Standard Containment and Return-to-Paddock

The eShepherd system uses two containment algorithms to manage animal movement within virtual paddocks: Standard Containment and Return to Paddock. Understanding how each works helps you manage your animals safely and effectively.

1. Standard Containment

When an animal approaches a virtual fence boundary, the neckband delivers an audio cue exactly at the drawn fence line.

Audio Cue

• The neckband plays a tone for up to 5 seconds.
• If the animal retreats during this time, the tone stops and no further stimulus is delivered.

If the Animal Does Not Respond

If the animal does not retreat during the audio cue:

1. The neckband delivers an aversive pulse.
2. A mandatory 5-second audio tone follows before the next pulse can be delivered.
3. This audio–pulse sequence repeats until the maximum pulse count is reached.
4. Once the maximum is reached, the animal is deemed to have escaped and the neckband ceases all stimuli until the animal returns to the inclusion zone on its own.

The neckband uses audio tones and mild electrical pulses only. It does not use vibration.

Virtual Fence Activation Scenarios

• Animal in the inclusion zone at activation: The neckband begins monitoring proximity to the boundary. Audio cues are delivered if the animal approaches the fence line.
• Animal in the exclusion zone at activation: The neckband remains inactive. The animal may re-enter the inclusion zone freely without receiving any stimulus. Standard containment resumes once the animal has returned.

2. Return to Paddock

This feature guides escaped animals back into the virtual paddock.

How It Works

Once an animal has escaped:

1. The neckband waits 30 seconds before delivering any further stimulus. This pause allows the animal to calm down.
2. If the animal remains stationary, the neckband stays inactive.
3. If the animal moves toward the nearest virtual fence segment, no stimulus is delivered.
4. If the animal moves further away, the neckband delivers audio cues and aversive pulses up to the configured maximum.
5. If the animal changes direction back toward the fence at any point, stimulus stops immediately.

The neckband determines direction based on distance to the nearest virtual fence segment only — it does not track heading or orientation. This means the animal has 180 degrees of freedom to move back toward the fence; movement in the opposite direction triggers stimulus.

Between each set of pulse stimuli, a minimum rest period applies before the sequence can repeat. The default rest period is 3 minutes. If the animal exhausts all configured stimulus sets, virtual fencing is disabled and an escape alert is sent. The system only resets once the animal has returned to the inclusion zone.

⚠️ Important: The Return to Paddock feature is initially activated by your eShepherd representative. After that, you can turn it on and off yourself through the web portal. The number of audio–pulse pairs and the rest period between sets are configured in consultation with your eShepherd representative based on your animals' breed and behaviour.

Recommended Use

Return to Paddock is designed to guide individual animals — or small groups that have escaped together — back to the paddock.

Do not use this feature to move an entire group of animals to a new paddock. When a group hears audio cues together without the context of the rest of the herd, animals can become confused about the true boundary.

For the correct way to move animals between paddocks, refer to: How-to Move Animals Using eShepherd.

Summary of Common Situations and Neckband Responses

v2.0, 03/2026

Updated on: 17/03/2026