We adopted an almost 2y/o lab late in early fall. he is very well trained for in house and good out side as long as we are with him. the problem is as soon as we are not with him he starts roaming . he goes farther each time. were in the country and he has lots of space. He comes home but now he has started taking our cocker spaniel with him. I am afraid they will wander to far and the cocker will get lost or they will get into something to causer injury to them. the lab is neutered . the cocker has had freedom to run our acres and she has never roamed befor. I would like to hear anysuggestions for retraining my young lab
Hello there and a warm welcome to the forum. This isn't a training issue, it's a management issue. The best way to manage this is a good, 5ft or 6ft, stout fence. If your property is too big to fence, and you want to leave your dog outside without you, then a smaller, secure dog run would be good. Most dogs will roam if you leave them outside left to their own devices and as you say, this is an extremely dangerous thing for the dog. It is possible to train them to stay close to the house when you are not there, but it is extremely difficult, unreliable, and not an appropriate way to manage a dog and keep it safe. A fence is the way to go here.
Hi there, and welcome to the forum. I guess the majority of us UK based folks don't really have this issue to contend with. Julie's suggestion of a fence or run would keep them safe. I'm not quite sure how else you would deal with this without being around and supervising your dogs. I think the idea with a lot of "Working type" dogs is to get them a job to do. Not sure this applies with dogs left to potentially roam. Maybe some others will come up with some help. Sorry.
Hi and welcome to the forum. I agree with Julie T's comments, if there are no fenced boundaries a dog will eventually begin to roam. With some dogs even fences struggle to contain them. I've just moved back from rural France to the UK but in my area of France all the farmers and householders endured that their dogs were contained within their property by the use of fences or fenced pens to endure that they remained safe.
Welcome from Hattie 8 years and our rescue boy Charlie 5 years. Before we adopted Charlie he was being fostered in a very beautiful home with 12 acres of grounds and woods, unfortunately we later found out that the fosterer would open the door and Charlie would go and 'play' in the woods and grounds, as a result of this and previous homes where I don't think he received any training at all he came to us with zero recall and was an absconder. We have worked very, very hard to train a recall which thankfully Charlie now has but this has taken 4 long years. Your dogs will self reward as long as they are allowed to so for your sake please make a large enough enclosed area for them to stop them roaming before the situation becomes worse. They could cause an accident or even be killed. I hope you can sort this out. Let us know what you decide to do. Helen xx
It sounds like you live in a perfect place for making sure you dog gets plenty of exercise and I guess you are well away from roads but reading your post makes me quiver!I know we are all set up differently and live different ways but I don't even let Dexter go in our secure back garden on his own........the thought of him roaming out of my sight even if I had your facilities makes me scared. I agree with the fenced in dog run idea...I think containment is the only way you can guarantee an end to the adventures ...especially now he has the wanderlust in him! Best Wishes angela
I have friends with two Labradors who don't have fences and the dogs don't roam. However, that's because the guy works full time on the (vast) grounds of the property where he lives, and the dogs follow him around and stay with him all day long. They're mentally and physically stimulated by that arrangement. However, when the couple go out, the dogs are locked up in the house. They're never outside unsupervised. I don't think you can ever expect a dog to not roam without any physical boundaries. Unless they're being stimulated in their immediate environment, they'll get bored and will go off in search of entertainment. Sure, some dogs will stay close because that's their nature, but it's certainly not something I would ever depend on. Especially in the countryside; if a rabbit, fox, deer or other wildlife wandered by, a dog with any sort of chase instinct would run after it. That's one of the (many) problems with "invisible fences" (the ones that give the dog a shock when they approach a boundary line), because a chase impulse can produce enough adrenaline that the dog won't feel the pain of the shock, so it will run past the boundary, but then, once the chase is over and he wants to come home, he can't, because the adrenaline has dropped and he's the wrong side of the boundary, not able to get in because of the shocks. He'll end up associating the pain of the shocks with trying to get home, which means he won't bother in the future! Just in case you had heard about this sort of arrangement and were considering it.
It's pretty common here for farm dogs to have the run of the farm and stay outside alone. Such a dog is often part of household security, as well as being a pet. But they stay home, near the house. If they don't they can be killed or get the owner into serious trouble. We know two who were shot, one was killed, the other got a bionic right front leg out of it. Another, lived next door to us, was shot at by several neighbours, the dog's owner would not contain it, until I had trouble with it attacking me and called Police. WE have a provincial Animal at Large law. It's law that any animal be contained on it's own property for it's own safety and the safety of others. The animals can be hurt themselves and they can cause accidents. Most places have some such law or by law. There is boundary training you can do with your dogs. I suggest you contact training centres near you and ask about it. Ask neighbouring farmers how they trained their dog. Some dogs just don't respond reliably to such training and then you can't leave them out. Labs in particular are good family dogs because they love people and want to be with them. Stick a Lab outside alone and he is likely to go wandering in search of company, and fun. You might consider invisible fencing. A warning, the dog might then bark. You might be surprised how far the noise of barking carries.
Invest in a physical fence - it's the only safe option. I wouldn't try to rely on a training solution for something as important as this. With a proper fence or run you can rest easy, knowing your dog is safe when you're not home. Don't bother with an 'invisible fence' - see Snowbunny's post for the reasons.
It is also not unusual for farm dogs to be free around farms in the UK - they also often get killed if they roam. I think that working dogs often do stay close to farms though, because there is constant activity, and opportunities to do things. In that way though, they are not really alone outside. Or at least not long enough for them to give up hope of an exciting activity and so wander off in search of amusement.
