How Do You Keep Your Dog From Running Away?

A combination of denying access, proper training, and decreasing your dog’s desire to leave are how to keep your dog from running away. There’s lots of fun stuff to see and do outside of your yard, so you need to make being home as fun as possible. Of course, you also need to make escape impossible in order to keep your dog safe and to protect yourself from any legal consequences.

Training

Proper training is a must. If your dog obeys even the most basic commands, you’ll be able to stop them from running away — even if the stimulus is hugely tempting. Of course, this only works when you’re with your dog, so you also need to consider how to stop your dog from running away when you’re not there.

Preventing Escape

Search your fences and gates for weak spots and shore them up. If your dog digs, you’ll also want to bury chicken wire or rocks to stop them from getting out from under the fence.

Make Home More Appealing

The reasons your dog runs away could be boredom, loneliness, or lack of exercise — and those are all things you can easily fix. Take your dogs on two or three good walks a day, spend more time playing and interacting with them, consider a dog playmate, and provide lots of interactive toys.

If your dog spends most of them time outside, consider bringing them inside. You could work on crate training for the times that you’re away. Another option is doggy day care rather than leaving them outside alone all day.

Finally, if your dog is not spayed or neutered, doing so will reduce their urge to roam.

If all your attempts fail, talk to an animal behaviorist who can help you develop a plan to keep your dog safe and prevent them from running.