Dog Escape - Why Dogs Run Away and How to Stop Dog Escapes

You have probably experienced a dog escape, if not your own dog then perhaps your neighbor's dogs. I have come across many free-roaming escapees while walking my dogs in the neighborhood. Many of them will follow, for a time, behind me. They will go to locations we have visited to smell our scent, often crossing roads to do so.

There are other less socialized escape dogs who will charge us. They will usually stop a certain distance away, presumably to see if we are a threat. Luckily, none of them has seen us as threatening enough to engage. We do not establish eye contact, and slowly walk away while always keeping an eye-out for further charges.

Dogs that escape are dangerous. Free, unsupervised roaming is dangerous for the escaped dog because he could be hit by cars, step on broken glass, or eat something poisonous (many popular ornamental yard plants are poisonous to dogs).

Make sure to microchip your dog and securely fasten his dog tags onto his flat dog collar.

Escape dogs are also dangerous to pedestrians, especially children, who are often seen as prey because of their smaller size, excited scent, and fast movements.

Escape dogs are also dangerous to other on-leash dogs, who may become attack targets because they are in the escape dog's perceived territory, or simply because they appear too dominant or too submissive.

If your dog has escaped before, it is not sufficient to just block his initial escape route. He will almost always find another way to escape. The best way to stop a dog from escaping is to first identify why he is escaping, and then fix the root cause of the escaping behavior. This will bring long-lasting results that will lead to a better quality of life for your dog.

1. Boredom.

The most common reason for a dog to escape is simply boredom. Dogs need physical and mental exercise every day. Therefore it is important to walk your dog at least once every day, as well as to engage him in mental activities including dog play, interactive food toys, and dog obedience training.

Certain dog breeds need less exercise because they have lower energy while others may require at least several hours of activity every day. Make sure to research dog breeds carefully, so that you pick a dog that suits your lifestyle. Whatever breed you choose however, daily dog exercise is an absolute must.

2. Loneliness.

Dogs are pack animals. As such, they enjoy interacting with other dogs and with us humans. If you do not have much time to spend with your dog, he will become lonely and may try to seek attention and interaction elsewhere.

If you were locked up all day with nobody to talk to, even you would get lonely and look for escape.

3. Separation Anxiety.

Some dogs get extremely stressed and/or fearful when left alone. Such dogs may try to escape in order to find you and be reunited with you. While such stories are often touching and may make us feel needed, separation anxiety is unhealthy and may become dangerous for our dogs.

If your dog has separation anxiety issues, slowly desensitize him to spending time-alone. Go very slowly, and do not push your dog too far, too quickly. Dog medication is also available for treating the symptoms of separation anxiety, but they should only be used together with a rigorous behavioral modification program.

4. Territory Protection.

Some dogs, especially dogs that have not been socialized, will get threatened by people and other dogs who pass by their perceived territory, i.e. home. These dogs may feel so threatened that they will try to escape in order to chase intruders off their property.

Such dogs are often the most dangerous and will frequently attack trespassers be they cat, dog, or human. Many mail-carriers will attest to being at the wrong end of an overzealous, untrained guard dog.

5. Instinct.

Finally, some dogs are driven to escape because of instinct. The most common is prey instinct. All dogs are predators, and some dogs are bred to have a very strong prey drive. When such dogs see their mortal enemies, Mr. Squirrel or Mr. Cat scampering by, they are driven to give chase. Some may be so driven that they will perform great Houdini like feats to get to their prey. If your dog has a strong prey drive, make sure to install a solid, opaque fence so that he will be less exposed to external temptation.

Some dogs may also be driven to escape by the instinct to mate with female dogs in the neighborhood who are in heat. To prevent this behavior, consider neutering your male dogs. Neutering and spaying also have a variety of health benefits and prevents unwanted litters.

Have a secure backyard or dog run.

Make sure that your backyard is secure. A 6 foot fence is sufficient to keep most dogs from jumping over it. Dogs may also dig under fences. You may bury chicken wire along your fence line to prevent digging. The wire will be very uncomfortable against a dog's nails and most dogs will not dig given the discomfort.

If your backyard is too large to secure with a fence or if the terrain is too uneven, then consider building a smaller dog run. Make sure to bury the fencing at the edge of the run to prevent digging. Alternatively, a concrete floor will also take care of the issue.

If you are going to leave your dog in the backyard, make sure he has enough clean water to drink, and that he has proper shelter especially during very cold or very hot weather.

If neither of these options are available, then keep your dog inside the house when you are not around to supervise. If your dog is a constant barker, keeping him inside the house will stop him from disturbing your neighbors. At the same time, you may want to train your dog to stop barking.

You may also have heard of invisible or underground fences. There are a variety of these fences. Some are paired with a shock collar and will automatically deliver a shock to your dog when he nears the underground fence sensors. Others will deliver a shock to the feet of the dog when he touches a shock pad.

Studies on dogs show that these fences frequently encourage extreme aggression in dogs. In particular, dogs will associate the shocks to people or animals that they see rather than to their own actions. They will also associate the shocks to the environment and may subsequently become highly stressed just from being in your backyard.

Keep your dog well exercised every day.

Dogs that are only kept in the backyard will quickly become frustrated, unhappy, and stressed. Most backyards are easily explored by a dog in one day or less. And since your backyard is enclosed to keep your dog from escaping, there are few new scents to pique his interest.

In contrast, your neighborhood sidewalks are often travelled by a variety of humans, dogs, cats, squirrels, deer, raccoons, and other animals. There are a plethora of new scents to keep your dog engaged every day. In addition, during the neighborhood walk, you will often see people, dogs, cats, cars, and other interesting sights. This will socialize your dog to common neighborhood objects as well as stimulate his mind. Walks in the park are even more interesting because it is a new environment with new people, animals, objects, as well as a totally new set of scents.

That is why exercising a dog on a treadmill is no substitute for an interesting walk outside in your neighborhood.

Dog play, dog sports, and dog training sessions can be used in addition to the daily neighborhood walks to keep your dog engaged and happy.

Dogs that get daily walks will have very interest in escaping because exploring the neighborhood is a regular affair that they get to engage in together with you. There is little need for them bust out of jail to go exploring on their own.

Keep your dog engaged while you are away.

Provide your Houdini dog with interesting activities to do while he is home alone. Safe, interactive food toys such as the Buster Cube, or the Omega Ball are good ways to get your dog to focus on working for his food rather than obsessing about being alone. You can also put wet food in a Classic Kong, and then freeze it. This will keep a dog engaged in slowly licking out the yummy wet dog food.

There are also timed dog food dispensers available that will release a toy after a set period of time. Such a device allows you to spread out the delivery of various toys and gives your dog something new to do every so often.

Also leave your dog with some safe chew toys that he can work on while you are away. I will sometimes stick cheese into their chew toys to motivate my dogs to chew on them.

You may also want to leave on the radio or television so that there is some background noise. This will keep the environment closer to how it is when you are home and will also mask out unusual sounds coming from outside, which can sometimes encourage a dog to escape simply to see what is on the other side.

Do not leave your dog alone for long periods of time.

If your dog is prone to escaping then do not leave him alone for long periods of time. Dogs are pack animals and need frequent interaction with other members of their pack. At the very least, try to come home during lunch-break to spend some time with your dog and break up the tedium of his day.

If you are busy or must work the entire day, then consider putting your dog in dog-daycare or getting a pet sitter to come over in the middle of the day. You can also hire a dog walker to take your dog out for a fun park walk with other dogs.

All these activities will not only help to exercise your dog, and improve his quality of life, but they will also help to socialize him to a variety of dogs and people. A socialized dog is a joy to have because you can take him to a variety of locations with you, and he will be comfortable and familiar with new experiences, new people, and new dogs.

If none of the above options are possible, then consider having a friendly neighbor come over or having your dog visit with them.

As pack animals, dogs should not be left alone from 9 to 5 with nobody for company but themselves. This will ultimately lead to extreme frustration, boredom, depression, and aggression.

Train your dog on acceptable guarding behavior.

Most dogs, especially dogs that have been bred to guard and protect, will bark to alert you when there are unusual sounds or activities in the vicinity of your house. This is a nice feature because if there is actually anything wrong, you will know right away.

However, you do not want your dog to practice obsessive territorial behavior and develop barrier frustration. Dogs with barrier frustration may charge the fence or engage in non-stop barking, as well as dig or jump to escape and protect his territory.

When your dog alerts you to something unusual with his bark, it is important to listen to him and inspect what caused the alert. Make sure to thank your dog for the warning, and praise him for doing his guard duty well. However, you should stop him from further barking, and from any barrier frustration behavior.

While you are doing your inspection, issue an alternate command - such as Go-Mat or Down. Once you have finished your inspection take your dog with you so that he does not continue to obsess over the external stimulus.

If your dog continues to bark or exhibits other territorial behaviors, try to redirect him into doing something else - such as chewing on a cheese chew toy. If that fails and he keeps going back to barking at nothing, then put him in time-out briefly and repeat until he stops and is calm. Once he is calm make sure to reward him with praise and affection.