The Canine Fence Story:
Henry and Carol Hill always loved and had dogs in their family. Henry loves Lab Retrievers and Carol has always had a fond spot in her heart for Basset Hounds. In early 80’s, Carol was a bookseller, owning two stores in suburban Connecticut, and Henry was a Wall Street banker. Today they are classic entrepreneurs, working together and with their daughter every day, to build a company whose only mission is to ensure pets are safe, healthy and happy.
The Hill’s first became acquainted with Invisible Fence® brand pet containment systems in 1982 while temporarily living in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania—an early test market for Invisible Fence system. They noticed their friend’s and neighbor’s pets seemed to always stay home without a fence, lying peacefully on the front lawn without any restraints.
When the Hill’s moved back to Connecticut in 1983, they tried to buy an Invisible Fence system for their Basset Hound, Sophie and Chocolate Lab, Alex. Daughters, Jennifer and Elizabeth, were very pessimistic claiming that it would never work! But they were wrong and the Hill family was pleasantly surprised! For the first time, Sophie and Alex were able to run free and yet stay safely on the Hill’s property all the time.
Enthusiastic about the results and frustrated with finding a provider, the Hill’s incorporated Canine Fence in November 1983 selling Invisible Fence systems out of the basement of their home.
While every entrepreneur remembers their first sale—Canine Fence’s was unforgettable with their first fence sold to actor Paul Newman and his wife, Joanne Woodward! The Hill’s installed their system early on a Saturday morning a little unsure what they were doing. However, they knew how important the job was to the success of their company and wanted the Newman’s to be happy with their purchase.
The company has grown over nearly 30 years from the Hill’s basement to its four historical building on a four acre campus in Wilton, CT. Canine Fence employs over 135 professionals who reside and work in six states—New Jersey, Southern New York and Long Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The company also serves as the exclusive distributor for Invisible Fence brand in Northeastern United States to fifteen independent dealers.
Canine Fence is a family-owned and operated business with daughter, Jennifer and son-in-law Eric Connolly. The success of the business is based on it’s focus on hiring and retaining great employees who are dedicated to providing an outstanding product that is not only effective but provides complete customer satisfaction. All Canine Fence employees truly care about dogs and cats and believe that Invisible Fence pet containment is the most effective way to keep every pet happy, healthy and safe at home. Every employee is encouraged to bring their dogs to work and each day has 10-15 dogs running and playing safely on the Canine Fence campus.