Having been all smug on another thread about how Pongo doesn't run off after bitches in heat....guess what. At least, I assume that is what is happening. On Wednesday afternoon he legged it out of the garden and down the track. He did come back ten minutes later (at top speed), but he was completely AWOL. Since then he has been in a state of huge excitement whenever he is outside, sniffing desperately at spots in the ground, whining and yelping with glee. His night-time walks round the garden are a matter of staying virtually on top of him to grab his collar if he looks like he is going to make a run for it. He b*******d off again this morning, same direction, through the woods, down the track, completely deaf to me. Came back ten minutes later, trotted at heel to the house and collapsed exhausted. So.... do people agree with me that this sounds like there is a BIS around? And if so, how long should I expect this to last? I'd like to get back to being able to have him outside with me! Rosie
I don't know, really...my garden is secure, and when Charlie is out on walks I don't take my eyes off him. Regardless of bitches in season or not, Charlie would leg it out of an insecure garden to go off exploring, and if I wasn't watching him outside and taking steps to have him engaged with me, he'd leg it to search for footballs, other dogs, skateboards, remote controlled cars/planes...anything, really. My dog would leg it to explore the world and see what mischief he could find bitches in season or not. So, to me, this sounds like normal behaviour for a dog in an unsecured garden to be honest.
Thanks Julie! Pongo is normally pretty content to stay in the (large) garden with us. It is not "secure" but it does have clear boundaries - hedges, a wall - so he needs to make an effort to leave it and that's enough, normally, to keep him in. But the last few days he has chosen to crash through the hedge / vault the wall / scramble out into the woods in pursuit of true love.... or something....
I'd say if Charlie was in an unsecured garden and smelled a bitch in season, he'd leave, for sure. My point is that he'd leave anyway!
Sounds like a bitch in season to me as he heads off in the same direction, hasn't behaved like this before! Sorry, I have no idea how long this would last. The bitch does wee a lot to leave a signal that she is in season, so he may be picking those signals up, or just the scent of her from a distance. A dog who mates bitches regularly, usually doesn't bother until they are the right days which is up to a week? However, a bitch in season is usually for three weeks, so Pongo might be like that for that long! I am sure there are more experienced people on the forum to give you the correct answer, but just in case this is my pennyworth!
Can you leash him up and go with him? No telling what you might find at the end, a big pile of fresh smelling garbage would do that to many dogs. For my part, I'm thinking the fact he came back so quickly means it is NOt a BIS. Or maybe the garbage either. I'm afraid I would not trust my dog in an unsecured area either. There is all kinds of boundary training you can do but I am afraid I wouldn't trust it. A neighbour did a remarkable job of training her Siberian Husky bitch and the five puppies to stay in her yard and they did. It was amazing, that's a hard breed to do that with. Till one night they all disappeared. All of them. She thinks someone stole them but she'll never know for sure since she left them out there on their own.
It does sound as if it might be a BIS as it's something that has only just started happening or some animal that's started passing through. Our garden in France was not "secure" we only has hedges around the perimeter but Juno could easily have walked through most of it or just strolled down the drive, I used a long line for times in the garden during the day if I was busy to try and reduce the risk and we always used her lead at night to ensure that she stayed close. Luckily for us she never showed a desire to wander away from us. If it is a BIS you can look forward to around another 2 weeks of heightened interest from Pongo One other thought is whether he is eating OK. If he is being affected by a BIS it can also put boys off their food.
Wow! The concept of Pongo being off his food is just..... is just.... no, sorry, can't conceive of it. But I'll keep an eye out...
Well @Rosie this is going to be a bit of a problem for a few weeks if it is the 'ladies' Pongo is interested in Maybe a very long training line could be the answer for now?
Eeek! I would worry what he was up to. Any idea who his target could be? Did he come back with a smile on his face? Do you have insurance against paternity suits?
Yep, all weekend he has been on edge. Only one actual absconding incident.... we'd done his whole "loop" and he'd been pretty good, very sniffy but not ranging too far from us, coming back when called, very good boy....then just as we were getting back to the house a woman with two spaniels hove into view coming out of "our" track and going down the lane. Pongo went absolutely, stark-staring nuts. Paul grabbed his collar and he pulled Paul right over and dragged him - this is NOT an easy thing to do! - I grabbed hold too and the spaniels went on down the road (no reaction from their owner at all). Released Pongo and he didn't run after the dogs, instead he went sniffing where they had been (the track), took a big sniff then HARED IT down the track, back in the direction from which the spaniels had come. Top speed, "zoomies" style, over the horizon and gone. I went after him in the car, found him quarter of a mile away sniffing in the wood by the trackside. I'm thinking it is one of the spaniels that is Pongo's true love and she was leaving messages for him all the way along her walk (and her messages were actually smellier and more attractive than she was herself). His night-time walks are now on lead! (I can just about handle the idea of chasing him round the fields in daylight, but not at 11.00pm with torch). He's not impressed, and he seems quite unable to settle for a decent poo while I'm attached to him by a six foot line. Having said all of that, he does seem a bit less distracted than he did a few days ago so I'm hoping this is a short-term problem. It's his agility class tonight, I'm expecting a whole hour of just trying to get his attention on me rather than sniffing the edges of the arena.
I'm pretty sure he doesn't go far, he just hares it down the track, or up into the woods, on the scent of something....then gradually loses interest, "comes to", and starts trotting back towards home. When he ran off last year he was really lost, we know he went at least two miles away (in the direction of one of our local kennels) but this year he has just been sprinting off in that direction but then back within 15 minutes or so.... probably not long enough to have found anything or anyone exciting...
It does sound as if one of the spaniels is a BIS whose owner has started walking them near you. it would also explain why he's gone for only a short time as there's no desirable girl at the end of his search. Hopefully it's near the end of her season so Pongo will soon be back to his normal well behaved self . Agility tonight might be really good for him and give his furry brain something else to think about
Bloomin' nora this brings back nightmares of Charlie doing his disappearing act and he doesn't have his balls!
If it's any consolation Benson has also got his mojo back in that respect...sigh...definitely spring is in the air, took off like a bat out of hell yesterday, and was very distracted at gun dog training..then I found out that 2 bitches in season had been using the hire field...
the sap is definately rising round here too.Rory has been so good so far no paternity problems yet. My female has always been the one to do disappearing act. When she was younger I was convinced she has access to a teleport machine
Not wishing to tempt fate here, but things seem to be calming down on the amorous front. Pongo is nearly back to normal.....
