Farm Dog question

[toletiquesbysam]

We have been given a farm dog he's a golden retreiver who has been with another dog out on a farm running free. He is about 5years old and has been free ranging on the farm for his whole life.
He came to us Monday night and so I've overnighted him in the garage and during the day he's been in the kennel. Everyday I let him out numerous times to run/bathroom because he's not doing his buisness in the kennel area and I know he loves to run and is used to his freedom. He does come back and reluctantly goes in the kennel-very reluctantly. He likes being in the garage overnight, but DH doesn't soo that won't work for everynight. Last night I tried to leave him in the kennel the whole night and he barked and barked and barked so I finally put him in the garage. I would like to let him be a farm dog again, but I'm very worried about him roaming. Soo far he's stayed close when we do let him out but I'm worried leaving all day for work what he'll do. What are your suggestions/comments?
Thanks!

 

[mullers3acers]

Our Abbie is a good dog but she tends to roam to the neighbors from time to time. I am at home quite a bit so she goes out when I am out and about. Otherwise she is on a chain when no one is home. Dogs are territorital so they will stake their claim and know what to do.

 

[Vcomb]

let him run free while your home doing chores and stuff. if he plays fetch play with him while outside working. eventually he'll get the idea that its a good idea to stay around. if you're really worried, you can put two posts in the ground at 45 degree angles, run a cable between them however many feet long, then attach a second cable to it a couple of feet long to attach his collar to. set up a dog house with some straw in it at one end of the run. if he was running lose at his old farm and not wandering far then he should be good. main thing is keep him mentally occupied so he don't go looking for excitement elsewhere.

 

[greyfields]

We have an 8 month old border collie. We haven't stopped since we got her. Unless you have lots of chores to do which include daily exposure to livestock, I'd be really scared to recommend them to anyone.

With the warnings said, I have never, ever met a smarter, more enjoyable creature than our Piper. It has been a utter pleasure owning her and watching her develop. Their ability to learn and be usefull to you is simply unparalleled.

 

[glowworm]

first question,

is he neutered?

 

[toletiquesbysam]

I'll have to ask them if he is...........didn't think of that one!!!

 

[glowworm]

In male dogs, its very obvious if they are neutered or not....Just look under the tail, if he has the "goods" he's not neutered.

 

[adoptedbyachicken]

Consider drag training if he wanders. However if you let him loose while your home, and are not outside with him, and he is not wandering, do nothing! My dogs stay at home and I'm gone for 14 hours on some shifts. I check up on this every time there is fresh snow, and if I come home at an odd time they are always there, touch wood.

Was he a problem to the previous owners? Is this concern general or based on some fact of history?

 

[toletiquesbysam]

I'm not at home to look him over to see if he's been neutered, but I will tonight. This dog belongs to one of my DD high school teachers. She found out we were moving to an acreage and mentioned to DD that she had 2 farm dogs she was looking for a home for and I really didn't want a dog yet, so I told DD to tell her No. Well she called Monday night and they go out to their farm (they now live in town but still kept the farm) to check on things about once a week well it'd been longer this time and she called in a panic because both dogs had been gone for a few weeks and then this dog Griffindor had returned to the farm and was missing it's tags. She thinks someone took the dogs and Griffindor got away. Soo she didn't want to leave him there. She said they have never had problems with him running, the dogs knew the boundaries of the farm and always stayed in them. So I said we'd take him and see how he did. He's been wonderful soo far and since I've never had a "farm" let alone a farm dog I just want to make sure I do this correctly so the dog is not a hinderence to us or our neighbors! This weekend when we are outside doing chores I'll let him out with us. He seems very eager to please and happy to have people around so hopefully we'll do well together!
ps-They have a neighbor check on the dogs and give them fresh food/water daily so he's the one who mentioned the dogs missing for a few weeks.

 

[Chirpy]

Wow - sounds like this dog is in a much better situation with you than before.

Goldens are not known to be runners. Once they understand where family/home is they will usually stay put and not wander. However, every breed has dogs that didn't read the book and don't follow the "rules" for that breed!

What he really needs for a few weeks is to be as closely involved in your lives as possible. If you can bring him in the house please do so, if not, then keeping him in the garage at night for a few weeks is the best plan. Play with him whenever possible during the day, let him know you are his new family and that you love him.

You do need to become pack leader immediately so make sure he obeys you and you are consistent with him all the time. If he's not neutered get him done right away, many intact male dogs will roam because they are looking for a female!!

When we moved out to the country we were able to put together a dog run (with chain link panels) and we used that to keep our city dogs in when we weren't outside with them. They had dog houses and were fine in there. Whenever we were outside they were let loose to run around with us. Eventually we stopped using the dog run and haven't used it in years now. We were fortunate that our dogs quickly understood this was home and they didn't leave our property. But, they were Shepherd mixes and are known as 'guard' dogs so they tend to stay put and 'guard' their property/family.

Good luck.