labrador runs off

[corylus]

we have a 4 year old male black labrador, whilst he is usually well behaved when out, on or off the lead, occasionally he takes it into his head to run off, as soon as one's back is turned, away from our land/garden, we have to go and find him, or eventually he comes back of his own accord. He goes about half a mile away sometimes, (we live in a fairly remote rural area) There aren't many other dogs in the area that he might go looking for, and he is always taken out with our other dog a border terrier who never runs off. Any ideas? Castration comes to my mind!

[tamborine]

he's probably after a bitch on heat.

[petal54]

having the snip seems to be the thing,althouugh mum's jack russel was done,badger holes are still to much of a pull,hence he stays on a lead.do you have any idea where your boy goes to?

[corylus]

I've had other male dogs who never ran off like this, and where we live there isn't an estate full of bitches waiting for him to turn up!

[madmaggot]

A dog can smell a bitch on heat from as much as 40 miles away!!

[carmalee]

an observation based on a thousand years of working in animal welfare. Labs...... two things on their minds and the other is eating!! If he is not castrated he will find it impossible to not share his obvious attraction to the opposite sex at all times. Sometimes when there is a bitch on heat in the area and sometimes when he thinks ' what the hell - the girls are missing out anyway' - have him castrated and save him from the horror of testicular cancer later in life, the chances of getting into a 'punch-up' over a desireable bitch and possibly getting flattened by a truck when his hormones get the better of him. Then teach him that to stay with you is prefereable to all that nonesense by giving him a job to do with great rewards! (remember the other way to a Lab's brain is through his stomache) Oh and I wish you luck - Labs are canine Lotharios

[LoftyLottie]

We had a terrier (castrated as a puppy) who spent his whole life going out on jaunts. We live in a very rural area too. The trouble is he didn't come back - when he was tired he would stop at the nearest house he could find and sit outside their door. Fortunately, he seemed to find houses where they were dog lovers and they would phone us up (he had a name tag and tel. no) and we had to go and fetch him.

He was usually fed and watered by the time we got to fetch him and we had offers from people who wanted to keep him.

His luck ran out one day and one family didn't invite him in but locked him in a garden shed and called the police. Fortunately, the police knew of his antics too.

The point is he was castrated but it made no difference whatsoever. It was the lure of the open countryside and long walks going wherever he pleased!

[kita1]

To be honest I would be scared of him being shot by a farmer or coming to some other harm (like being caught in a trap meant for foxes etc.).

Could you not make your garden/land more escape proof? Build bigger fences? Or maybe you could build a secure run that you could put him in when you cannot watch him.

Castration may stop him running after bitches - but it will not stop him chasing rabbits etc.

I think preventing him running off would be a far better idea.

[woofgang]

both our boys were done in march at the age of 18 months ish. We take them out very early in the morning when its quiet but about two weeks ago as we were coming back to the car both their noses went up and if we hadn't grabbed them, they would have been off! There was another car at the car park, we assume with a bitch in heat whose owner though that he would be safe at that time in the morning. What I am saying is don't rely on the snip alone to take away all interest in bitches or the urge to wander!

[fredpuli47]

Castrating him may make some difference and bring benefits, but mostly in other ways than stopping the wandering [see posts above!]. , I've had several bitches that would disappear for hours or overnight on a regular basis, not a question of their being in season and looking for a bit of action.This is a rural area and usually they were out rabbiting and having a great time, I'm sure.They always returned tired, happy, and muddy( One of them,though, I discovered, used to go a long way to a cafe, and get 'treats' from the bins !)The answer is good fences and gates at home and not to trust him off the lead when out. Dogs can be trained to come to call (shepherds don't lose many sheepdogs) but it can be very hard work and not 100 per cent even then, and once a dog has learned the practice, and the joys of the wide outdoors, it's nigh on impossible.

[LoftyLottie]

Morning Fred, the trouble was with the terrier I talk about above is that he was a champion digger!! Fences proved no problem to him and we would have to had buried them about two foot down!! We tried so hard to contain him but even Colditz wouldn't have beaten him.

When we were renovating our cottage he dug down under the back door and went out for the day!!!! He just loved wandering. He didn't even chase rabbits.

He was a lovely little character though (a rescue dog) and lived to a ripe old age!!

[LoftyLottie]

The female spayed JR cross we have at present is also prone to escapeism but isn't as good at it. She is rabbit obsessed and has caused us worries in the past by getting out. However, we have managed to fox her now and she can't get out. She only goes out with us on a long lead but she is so obedient with my son that she wouldn't dare run away and sticks to his heels.