Do you let your dog go out on his own?

@mermaidivy (15395)
United States
April 4, 2011 11:08am CST
We have a fencing yard for our dog so he can stay out and play. He has escaped a couple of times so far, one of the times he found a hole under the fence and he escaped from there and the other two times, the gate was open so he just left, we had to drive around the neighborhood to find out fortunately he didn't go too far. He did it again yesterday, my husband was moving wood from the front yard so he left the gate open... I am very worried that when he runs away, he is not neutered so I concern that he will go find a girlfriend and not come back home. I don't want to yell at him though when he comes back otherwise he won't come to me anymore if he thinks he gets punishment whenhe comes to me.
4 people like this
15 responses
@paula27661 (15811)
• Australia
5 Apr 11
Our dog Cassie is outside all the time but she cannot get out unless one the gates is left open. I remember getting a call once, a few months ago, from a lady who questioned me about whether we owned a dog named Cassie and when I said yes she replied, “Well you better come and get her, she’s right here...” When she gave us her address we realised that Cassie was two streets away. Thank goodness she was wearing an ID tag with our number on it! We have been extremely careful with her ever since!
@paula27661 (15811)
• Australia
6 Apr 11
It is such a shame that some dog owners do not care to keep their dogs inside their yard, it is sad for the dog...
@mermaidivy (15395)
• United States
5 Apr 11
Glad that people actually called you back and have ou take back the dog. Some nasty people could just take your dog away. Two years aog, there was always a big dog came to my house and looked for my dog to play, I found his tag on his neck and called his owner and had her to the dog back home but apparently she doesn't really care whether the dog escapes or not becuse he just keeping coming back to my house. I feel bad for the dog if he got into anything bad., I hope not.
1 person likes this
@SIMPLYD (90727)
• Philippines
5 Apr 11
I don't know if this is true with all dogs. But ours, would be left to roam our neighborhood early morning, since fronting us and at our sides are still vacant lots of the subdivision. They would really play by themselves, run here and there and do their peeing and defecating on those grasses. Then, they would surely comeback after they have played enough and would you believe, clang the gate so loud for us to let them in. I guess, it's because they know that they will soon be fed with their breads for breakfast and they don't want to miss it.
@mermaidivy (15395)
• United States
5 Apr 11
For a lot of dogs, they come back home when they are hungryor when it is dinner time for them. Jus tlike when it is dinner time for my dog, he would follow me all over the house, he won't let me out of his sight.
@SIMPLYD (90727)
• Philippines
6 Apr 11
Yes, dogs are like that when it's meal time. Ours would stand and peep at our screen door while we will be eating !
@gabs8513 (48686)
• United Kingdom
15 Apr 11
My Gissi will go put in the yard on his own yes but as it is all bricks he can not get out But when he goes to the Park he is with me My previous Dog used to escape where we lived and yes it used to scare me but he did always come back shortly after he escaped If your Dog does find a Girl he would come back once the mating is over but it could take a long time I hope you can figure something that he stops escaping
@mermaidivy (15395)
• United States
20 Apr 11
My dog has been escaping lately so we have to keep an eye on him even though when the gate is shut. When we go for a walk, we have leash on him so he can't take off.
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
7 Apr 11
My dogs are my responsibility. I must ensure their safety at all times, so...I never leave gates open unless the dogs are secure and I have fencing wire buried underground for 1 metre or laying flat in front of the fence so they cannot dig their way out. Your dog will continue to leave unless you secure him which means tying him up when you need to have the gates open or repairing fences as required. He would not understand you yelling at him, lol. He is just being curious. My dog Lucy, still manages to escape if I leave the front and back doors open because she can open both screen doors - she comes in the back door and exits the front door and jumps the front fence! The back fences are 6 feet high. I live in the country so there is not much danger but still, I have to be aware and look after her. I can be fined if she is caught off the property.
@mermaidivy (15395)
• United States
8 Apr 11
Our fence is quite tall as well but we have a lab and lab is famous for jumping over tall fence like that, our pup doens't seem to be interested in doing that yet but we never know, we still need to keep an eye on him when he is out.
• India
6 Apr 11
I used to let my dog go out during night when he was young.Traffic is very less at night and i opened the gate at 12 o clock and let him go and he returned back at 2 o clock or so. I dont think you have to fear that your dog won't come back because they won't go far away from their home.My dog had never gone any far than 250 metre radius from my home. But now i dont do that because i fear that he could get hit by lorries or cars that go very fast at night. You should make your dog know that it should not go out even when gate is opened.My dog used to run away as soon as he sees the gate open but now he doesn't because i shouted at him when he ran out.With in a few days he realized that he shouldn't go.
@mermaidivy (15395)
• United States
6 Apr 11
Really? I would never let my dog out like that especially at night, there is actually an area where the kayote lives around where we live, we can hear them howl at night and some neighbors acutll ahve seen they were around during the day so that is too dangerous for me to let him out anytime. I like to take him out though when he is leashed, we will go for walks, go swimming all these stuff.
• Philippines
6 Apr 11
I have two dogs; a male and a female. I keep them in my house because I don't want them to get sick. I'm afraid they might go around also since many of our neighborhood have this penchant to eat dogs and many of them too are fond of poisoning the dogs. I only take my dogs to the park where they can run and have fun.
@mermaidivy (15395)
• United States
6 Apr 11
Me too, I like to take him out for fun but not when he is on his own. I don't wnat to lose him or I don't wnat him to get into an accident, it would be very sad.
@urbandekay (18278)
5 Apr 11
My two dogs go out from the garden, cross the lane and roam about the woods, where they can chase things but they are highly trained and will come back when I call all the best urban
@mermaidivy (15395)
• United States
5 Apr 11
That's good. We trained our dog to come when we call as well but he mostly listens to my husband, not me.
@NIECIE21 (365)
• United States
4 Apr 11
My dog is not allowed to go out by himself. We live in an apartment complex, so we do not have our own place for him to run. When we take him to my parents, he will get to run by himself though. He has gotten out a few times at both my place and my parents. I have yelled at him for doing it. He doesnt not come to me know just becasue of that. Dogs are like kids in that you have to punish them for them to learn what not to do.
@mermaidivy (15395)
• United States
4 Apr 11
See it is the problem as I mentioned - when they leave, you want them to come back, when they come back to you, you shold give him a praise for coming back but if you do that, then he would never know the escaping is wrong, but if we punish them for leaving hime when they come back, they mihg tnot come back again the next time. You understnad wha tI mean here?
@lelin1123 (15595)
• Puerto Rico
4 Apr 11
I do let my shih tzu out to roam the yard. However,I have a fence where he can't get out. The only problem I have to worry about is him getting bitten by bugs or insects. So I try not to let him stay outside for any length of time. Maybe you should fix the hole in the yard so he can't get out and then have to go running around looking for him. I know if my dog got out though he wouldn't go to far. He is old (almost 13 years) and knows he couldn't find a better home to live in. LOL LOL LOL!
@mermaidivy (15395)
• United States
4 Apr 11
Yeah it is difficult to avoid the ticks and flea in the summer, we put something called frontline on himis to avoid that but still... we just have to keep an eye on the dog.
• United States
4 Apr 11
I don't blame you for not letting your dog out on his own. I don't own one right now because of the building I live in won't allow pets. But almost in every business there are a lot of posted fliers where many home owners can't find their dog. Unfortunate but people take the dogs that are roaming on their own. I read the other day in a discussion here where people are placing chips in their dogs. This helps in finding them later. I would continue to protect your dog as much as you can because some people find them irresistible and will not return them.
@mermaidivy (15395)
• United States
4 Apr 11
I know that as well but I don't like that ideas at all so we didn't do that. I just have to make sure the gate is closed so that he won't escape again, I can't imagine if we lost him :-(
@inu1711 (5285)
• Romania
4 Apr 11
Hello Mermaidivy, I wouldn't worry about your dog finding a girlfriend but I'd worry about the accidents that might happen to him when he roams on streets by himself. He can be hit by a car, he can be bitten by other dogs, he can be stolen or he can stuck his head into a fence and suffocate himself. There are a lot of dangers for him out there, if you had lived in my country, I would have added the danger of being killed by mean people who doesn't like dogs. You should make sure there are not holes in the fence so that he won't just escape. And you should also make sure everybody who enters the gate doesn't allow him to sneak out the gate when it is opened.
@mermaidivy (15395)
• United States
4 Apr 11
Yea the fence is getting old probably, we should check it regularly in case there are damages at the bottom of the fence.
4 Apr 11
i don't let my dog out on her own neither, she is a golden retriever and has run onto the road before when she has got out luckily there wasn't any traffic, although i have fences on 3 sides of my garden the 4th has a wall that she can jump so is insecure
@mermaidivy (15395)
• United States
4 Apr 11
I was worryin at some point that my dog could jump over the fence because he is a lab, labs are famou for jumping like that.
@thetigers (108)
• Philippines
4 Apr 11
i don't let my shih tzu maltese dog go out alone, i am scared someone might take her away from me. She can only stay at the yard for about 15-30 mins with someone to look after her, then she'll be inside home after roaming for 15-30 mins outside. but most of the days shes only inside our house playing her ball.
@mermaidivy (15395)
• United States
4 Apr 11
We used to leash our dog to the yard when he was a puppy before we put in the fence and now he can go out to the yard all he wants with the safe fence.
• Philippines
5 Apr 11
We let our dogs do whatever they want, but not beyond our gate. It's because they get annoyed when people touch them or they end up chasing those people or get into fights with other dogs... We once let one of our dog roam the neighborhood and it ended up chasing a person who is just on patrol... :/ He did not find himself a girlfriend during that time though...
@mermaidivy (15395)
• United States
5 Apr 11
Would have been bad... if he got caught by some people.
@allknowing (130088)
• India
18 Sep 11
We had to raise the height of the wall particularly for one of my pets who could have won the Olympic high jump competition! We now have just one who is a mild little thing and does not know the meaning of the word 'jump'. She is free to roam around in the compound. She is happy and so are we.