Im Concerned About My Dogs Getting Out And Running Off

[boatman442]

I love my Labradors so much that i am very scared and concerned about them getting out of the fenced in back yard. Lots of love and money invested in my four labradors. I see all kinds of things like Microchips, wireless fence systems. Pet tracker/GPS. Can anyone give me advice on what is out there incase our dogs run off from getting loose so that i can find them if someone found my dogs and desided they wanted to keep them. How would i get my dogs back

 

[jackienmutts]

How high is your fence? If it's 6' or more, and secure as far as holes or weak boards, you're probably ok. Personally, I'm not a fan or the wireless/electric fence as they involve shock collars (we won't even get into that whole discussion here). Do keep collars and tags on your dogs at all times. I think *most* people are good, and if they find dogs running loose, will make an attempt to help them. If the collar and tag are easily visible, it makes it easy to read, call, and hopefully reunite dog and owner quickly. I have both cell and landline #s on mine, along with their address (dogs get out of gates, I've returned countless dogs to homes with owners absent but gates left open). I also have mine chipped - in the microchip info, the vet info is included, and clearly they know my dogs. They also wear their vet tag - they could be ID'd that way. If you think your dogs will be "of the wandering kind" and likely to get out, you may want to look into one of the GPS tracker collars - I think for dogs who are houdinis, they're a good idea. Personally, mine wear their collars w/tags including their home info, a tag from the rescue where they came from w/ their ID # (who also has my info), and their county tag (also would come back to me). I don't think there's any way to guarantee that if someone picked them up, they'd have to return them to you, but if they were taken to a vet, their microchip would show different info from their owners so it may raise a flag. As I said before tho, I think *most* people are good, and will do what they can to help an animal in need.

I think we have to be careful, we have to have them ID'd the best we can, make sure our fences and yards are secure (that includes holes under fences), keep up with training (that includes know to never run out a gate unless given permission), and make our bond and relationship with our dogs the best we can. I don't think there's anything that's 100% guaranteed in life, especially when you're dealing with living breathing beings (and I'm speaking of both dogs and humans here). But I think if you do the very best you can, you'll be ok.

 

[Evie]

I agree with Jackienmutts, only I don't actually do it myself :$

MOST people are honest and will return the dog to it's home/owner if there are contact details on the collar. Microchipping is great as vets and pounds both scan for microchips and can contact you with the information provided there. It also makes dogs a little harder to steal and sell on as if they're ever taken to the vet they can be easily retraced back to their original owner through the microchip. Also with the microchip, if your dogs DID happen to go missing, you can notify the local vets of the area and ask them to keep an eye out for any dog of your description and once again, if in doubt they can scan for the chip to confirm if the dogs is yours.

However if you have good fencing I don't really see the need for any concern about them going missing unless of course one or more of them are known for escaping and exploring. It would only be then that I would look into getting a GPS collar just to be on the safe side.

In saying all that, my Evie is microchipped but we dont have a single fence on the property. She also only wears her collar when we're going out with her and that is only because you must have their dog registration disc on them at all times when in public or risk being fined. I'd always meant to get her a name tag with my number engraved on it but I never quite got around to it, and to be honest, if a stranger did find Evie, unless they had a tranquilliser gun they wouldn't be able to get close enough to read it anyway.

 

[648117]

I agree with Jackienmutts, only I don't actually do it myself :$

MOST people are honest and will return the dog to it's home/owner if there are contact details on the collar. Microchipping is great as vets and pounds both scan for microchips and can contact you with the information provided there. It also makes dogs a little harder to steal and sell on as if they're ever taken to the vet they can be easily retraced back to their original owner through the microchip. Also with the microchip, if your dogs DID happen to go missing, you can notify the local vets of the area and ask them to keep an eye out for any dog of your description and once again, if in doubt they can scan for the chip to confirm if the dogs is yours.

However if you have good fencing I don't really see the need for any concern about them going missing unless of course one or more of them are known for escaping and exploring. It would only be then that I would look into getting a GPS collar just to be on the safe side.

In saying all that, my Evie is microchipped but we dont have a single fence on the property. She also only wears her collar when we're going out with her and that is only because you must have their dog registration disc on them at all times when in public or risk being fined. I'd always meant to get her a name tag with my number engraved on it but I never quite got around to it, and to be honest, if a stranger did find Evie, unless they had a tranquilliser gun they wouldn't be able to get close enough to read it anyway.

Holly and Lewis are microchipped too, it's the law here so we didn't have a choice. If they ever get picked up by the pound they will immediately check the chip and if they ever get taken to the vet they will also get scanned. The first time we took Lewis to the vets they checked for a chip and they check them when they get vaccinated.
They also have registration tags, although they don't wear them in the house (they are big and anoying) and even out of the house we are a bit naughty because the tags are on their leashes and Holly gets let off her leash (so she isn't wearing the tag, I get left holding it with the leash ).

But our property is very well fenced so they could never get out unless the gate or front door is left open.

We probably should get them tags with our number on them, I just haven't seen any little ones that I like yet.

 

[DevonW]

Collars and tags work for most situations but Thor's neck is so thick and combined with his fur and the shape of his head unless his collar is suffocating him he can get out of it. And a loose dog without their collar won't be able to be identified right away. I don't have a fenced yard but he goes out on a zip line that is about 100ft long. so I'm opting for microchips

Siren is microchipped and Thor's going to be microchipped at Siren's 12 week visit. If there was such thing as a gps microchip I'd get that too because I have been approached on multiple occasions by a man while out walking Thor and he's offered me a large amount of money to buy Thor off me and it's made me really nervous about my dogs being stolen

 

[boatman442]

How high is your fence? If it's 6' or more, and secure as far as holes or weak boards, you're probably ok. Personally, I'm not a fan or the wireless/electric fence as they involve shock collars (we won't even get into that whole discussion here). Do keep collars and tags on your dogs at all times. I think *most* people are good, and if they find dogs running loose, will make an attempt to help them. If the collar and tag are easily visible, it makes it easy to read, call, and hopefully reunite dog and owner quickly. I have both cell and landline #s on mine, along with their address (dogs get out of gates, I've returned countless dogs to homes with owners absent but gates left open). I also have mine chipped - in the microchip info, the vet info is included, and clearly they know my dogs. They also wear their vet tag - they could be ID'd that way. If you think your dogs will be "of the wandering kind" and likely to get out, you may want to look into one of the GPS tracker collars - I think for dogs who are houdinis, they're a good idea. Personally, mine wear their collars w/tags including their home info, a tag from the rescue where they came from w/ their ID # (who also has my info), and their county tag (also would come back to me). I don't think there's any way to guarantee that if someone picked them up, they'd have to return them to you, but if they were taken to a vet, their microchip would show different info from their owners so it may raise a flag. As I said before tho, I think *most* people are good, and will do what they can to help an animal in need.

I think we have to be careful, we have to have them ID'd the best we can, make sure our fences and yards are secure (that includes holes under fences), keep up with training (that includes know to never run out a gate unless given permission), and make our bond and relationship with our dogs the best we can. I don't think there's anything that's 100% guaranteed in life, especially when you're dealing with living breathing beings (and I'm speaking of both dogs and humans here). But I think if you do the very best you can, you'll be ok.

thank you. my fence is 4 feet tall and not the best. I am on disability so not much money to get all the fence i need all at one time. It is not the best but it works. When i sell this litter of puppies i am going to put in a 6 feet tall fence of some kind. Part of it needs to be privacy fence, an some chain link fence.

 

[boatman442]

I agree with Jackienmutts, only I don't actually do it myself :$

MOST people are honest and will return the dog to it's home/owner if there are contact details on the collar. Microchipping is great as vets and pounds both scan for microchips and can contact you with the information provided there. It also makes dogs a little harder to steal and sell on as if they're ever taken to the vet they can be easily retraced back to their original owner through the microchip. Also with the microchip, if your dogs DID happen to go missing, you can notify the local vets of the area and ask them to keep an eye out for any dog of your description and once again, if in doubt they can scan for the chip to confirm if the dogs is yours.

However if you have good fencing I don't really see the need for any concern about them going missing unless of course one or more of them are known for escaping and exploring. It would only be then that I would look into getting a GPS collar just to be on the safe side.

In saying all that, my Evie is microchipped but we dont have a single fence on the property. She also only wears her collar when we're going out with her and that is only because you must have their dog registration disc on them at all times when in public or risk being fined. I'd always meant to get her a name tag with my number engraved on it but I never quite got around to it, and to be honest, if a stranger did find Evie, unless they had a tranquilliser gun they wouldn't be able to get close enough to read it anyway.

thank you and i will be microchiping my dogs and the rest. thank you for the great post.

 

[boatman442]

Collars and tags work for most situations but Thor's neck is so thick and combined with his fur and the shape of his head unless his collar is suffocating him he can get out of it. And a loose dog without their collar won't be able to be identified right away. I don't have a fenced yard but he goes out on a zip line that is about 100ft long. so I'm opting for microchips

Siren is microchipped and Thor's going to be microchipped at Siren's 12 week visit. If there was such thing as a gps microchip I'd get that too because I have been approached on multiple occasions by a man while out walking Thor and he's offered me a large amount of money to buy Thor off me and it's made me really nervous about my dogs being stolen

i truly understandthat