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Have you lost your dog? To prevent it from disappearing anymore, you need to know why it could potentially run away from home, and how to act in a situation when your pet disappears again.

Why do dogs run away from home?

Even if people do everything to make their pets humanly happy, we must not forget dogs are the ancestors of wild wolves, who still have instincts. The latter force dogs to follow the calls of their wild nature — fear and the instinct to reproduce. Whatever is the reason for the loss of your pet, you should know what to do so that it does not happen again.

So why dogs run away from their owners

1) Fears

Our four-legged friends, like humans, are afraid. Fear causes the beasts to fight, flee, or die. The dog's response to fear depends on gender, age, physical activity, and previous experience of coping with fears. Dogs most often run away in response to fear when they encounter natural factors such as thunderstorms, or man-made factors such as gunfire, fireworks, or engine noises.

Dogs fear noises because they have very keen hearing. Your dog hears sounds from 15 to 50,000 vibrations per second. In comparison, humans perceive sounds in the range of 20 to 20,000 vibrations per second.

If your dog gets scared by fireworks or thunderstorms, he will most likely run to hide. To prevent your dog from reacting painfully to noises, look for signs it shows up when feels uncomfortable — these are clear signs of anxiety. When you find them, take your pet away from a noisy place, and if you cannot, feed it with sweets, pet it and calm it down. 

2) Separation anxiety 

Many dogs experience separation anxiety from their owner. Anxiety causes pets to gnaw on things, scratch furniture, indulge in small necessities, or run away from home. This reaction of the dog tells its owner that it does not know how to cope with feelings of anxiety. To avoid the pet's unwanted reaction to your temporary separation, give it less time and attention two to three days before your departure, but your absence should be compensated by the attention of another person who will take care of it. 

3) Mating Instinct

After puberty at about 6 months of age, both males and females are overwhelmed with enthusiasm to continue their genus. This strong (and natural) urge is a common reason dogs run away from home.

If your dog is in heat, he will try to run away to find himself a Prince. Dogs that have not been neutered before disappearing can whine for a long time. The only correct decision, if you are not going to breed dogs, is to neuter the pet. 

4) Hunting instinct

Contemporan dogs are the ancestors of wild wolves. An ancient earning instinct is the reason why your pet can run away from home. Certain dog breeds are especially prone to following their instinct in the fall, when they catch the odors of edible animals in the air and try to chase them. You can fight this only by heavily loading your pet with physical exercises, for example, playing “find the object”.

5) Boredom

One quarter of the dogs running away from their home are bored. Yes, dogs are bored as much as people. Breeds of intelligent dogs are most susceptible to boredom. Out of boredom, they look for something to do — chase cars, meet yard dogs, or run away from home to explore unfamiliar places.

Dogs are naturally very curious creatures that need daily activity and excitement. If you don't exercise or entertain your dog, it may get bored and try to entertain itself.

6) Unfamiliar surroundings

Another reason dogs run away from home is unfamiliar surroundings associated with the owner's move to a new house or apartment. New territory, smells, and other distractions can cause your dog to explore unfamiliar terrain in which it may get lost.

Are the dogs coming home?

In most cases, yes. Only 7% of runaway dogs never return to their previous owners. To quickly find a missing dog:

1. Search the neighborhood — dumpsters, yards and abandoned houses.
2. Equip your dog's collar with an ID tag and GSM tracker in advance.
3. But the main thing, in order not to let your dog run away next time, pay more attention to it — load the pet emotionally and physically. And encourage each of his success with sweets and your love.

To learn how to control your dog's impulses, read our next article.