PetPal Gear Score

Whether the system actually attempts to keep the animal inside a boundary, and how well the underlying technology supports that attempt. Containment collars score high here; trackers score near the floor by design, because a notification is not a boundary. This is weighted heaviest because prevention is the job most buyers believe they are purchasing when they type 'virtual fence' into a search box.

Whether the system tells you where the animal is once it has left, and whether that capability is included or sold separately. A containment system with no tracking scores near the floor; a live tracker scores at the top. Recovery is the half of the problem that survives every containment failure, which is why it carries almost as much weight as prevention.

Whether the manufacturer publishes its recurring rates plainly, and what happens to the product when payment stops. A system whose core function keeps working unpaid scores at the top; one that becomes inert scores low, and one whose annual totals are not published scores lower still. This factor is weighted equally with recovery because it is the dimension buyers can least easily evaluate at the point of sale.

Whether the system uses aversive stimulus, and how wide a range of animals and properties its published specifications actually serve. Products with no stimulus score at the top of the welfare half; static-correction products are capped, reflecting the AAHA and AVSAB positions cited on this page. Narrow weight floors and large minimum property sizes reduce the fit half, because a system that excludes most households is a narrower answer regardless of how well it performs.