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Escape Prevention: 7 Tips For The Runaway Dog
Does your dog burst through your door and try to escape on a regular basis? If bolting the door is not an option to keep your dog from bolting through it, try some of these suggestions to keep him safely under your control.
1. If your dog escapes from his leash when you are out for a walk, lie down and stay still. Your dog will come back to investigate. When he's in reach, grab his collar to regain control. Don't reprimand him for returning to you.
2. Keep a squirt gun handy by the door. Lightly spray your dog if he appears to be contemplating a break.
3. If you must confine a dog to a room in the home when you have a party that involves visitors coming and going, install a screen door or baby gate to the room to prevent him from feeling isolated.
4. Have your dog spayed or neutered. Altered animals are less likely to wander.
5. Try clicker-style obedience training. If your dog knows what it means to stay or sit when you open a door, he is less likely to leave with you. Be sure to research specific training guides for instructions on how to clicker-train your dog.
6. Install a baby gate on the exterior of the door to prevent your dog from escaping when you leave or enter your home.
7. As a preventative measure, provide your dog with some means of identification. Having a collar and identification tags is the quickest way for someone who has found your dog to locate you. When a dog is lost, however, he may lose his collar or tags, so having a secondary form of ID is advisable.
Discuss with your veterinarian the options of having your dog tattooed or a microchip implanted. A tattoo involves imprinting a series of numbers and/or letters on your dog. The tattoo ID is then entered into a database and the dog owner is given a tag for the dog's collar that has the toll-free number to help identify him and you.
If the tag is lost, anyone finding your dog can contact a shelter or veterinarian to help identify him. Microchips are implanted by a veterinarian under the dog's skin. Like the tattoo, the chip's code is entered into a national database. To identify a lost animal with an implanted microchip, veterinarians or shelters use a special scanner.
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