Despite their love for their owners, most dogs can’t wait to escape. They would try to escape from their yards by digging under the fence, climbing or jumping over the fence. For many, running loose satisfies the urge to check out unknown places.

Every escape opens the possibility of tragic consequences. He might get injured in a fight with another dog, get hit by a car, eat poisonous plants or be lost forever.

Here are some tips to keep your dog from escaping.

Identify the cause

Your dog may be escaping because he’s bored, scared or lonely. Perhaps the dog is anxious or bored when he’s home alone and is escaping to seek out contact with people or other dog. Or maybe he wants to get away from someone or something he’s not comfortable with. Some tries to escape to find adventure in the great outdoors.

You can trace your dog’s running away behavior from one or more of these causes. Identify the cause and try to address the issue.

Contain your dog properly

Make it impossible for the dog to escape. Fencing should be high enough to keep your dog from jumping over it. Also, make sure that the gate is always locked, especially if the dog can open it. If he’s digging under the fence, you might want to bury chicken wires under the fence.

Get him out of the house

Channel the dog’s energy into activities that take place outside the house. Many times, it is the lack of opportunity to socialize and explore that leads a dog to escape.

Dogs that get daily walks are less likely to escape since they are exposed to a variety of people, animals and other interesting sights. Plus, there are a plethora of new scents, sights and sounds.

Spay and neuter

Dogs become sexually matured at around 6 months of age. Your dog may be escaping to find potential mates. Spay or neuter your dog before they reach sexual maturity. This decreases sexual roaming in 90% of the cases.