How to Prevent Your Dog From Escaping

You think you have a good high fence and a nice beautiful yard to keep your dog safe and happy. Still, your dog is such an escape artist that he will manage to cross all the boundaries by digging or jumping. While there are dogs who are satisfied to stay in one place, the others are quite certain to find any hack to break the limits for exploring the world. Before taking a tour on ways to stop your dogs from escaping let us try to find out why they do so.

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Reasons Why Dogs Escape

The first thing you need to do is try to find out a reason why your dog flees away. If you couldn’t find out the exact reason then you can hardly manage to keep him home. These could be the possible causes:

  • Your dog isn’t spayed or neutered.
  • He fears or has a phobia of loud sounds.
  • Your Pooch has separation anxiety and he escapes immediately after you leave.
  • He is left alone for an extended time without any means of interaction with you.
  • His environment is comparatively boring, without other pets or toys.
  • He is especially an active dog (sporting breed) and doesn’t like staying home.
  • His genes stimulate his hunting instinct and he leaves the yard in search of prey.

My dog had multiple reasons why he wanted to cross the boundaries so I had to work on many aspects to keep him safe. I am sharing a few of the ways I implemented and a few others that you can.

7 Ways to Keep Your Dog From Escaping

dog sitting in the fenced area

Keeping your dog busy is essential to keep him away from outdoors when you are not walking along. Moreover, if your house is not pet-friendly there are further chances your dog would want to explore the wild. Try implementing these ways to stop your dog from escaping.

#1. Take Your Dog on a Walk

One of the main reasons why your dog tries to escape is that he is bored and wants to explore the outdoors. Again the active sporty dogs like Labrador retriever, Australian Shepherd or German Shepherd love to stay very active and relish to go on long walks and play in big parks.

If you have one such dog then do not forget to take him out daily and let him burn his energy by playing. Do not forget to leash your dog when you take him out on a walk.

If you stay at work for extended periods, you may request your neighbor or friends to take your dog on a walk. You may also leave him in a ‘dog daycare center’.

#2. Train Your Dog

Teach your dog a few commands like sit, run, come, eat, go and so on. Try to train him not more than five to ten minutes every day until he starts obeying the order. Teach him obedience, by firmly asking him to follow orders. Give him a treat every time he obeys you, making it a rewarding experience for him.

Never punish your dog if he runs out of the yard. The dog might associate the punishment with you and he might start getting afraid of you.

Never correct your dog if he flees due to fear or separation anxiety. He needs your love to overcome fear. Pet him if he is afraid of loud sounds like those of fireworks. In addition, if he escapes immediately after you leave home, he actually misses you and wants to be with you. Try to keep him engaged by giving him more options to play in your absence.

Use water spray or loud sounds if the dog is trying to escape but not due to fear. This shall scare him back. Once he realizes that you made the noise or sprayed the water, he might not escape when he sees you around.

#3. Install Wired Or Wireless Dog Fence

wireless dg fence and flags

When it comes to keeping your pooch to the fenced area, wired or wireless fence, electronic containment systems are the best. Nevertheless, wired and wireless fence work when the three things are understood properly; technology, training, and electronics. If you overlook any of these factors, there are chances of failing this containment system.

Technology helps you to understand what the ideal places to install the fence are, training helps your dog to understand the reason of uncomfortable feeling caused by the receiver collar and how to stop it, and electronics helps you understand what the static correction is and how it can help your pooch without harming them.

Wired (In-ground) or Wireless fences can be the ultimate solution for keeping your beloved pet to the yard if you set it up correctly and know the importance of training your dog to stay to the containment system. Also, choosing the best wireless dog fence has a direct relation with the success of the fence.

#4. Install a Fence Smartly

My dog could easily jump through a 4 feet fence to escape. While many learn to climb a 5 or 6 feet fence too. Before bringing a dog home you better install proper fencing to avoid any tragic endings. Don’t wait until your dog runs onto a busy road. Use one of the following fencing techniques.

Increase the height of your fence, if you have a small dog. A 5 feet fence will work well if you have a little cute friend like Chihuahua, Beagle, Bichon Frise or a Shih Tzu.

Install an L-footer along the base of the fence for your digging experts. Your dog will not be able to dig through this fence and can safely play inside the yard.

Remove all the aids to escape if there are any. Look for any table or object where your dog can climb easily to get on a high fence. It can be the dog house too where your dog may climb-on to escape through the fence. Remove all those things to avoid him to get away from the boundaries.

#5. Neuter or Spay Your Dog

If your dog is not neutered or spayed he/she definitely will try to find a mate by exploring outdoors. A female dog might also get pregnant which is desirable as it leads to unwanted pet population growth. Neutering and spaying the dogs help to reduce their sexual roaming in 90 percent of the cases.

#6. Leash on Your Dog When Guests Come Home

Dogs escape easily from the main doors whenever you open it. When your guests visit you, it becomes a difficult part to keep him home as the door opens repeatedly. If you leave him in the yard and you stay busy for long with the guests, possibilities are high that he might escape of boredom. Keep a hold on your dog at such times by leashing him.

#7. Entertain Your Dog

Play with him whenever you get time. Take him out in parks to play with balls and Frisbie.

Feed him before you to sleep so he doesn’t wander to search a prey.

Switch on the TV for him. He will stay busy watching it and will like staying indoors.

Supervise Your Dog

dog staring at fence

Conclusively, whether your dog is a climbing expert or a digging maestro, these tips will definitely help you keep him safe. If nothing helps to keep your escaping canine from running, then never leave him in the yard unsupervised. Spending time with your dog outside will be rejoicing for both of you. As I mentioned earlier, keep your dog busy and entertained to make your home along with the yard an enjoyable place for him.

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