Dogs Escaping

Just read something which kind of backed up my thoughts on dogs which escape from the garden and do runners.

My thought is that if a dog digs or jumps or persistently finds a way to escape from it's home then it is unhappy in some way. I've never had dogs who have wanted to run away. I've even put my dogs in the back garden, left them unattended and then discovered one of the gates is open yet my dogs have stayed in the yard. My ex's dog on the other hand couldnt be let out unless there was somebody with her as she would persistently jump fences and clear off and I believe that was because she had a rubbish life.

I think that if a dog is well loved, treated with respect, given adequate exercise, given adequate food and generally lives a happy, fulfilled life then there is no reason why it would want to escape...?

What are peoples thoughts? Anybody ever owned a dog who escaped regularly and disagrees with the above?

Yep, I disagree!

I have a rescue who would never move out of the garden. I also have Jake (who is a rescue, but who I got young, with no issues) who will ****** off to "have a look" any chance he get!s

He is merely inquisitive, he wants to know what is in that great beyond. I don't think it has anything to do with how much they love you, etc., it is curiousity.

It is a little sad that Simon would not move out of our garden (dog with issues). He knows I love him, but he is maybe scared to go far?

Sorry to waffle

I agree with this too. A friend at work has 2 JRTs who were regularly escaping and going walkabout. She choose to install one of those electric underground fences in the end as she had to pay a few hundred pound to get the dogs back from the dog warden and it was just before Christmas too. The dog warden said if they got out again and they found them she would have to pay £5,000 for each dog to get them back!

I thought that my dogs wouldn't want to escape from home. She works full-time and the dogs are pretty much left to their own devices and seem under-stimulated mentally so I guess they are bored and JRTs are high-energy dogs.

I know that my lad would wonder if given the chance. He would hear a dog or something and would just go 'to say hello'.
For this reason he is never let out unsupervised, as he can get a little OTT at times trying to say hello.

I don't think he has a bad life, he gets two walks a day, training sessions from 2+ times a day, lots of play times and suitables toys which he has free access to (kongs and tuff toys).

He does not search for a way to escape randomly, just when he wants to be on the other side, and the occasions on which he has gone he says hello and comes back, all happy and waggy tail. Obviously I can't tell him off for coming back, so prevention is the cure...

Those dogs which do try escape all the time, IMO do not have enough or any exercise. Maybe wrong, but a tired dog would not try to run off all the time, it would be too busy having a chew of a bone or sleeping.

My mother had a rescue dog which was a former stray from the streets of Liverpool. It's believed she lived rough for a considerable time, six months or more, and/or had been a 'latchkey' dog from a young age. She had been pregnant when finally caught and taken to a shelter, allowed to rear her puppies, spayed then sent to a rescue centre in Somerset for rehoming.

Right up til she passed away at the age of 14, Bessie could never be let off lead and care had to be taken when the front door was open.

Several times she managed to bog off to a nearby field and wasn't caught for up to two days.

Otherwise, she was a contented dog in a good home and well exercised, but never lost her desire to escape.

I disagree
Years ago I had a male BC....he used scale the fence disappear and come back on his own (scaling the fence on his return

I used to walk miles looking the streets for him, I'd return to find him sitting back in the garden by the back door as if he had never been gone

In the end we had to put up fencing that faced inwards towards the garden at an angle to stop him from doing it

I disagree too, all my dogs have been treated the same but Tyler my prt would never have dug under or gone over the fence but if he found a gap or some t**t of a builder left the side gate open he would take himself off up the park. He'd be overjoyed to see me when I eventually found him and would leap into my arms covered in muck and cover me in slobbery kisses. I'm pretty certain Syd would sit by the boot of the car for a bit and then come and find me to see what was taking me so long. Frankie would probably go and introduce himself to whoever was passing. No idea about Rio, Milan or Diesel to be honest.

I also disagree.

Craven will try to escape if he can smell other dogs nearby,he is a scent hound with a very good nose.

He will also try to escape if he can hear the near neighbours dogs playing.

He is not treat any differently or is any less happy than my last dog a Lurcher who would not dream of leaving the garden even though it was not secure then.

When I take Craven to a new field the first thing he does is run round the edges trying to find a way out,it's just his nature and the hound in him,it's not because he is unhappy with me.

My sis -laws dog was a beagle cross who would just escape and came back when he finished what ever he needed to do...

My friend has an ex homeless harrier hound who catches a scent and is gone he ends up at the local pub or takes him self to the allotment's ...

Are you seeing a trend with the breed type who have a wonder lust ..

I also disagree - Jack had a nickname 'Pappilon' because he was always escaping.

Robbie and lady now live like lords but the first chance they get, they are off down the road!