfectly. The disc works by broadcasting a “do not breach” radius up to six feet in each direction. The animal wears a collar (quite adjustable; I had to cut off a good five inches worth of excess collar length) that has a small, black box on the front of it, with two rounded prongs that come into contact with the animal’s neck. If the animal gets too close to the “do not breach” area, a slow, warning beep sounds. If the animal stays or progresses, the beeping speeds up, and is followed by a shock. FYI, I accidentally shocked myself on the collar the other night, and it’s not any worse than coming into contact with a metal surface and getting a static shock.

Rating: ★★★★★

8:21pm