Dog went Walk-about today

[patvetzal]

Today our 1 1/2yr old Golden finally snuck out to the end of our driveway and crossed the highway to play with some kids he heard over there. Took about 20 minutes from the time he disappeared from our porch until I found him eating hotdogs with a guilty look on his face....
Our township has a leash law, but up until now he has been content to stay at home, beside the lake. (We have 80 acres and the driveway is about 300yds of hills and twists)

I often read about official indifference to loose dogs but in our case a passing police cruiser saw the dog cross the road, took the time to get on his cell phone or radio and call the local dogcatcher on a Sunday morning. The dogcatcher (an old buddy from years past) drove 20 miles from his house to track down a stray dog (not knowing he was mine). He talked to our neighbour (where the dog wound up) and then came to our place to confirm that the dog was home safely (and going to stay here).

My only complaint is that he fed our dog and now I am going to have to make sure that he doesn't try to make a return visit the next time he hears the kids over there.

 

[hcppam]

yes, now that will be a bit of a problem, you will just have to try to make you home more desirable and to get your neighbor if your dogs gos back to his house is to chase him/throw a can with rocks in it at him (but Don't Hit him) and most important you should make him your companion, every where you go, when you can. If that doesn't work fence him in, when you cant keep an eye on him. good Luck

certified dog trainer.

 

[BigDaddy'sGurl]

Sounds like you may have to find a way to contain your dog...obviously you can't let it run loose and hope it stays home...

Not trying to sound mean, but leash laws are in place for a reason, and we hear all the time on these boards of people upset because someone ignored leash laws and their chickens and other livestock are injured or killed as a result...

 

[ScaredOfShadows]

hes only a year and a half, hes getting to that typical dog stage. Yes he is going to try to leave again, hes now found out its fun or rewarding to leave "home" and roam. Goldens while loyal tend to be roamers when they get board (much like most retrievers and bird dogs tend to be in my experience). You are going to have to make it rewarding for him to stay at home, and probably as a precaution for HIM - put a fence in/up an underground fence would be suitable. He won't have roam of the whole place anymore - but he will learn to stay in the yard and you don't have to worry about him being hit by cars when he decides to try roaming.

 

[patvetzal]

The point I was trying to make is that the first time he has left the property in the past 15 months, he was only unaccounted for about 15 minutes and yet we had TWO government officials involved in looking after his welfare.
Due to the terrain (rocks, hills and lake) we cannot even go with an invisible fence. The e-collar has worked up until now, but we had put it on his brother who we were babysitting (there was no point in leaving his brothers collar and tags on as his owner was out of the country for a week).
This week he is either in sight, in his run, or in the house.....When he gets up he gets his e-collar put on, the same as we have been doing for the past year...

 

[nurse_turtle]

Invisible radio fence system by PetSafe. There's wire to bury. There's just a radio collar for the dog and you set the unit in the house and can adjust the size of the area he can roam.

 

[akcountrygrrl]

There are wireless fences that don't require a perimeter fence to work. You have a collar on the dog and the wireless fence transmitter plugged into an outlet in the house. You set the area of the fence and when the dog tries to cross the perimeter the fence will give it a warning beep and then a zap as necessary.

It's always amazed me how when you need a government official to help you, one can't be found. But mess up once and they are all over the place.

 

[patvetzal]

Friends of ours have the wireless fence system but due to the nature of the rocks and our buildings (one is concrete block and two have metal roofs, another has an aluminium lining) we couldn't find a spot for the transmitter that covered the area we wanted the dog to be in without having "blind" spots as well. We also wanted him to be able to go 100yds up to the barn and woodshed.
Those systems are great on fairly level open ground, but we only want to restrict his movements in one direction (when he heads out towards the highway). We take him for walks in the other direction and didn't want him to refuse to go beyond where his boundary would be with the wireless system....
If he heads up the driveway we nick him with the collar. It has worked so far and if he hadn't heard the kids accross the road (the only house within 1/4 mile) he probably would have stayed within his normal boundries.