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Invisible Leash

A portable version of the invisible fence.
 
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I walk my dog 2-3 times daily, and I like to stop at a gas station every time as a reference point for distance. On cold nights, I like to get a nice, hot coffee. One problem with this: My dog likes to walk in circles around me, meaning I have to constantly swap the leash from one hand to the other to prevent getting entangled, and somewhere in this process I always end up spilling my coffee. HOT coffee. All over my hand and wrist.

So I propose a portable version of the ever-popular invisible fence. The unit would be small, about the size of a Blackberry Smartphone, and conveniently clips to your belt, allowing for hands-free dog walking.

If the dog (and therefore the collar) moves out of programmed transmission range of the unit (which would be programmable from 5-50 feet) the dog recieves a progressively stronger electric shock as he moves farther and farther outside the desired range.

Just like the invisible fence, this would take some training for the dog to get used to, which could be done by using a normal leash in conjunction with the invisible one. If the dog doesn't immediately figure out why he's being shocked, simply tug him inside the safe zone with the normal leash. Eventually, the dog will learn to stay within the set distance of his master.

21 Quest, Aug 09 2006

Working with an electronic remote trainer. http://www.deeprunr...undogsunlimited.htm
Pretty close. [jutta, Aug 09 2006]

"But wait ! If you order now, we'll include...." http://www.halfbake...e_20Herding_20Array
[normzone, Aug 13 2006]

Invisible dog leash http://www.zymetric...k86sCFegZQgodHyB8qQ
[Invisible Dog] leash [csea, Oct 18 2011]

[link]






       Or you could teach him to drink coffee. Then jerk on his leash. "Oh sorry, Spot. Did that burn?"
ldischler, Aug 09 2006
  

       Si-iiiiittttttt!
  

       could you attach the end of his lead loosely to a belt around your waist so he circumnavigates you at will?
po, Aug 10 2006
  

       Much more elegant [po], but I fail to see any where in your suggestion the possibility of electroshock dog training.
jellydoughnut, Aug 10 2006
  

       Actually, po, I hadn't thought of that, and that is a good idea until I manage to build a working prototype. Sounds like that ball-bearing utility belt idea several months ago. The only remaining inconvenience with that idea is when I'm walking with someone else and my dog walks around them as well.
21 Quest, Aug 10 2006
  

       Why not tie the leash to your neck as well?
jellydoughnut, Aug 10 2006
  

       A well trained dog should follow you closely, if ordered to. Take the time to train your dog, and no implants necessary.
DrCurry, Aug 10 2006
  

       One problem is that the dog will be restricyed to go wherever you go. What if you get hit by a car while crossing a street? Surely your dog won't be the greatest of your worries, but your dog will be trapped in the middle of the road. What if another dog attacks your dog? There would be no way to safely pull your dog away and he/she couldn't escape. Otherwise (+).
jellydoughnut, Aug 11 2006
  

       Get hit by a car and the unit will probably be broken and the dog will be freed. Another dog attacks my dog and it's getting my steel-toe under the chin.
21 Quest, Aug 13 2006
  

       //I note that a well trained dog will not stray and needs no leash or shock.//
  

       And how do you propose training a dog without some sort of aid? Even the best dog trainers use either shock collars or leashes, many with choker chains. This, I say, is more humane. Also, visual aids are not for the dogs, they're put there so pedestrians know where they are safe to walk.
21 Quest, Aug 15 2006
  

       // If the dog doesn't immediately figure out why he's being shocked //
  

       I'm not sure a dog would get this at all.
  

       I think they'd act a bit like Bart Simpson did when Lisa wired up a bun for her science experiment.
  

       Woof! <whimper> Woof ! <whimper> <run round in circles > woof ! <bite tail> woof! Bite passer-by..<whimper> woof ! <attack passer-by>....
monojohnny, Aug 15 2006
  

       Dogs are quite a bit smarter than a comical character who is intentionally devoid of intelligence. They can be taught. In fact, even Bart can be taught, as evidenced in the episode when he and Lisa went to military school, and he outdid his "smarter" sister Lisa in every way. It's a simple matter of finding a form of motivation they respond to.
21 Quest, Aug 17 2006
  

       I got an email today from someone who apparently came across this idea on an internet search, claiming a friend of his 'beat me to it' with a pair of patents, both of which are dated in 2009, and completely unworkable, and saying I should stop wasting time on development of it. I got a hell of a laugh out of it, just thought I'd share.
21 Quest, Oct 17 2011
  

       Great minds...
  

       It would be tempting to fit this to a chihuahuahua, then hop on a bus to test its long-distance stamina and speed.
MaxwellBuchanan, Oct 18 2011
  

       This is a really good idea. I wonder why it fared so poorly?
  

       Oh. I see. The never-wrong [Jutta] elluded to your idea being "Pretty close" to a dog training schedule.
  

       [+] IMHO this is not anywhere near the same.
MikeD, Oct 18 2011
  

       An invisible dog might be more interesting.
  

       Essentially, it would be a lightweight leash and collar which appeared to move autonomously, though in fact their weight would be supported by the "walker".
  

       The illusion would depend mostly on a number of fine inserts threaded along the leash at different depths. At rest, they would all tend to straighten out like an extended metal tape measure. However, those on one side could be partially pulled on to a spool (concealed in the hand of the "dog-walker"), to create a curve suggestive of slack in the leash.
  

       I'm thinking vaguely of carbon nanotubes.
pertinax, Oct 18 2011
  

       I didn't consider it to be the same thing, either, as the technology and equipment involved is completely different. It's like saying that cruise control in a car is "pretty close" to being the same thing as the gas pedal.
21 Quest, Oct 18 2011
  

       See [link] for a much simpler method which avoids the dog altogether.
csea, Oct 18 2011
  

       Ha! I saw that when searching for prior art.
21 Quest, Oct 18 2011
  

       Barbaric Woodhouse...
4whom, Oct 20 2011
  

       And... I'll be darned if I wasn't about to post "The Invisible Arm" ~ a necessary extension to Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations,... TBA.
4whom, Oct 20 2011
  

       //I got an email today from someone who apparently came across this idea on an internet search, claiming a friend of his 'beat me to it' with a pair of patents, both of which are dated in 2009//.
  

       Funnee. Hope you replied that you were 'shocked' and 'didn't see it coming'. Then promise you'll restrain yourself (as well as your dog) from having anymore any more ideas that have such a long lead over his friend's ideas. Bad dog.
AusCan531, Oct 23 2011
  
      
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