3 Easy Ways To Keep A Dog From Wandering Off

Stopping your dog from wandering off is imperative to keeping your dog safe in an unfenced yard, a large property, while hiking or doing other adventurous activities in unfamiliar locations. You definitely want to stop your dog from wandering off as it will prevent your dog going into your neighbours yard or even worse having a stroll down the road and being exposed to the danger of being hit by a car.

To keep a dog from wandering off you can either use an invisible fence/GPS tracking collar system; train your dog to stay in an unfenced yard or erect a traditional fence. An invisible fence is a perfect solution for farm dogs or dogs living on large properties that have unfenced boundaries. Training a dog to stay in an unfenced yard or getting a traditional fence is a better solution for city dogs or dogs who live on smaller blocks of land.

Table of Contents

1. Use An Invisible Fence/GPS Tracking Collar System

One of the most high tech solutions for keeping a dog from wandering off is to use an invisible fence or GPS tracking collar. These products allow you to track the location of your dog from an app on your phone. Some even allow you to create a virtual fence and give your alerts/notifications when your dog crosses it.

GPS Collar & Virtual Fence For Farmers & People Living On Large Properties

An invisible or virtual fence can be created with a GPS tracking collar system such as SpotOn Virtual Fences by walking around the perimeter of any containment area. You then follow their simple steps to teach your dog to stay in the yard. From the comfort of your phone you can track your dog (when they are wearing the GPS collar) and stay connected by viewing maps and getting virtual fence breach alerts/escape notifications.

I think what sets SpotOn aside from other similar products is that you can create multiple fences with the one device, modify the fence shape whenever and that it is portable meaning you can take the system whenever you move house or go travelling. An invisible fence system such as this one is highly suited to people who live rurally on acreage. This is because they have a minimum amount of acreage required for the fence to work. Find Out The Current Price Of SpotOn Virtual Fences Here!

GPS Collar Suited For City Dwellers

For people who are city dwellers, a product such as the FitBark GPS & Health Tracking Collar is more suitable. While this collar does not have an invisible fence system, it still allows you to track the where-a-bouts of your dog from your phone. In addition, it has health tracking for your dog including sleep quality, distance travelled and calories burned etc. Find Out The Current Price Of FitBark GPS Dog Collars Here!

2. Train Your Dog To Stay In An Unfenced Yard

As GPS invisible fence systems can be pricey and also work best for large blocks of land, you might be looking for a cheaper solution. Training a dog to stay in an unfenced yard is one of the hardest things to train your dog to do as it comes under the umbrella of behaviour correction. This being said it is possible however it will take roughly 2 to 4 months to full train a dog to stay in an unfenced yard. It is a very worthwhile skill to teach a dog.

How To Train A Dog To Stay In An Unfenced Yard

1. Walk Around The Boundary On Leash

Firstly, you want to introduce the boundary of your property to your dog. Do this by walking along the perimeter on leash. As you walk you should point towards the ground to visually mark out the boundary for your dog. You can even mark it out with flags at first. Do this walk several times a day for about 3 to 5 days.

2. Start Off-Leash Walking

After 3 to 5 days of on-leash walking, your dog should have a good idea of where the boundary is. Now you need to start training your dog to not wander over it. Do the same thing by pointing at the ground where the perimeter is when your dog is off-leash. You can even do some more generally sweeping motions with your arms to visually indicate the boundary. Do this walk 3 or 4 times a day for a few days. Your dog should be starting to stop at the perimeter of your property and not cross it. If they do cross the boundary line use the ‘come’ command and restart your walk around the perimeter.

3. Introduce Commands

There are two main commands that you need to use when training a dog to stay in an unfenced yard: sit, stay and leave it.

Sit Command: Firstly start by teaching your dog to sit in various locations around the boundary line of your property.
Stay Command: Next tell your dog to stay while sitting and cross over the boundary line while your dog stays at the boundary. Reward him/her if they stay on their side of the boundary with treats.
Leave It Command: Continue doing the same daily boundary walks with your dog. During these walks use the ‘leave it’ command when your dog approaches the perimeter. You can even make it more of a challenge by tossing treats over the boundary line and then using the leave it command. Give your dog a different treat if he/she is successful in staying on the right side of the property.

3. Get A Traditional Fence

If a GPS invisible fence collar system and training your dog to not cross your property boundary line, you might have to result to the traditional solution of a fence. This will generally be the case for young dogs such as puppies who can’t be trusted yet with safe free roaming in a yard.