How To Deal With Run Away Pets

On the road again

Dog pets and cat pets run away for different reasons. Boredom, the drive to find a mate, frequenting another home where snacks are available and abusive owners are all reasons for a dog or cat to venture off. Then there is the “Squirrel” syndrome, the thrill of the chase. Both of these super pets have acute senses of direction and do not necessarily get lost however there are plenty of situations and environments which make these ventures dangerous and worthy of taking precautions. If you are planning to buy pets for your apartment or house, here are a few things I have personally observed which I believe prove the point.

Dogs need to run. Especially the bigger, leaner dogs. I had a friend who owned a retriever. He had a yard but it was never enough for the dog. After several incidents and because they lived near many busy streets the dog was usually confined to a leash. Once my friend got older, social and school activities began to take up much more of his time. His parents were a bit older too. This meant less walks for the dog and more time on the leash. After a while the dog became unhappy and would inevitably try to escape at every opportunity. This began to happen more often as the dog became more skilled at the art. One day he escaped, ran onto one of the busy streets and was hit by a car and injured. The dogs back was broken which cost the owners hundreds if not thousands of dollars not to mention the guilt and heartbreak of seeing their life long friend in such agony.

I do not own a dog but I am planning to get one. If I don’t my daughter will continue to torture me until I either give in or lose my mind and get hauled off to the loony bin. My biggest concern is the amount of available space for the dog to run. We have a medium sized yard and there are several parks nearby so my one condition is that the dog be small. We have decided to get a Doxie. These little guys don’t need a whole lot of room in order to run and if they do run I could definitely catch up. A bigger dog would not be happy. Some of the bigger breeds need acres to roam free in order to be happy. If confined to a smaller range it may difficult to keep them there making pet supplies like GPS dog collars necessary.

Cats on the other hand don’t usually run away. Cats are territorial and tend to monitor their claimed space, venturing out for whatever reason but always returning to familiar ground.

When I was in college I lived in a house with several other students one of which owned a male cat, Spike. Rent went up and we had to move to a more affordable apartment which was about half a mile away. We brought Spike along of course. The next day the cat was nowhere to be found. We searched everywhere, twice. Then we had a revelation, we decided to go back to the old house and look there. Guess what, there he was, in his usual spot under the trees in the lot next to the house. We grabbed him and hauled him home. Next day, same thing. When we tried to keep the cat in-doors in a feeble attempt to help him get acclimated to the new living situation he was obviously miserable. He did not eat and actually got sick. We had to let him go.

We worried because winter was approaching and no animal should be submitted to a New England winter without proper shelter. We visited the new inhabitants of our old house and let them know our situation. Fortunately they were delighted and agreed to take care of our cat. We gave them $100 to pay for food and visited often. In retrospect we were very lucky it turned out so well for him, the folks who moved into the house and for ourselves as well.

Dog pets and cat pets are awesome, they enhance any living space with their attitude, good nature, and unique personalities. However, if they are not treated well or if their environment does not suit their needs a good thing can turn bad. When deciding to get a dog or cat it is natural to consider the ramifications to your lifestyle, your environment, and routines. It is another thing to take into consideration the impact your lifestyle, environment, and routines will have on the animal.