Dog On the Run!
Preventing Your New Dog From Escaping
Over the past week I’ve seen two separate incidents on Facebook involving new rescue dogs escaping their owners. It’s unfortunately a common scenario that can almost always be prevented with adequate safety precautions in place.
When you bring a new dog into your home, regardless of their background, they should be treated as a flight risk!
The reality is your new dog has no bond with you, has no idea where they are, has no concept of what behaviors are expected of them in this new place, AND they are likely experiencing higher overall stress due to their drastic life change.
Until you really know your new dog, have built a relationship, and given them time to settle in I urge you to implement these safety protocols.
Secure Your Home
Use a double barrier system with all exterior doors. There should be at least two barriers your dog would have to get through before having access to the outdoors. Baby gates and folding pens work well for this, even in open concept homes. I recommend Regalo Easy Step Walk Through Gates, available on Amazon.
Thoroughly check and secure any exterior fencing (if applicable). Specifically, check that there are no gaps at the bottom which would allow your dog to slip underneath, check that there are no spaces wide enough between the fence and other structures that would allow your dog to squeeze through, and utilize carabiners to secure gate latches closed. Additionally, I recommend physically walking along the fence line and pressing on fence paneling to check for weak points. For metal mesh fencing, it is especially important to press towards the bottom of the mesh to ensure it isn’t loose enough for the dog to push their way under it.
Secure Your Car
The safest way for any dog to travel is inside a crate, and this is especially true for new dogs. One of the most common scenarios for new dogs to escape is during car travel. The dog is stressed out, the car door opens, the dog bolts, and the dog is gone!
A wire or plastic crate is sufficient, but if you’re looking for something that gives them the best protection in the event of a vehicle accident I recommend these brands.
If crating isn’t an option, use a seatbelt tether to keep your dog secured during travel. I recommend a cable-style tether so that it can’t be chewed through! Additionally, car tethers should always be attached via a harness and never a collar. If the vehicle were to make a sudden stop, the pressure applied to the dog’s neck by the tether can cause serious injury.
Any harness is sufficient to keep your dog secured, but if you’re looking for vehicle-specific harnesses for added safety consider these brands.
Secure Your Dog
Your new dog should have an ID on at all times when outdoors. At minimum, the ID should have two phone numbers that can be used to reach you.
Your dog should be under your direct supervision at all times when outside, yes, even if they are in your fenced yard. You do not know what your new dog is capable of yet, they could dig out, they could open gates, or they could jump your fence (I’ve personally known a dog that could clear a 6-foot fence with ease).
Use a double attachment method, to ensure getting off-leash is unlikely.
The simplest, albeit clunky, way to do this is to secure your dog with a slip leash in addition to their regular leash and harness/collar. With this strategy, if your dog were to break or escape their regular equipment the slip leash will function as a back-up to keep the dog from escaping. Of course, this does mean you will be holding on to two leashes when out with your dog.
My preferred double attachment method involves the use of a martingale collar and a backup clip in addition to their regular leash and harness/collar. This provides the same security as the previous method, but eliminates the need to handle two leashes.
Regardless of which method you use, I do recommend that your back-up collar be either a slip-style or martingale-style as it is very unlikely your new dog can escape them provided they are fitted properly. (Note: I only recommend these collars for backup attachment, not for regular use).
