Does your dog ever run out the house or gate?

One day when my dog was a little less then a year old my door was open a bit and my dog ended up darting right out the door and into the road! Luckily he did not get too hurt but he did end up getting hit by a car and giving us quite a scare.

 

Lola will sometimes make it outside. One day my mother was visiting. She goes outside and Lola follows her. I thought she knew Lola was behind her. A few minutes later, my mother comes in saying, I didn't know Lola followed me out. She said she looked and saw a dog just like Lola. She said to herself that dogs looks like Lola. Then she realized it was Lola! lol! Too funny!

 

That's the scariest part of a dog running out of the gate. It's horrible if it gets under the wheels of a passing car. If it's killed immediately, it's a painful experience. If it's maimed for life, it would be an even more painful experience.

 

One of Shakira’s daughter (that I gave my sister-in-law, beloved and well-taken care of by her) run out of their house. A passing tricycle hit it and well, it died. She was crying so hard because she treated it like her baby. So you could imagine the pain.

Puppies are usually curious of that way out. I also read in “White Fang” when White Fang was a pup, he would be curious of that light in the opening of the cave so he would often go there, following the light as if that opening has something more to offer him than the secure space where he was. But his mom would often take him back inside. One time when he was left alone, he fills up his curiosity, follow the light, went out from that opening and discover a new world. Unfortunately, it was a harsh one.

So better make sure that the gate is close or you’re asking for a heart break.

 

Exactly. Another thing to look out for is under your car. Somehow dogs think that it's a great place to be. So not a few dogs have ended up under the very wheels of their owners own cars.

 

Now, that is really scary. Good thing I don’t have a car. Haha!

Kidding aside, so before riding his car, the master should see that all of his dogs are waving at him goodbye or he should look under his car that nothing is there. I can’t imagine a pup or dog being run over by a wheel because I have seen rats or cats whacked on highways. Terrible sight. Terrible, terrible sight.

 

We have an electric fence in our yard, so we've never really worried about the dogs running off into the streets thankfully. Keeping your dogs enclosed somehow is extremely important, as if they get loose a whole host of things could happen to them! They could be stolen, run over, scooped up by the authorities, or you might end up with some unexpected puppies!

 

I’m not familiar with electric fence but I know that they are grounded. Do you set how grounded it is? How does it work for your dog so far?

 

That's an interesting use of an electric fence. All this while I thought they were meant for keeping out intruders. So what voltage do you set it at?

 

Fortunately, this has never happened to Homer, he has never run away. I don't know what would I do if he did. I think that I would go into panic mode. He is so tiny!
I always make sure that all gates are locked. I check everything twice before I let him play in our garden.

 

My rat terrier Stefano once ran out the door and the front gate while I was barefoot and cooking. I had to chase him for two blocks barefoot and yelling his name until he stopped to smell an elderly woman. I got back just in time to turn the stove off before the food burned.

 

Well, I think that it's a little better to run barefoot than to run in heels, so it could have been worse, lol I'm glad that you managed to find him!

 

Our dog use to rush out the door when she was younger. We decided to train her not to do this since we knew it could be potentially dangerous if she ever ran toward the street. We saw Dog whisperer and used the techniques Cesar Millan demonstrated. It took some time but chacha no longer rushes to the door when someone leaves it open.

 

Most dogs given the chance to get out will if they are normally confined other than the daily walk. All those new smells of people and other dogs are to good to miss. The fear is of the dog being stolen or getting involved in a road accident. Although it's not seen so much now with dog wardens etc patrolling but "escaped" dogs going home used to be so easy to spot. Tail down nose to the ground with obviously nothing else in mind but following it's own scent back home.

 

As for stealing dogs, I think that it depends on a breed. In my country, I've never seen any dog wardens patrolling streets and I heard about at least few Yorkies that were kidnapped Yorkies are very popular here.
So in my area, it's still a problem.
It's another reason why I always close all gates.

 

Mine did that a lot! I'm talking about my deceased shnauzer male, he was a dart!!! He used to run as soon as he saw the gate open, there was a time that he ran away so fast that we thought he'd be gone for good this time! My dad managed to catch him tho, and we are so glad he did! Because that dog didn't know how to avoid danger, and would often try to attack bigger dogs!

 

This must have been so scary! It's really hard to catch a dog, they're fast. My Homer managed to run away only once, when he was a puppy. I almost got a heart attack when I saw him running down the street. It was a nightmare
But a year ago or so my sister accidentally left the gate open and despite of it, Homer stayed in our garden