# Has your golden ever run away?



## BonnieM (Sep 16, 2009)

Over the years, I've had several dogs who've run away, but they were always back, unharmed, the same day. However, the few hours they were away were torture. Now, our backyard is fenced in, and we are making recall a number one priority in the event that they get loose. But you're right, it only takes a minute for stuff to happen! Sorry to hear about Dolly


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## Bud Man Bell (Feb 25, 2007)

When Buddy was three years old we were at our lake house and he took off. It was about 4:00 in the afternoon. Our whole family went to work trying to find him. My DH and I stayed up all night with all the lights on and the front door open. Our grown sons were making posters all night. The next morning we got a phone call from a man right up the hill from us saying he had Buddy and what a nice dog he was. I could not beleive he didn't call right after he found him. The man had a female black lab. I guess he wanted her to have a friend for the night. That convinced my DH to have him spayed. He has NEVER left our yard since. He is now 13 and a half now.
Bonnie&Buddy


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

No, not really, and I pray it never does.

One time up at the lake, my mom and I were walking with all 4 dogs. It was a really hot July morning. About halfway through our walk, there are a bunch of driveways on either side of the road (the dogs are off leash up at that lake and there might be one car during our walks, it's a private road). The dogs would start down one driveway and we would call them back and then they would start down the next one and we called them back. At the end of that walk, we are on the opposite side of the cove from our house and we almost always walk out to the point and then turn around and walk the mile+ home. 

When we got down to the point, we realized that Danny and Jasmine weren't with us. So I start calling and clapping and in a couple of minutes Danny shows up. But no Jasmine. I start getting worried because she has been taking this same exact walk for 7 years and knows her way around. I was worried she had gotten her collar caught on something or gotten her leg caught in the rocks that line the lake. So my mom heads back to the house with her dog to get her car while I continue walking around calling for her. No barking, which she would do if she was caught, no whining. Nothing.

Danny, Jasper and I walked down along the shoreline to see if she got trapped out in the water or something. Then poor Jasper hit the electric fence that people put up to keep the beavers and geese off their lawns and he got tangled up in it while trying to get away and got zapped several times! The poor baby is still terrified of anything that sounds like an electric fence.

My mom was headed home and calling her. Then my sister in law, across the cove, heard me calling and so she started calling her and of course I was calling her.

20 minutes later, my sister in law started yelling for me. I get down to the dock, still across the cove, and look over and Jasmine was home!

I think that with all of us calling her, she kept turning around to head back my way, and then she would hear someone else calling her and head back that way. That's the only explanation I have for it taking her almost 30 minutes to make a 1+ mile walk home!

The panic I felt that day is something that I NEVER want to feel again!


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## amy22 (May 11, 2008)

I got lazy the other day..it was cold and raining so I let Misty out to go potty and didnt put her on her on her leash. Well she saw something up in the woods and she took off..I was out in the cold rain for about 20 ninutes crying, calling "Misty come" over and over..I could not see her or hear her...there is a neighborhood behind us past the woods and I was worried about cars and just not finding her...well I turned to go back to my house ot get my cell and there she was. Gosh was I happy to see her. That was quite a scare and I wil *never* let her out without her leash again.


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## Debles (Sep 6, 2007)

No. I never give them the chance ( and know these two well enough to know they would never go anywhere) but have left them in a sit stay in the drive way to run inside for something. And have a few times come back out to two goldens sitting on the front step with looks like "Why did you leave us out there alone Mom?"

When I was a kid, we had a beagle/basset we got at 6 months who never cut the umbilical cord. It was a very small town and he would disappear , we'd drive over to his mom's house and find he and his mom lying butt to butt on a wicker settee on the front porch. My dad would whistle for Spud, he'd jump down and get in the car. A few weeks later, he'd need another mom fix. : )


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## Mighty Casey and Samson's Mom (Jul 16, 2008)

I couldn't *imagine* Casey going missing overnight! I had a scare the other day when walking with him through the woods. He took off after something, got into a heavily wooded area. I kept calling and calling him, but couldn't see or hear him. This kept on for *5 WHOLE MINUTES.* It was horrible and I was in tears!! When my soggy, dirty boy finally came romping back, I promptly leashed him and gave him my whole pocketful of treats. Wow, my heart is beating triple time just thinking of this!


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## Ash (Sep 11, 2007)

LOL mine ran away just now... well not away away but I had to go and get him from out front in the ditch. The neighbors girls have their crazy carpets and sleds out playing. I had to go out and get. Little bugger is still whinning by the window. He wants to go out. But, I could not imagine one of my dogs missing overnight EEEEK.


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## FeatherRiverSam (Aug 7, 2009)

I wonder if males aren't more likely to take off than females. I know with Sammie my last golden she was very good about staying within a reasonable distance even when I had her out in the woods off lead. Now Woody, my current two year old rescue, whom I've had for six months now is quite different. Most dogs when off leash are constantly looking over their shoulders to make sure you're still around - not Woody - once he's off - he's off!!

I've got a neighbor who's got two golden's, male & female and I met him out walking his female off lead one evening along the river by our cabin. I asked him where the male was and he replied he had no idea. He didn't seem at all concerned though. It turned out his male had been to my next door neighbors cabin cleaning off his table and counters of all the food.

Woody did take off on me once while I was talking with another neighbor while our dogs were playing. We both noticed that all of a sudden the dogs were gone from sight and about 20 minutes later both dogs showed up and had been sprayed by a skunk. You just can't be too careful.

I agree Liz even five minutes without your dog in sight can seem like an eternity!!!



Pete


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## Karen519 (Aug 21, 2006)

*No*

I watch my two like a hawk. They are never outside without me watching them and we have a fence.

Are your dogs Fixed? Mine are for sure!

I think sometimes dogs run off when they aren't fixed and have that calling, if you know what I mean.


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## Zeppelin (Jun 28, 2009)

Strange for me to see this thread today...Zep just took of for the first time last night! 

We were at a friend's lake house, having a fire and enjoying some beverages and good company. 

When we got there...there were 4 other dogs there (all dogs Zep knows from work)...Sirus, 7yr old Malamute; Louie, 4yr old Pug; Odessa, 4yr old Husky and Woody, 1yr old Catahula (sp?) Leopard Dog. They were running around, having a grand old time. Zep was playing keep away with Woody's ball as he was the only one who wanted to be in the lake the whole time and quickly figured out that none of the other dogs would follow him into the water. In the water, he had the ball all to himself. 

Well, people started leaving and within a bit, there was only Louie and Odessa left. Odessa went in the house and went to bed, Louie curled up in my lap in front of the fire (snoring, of course...cracks me up!) and Zep was still in the water. He'd come out for a bit, chew on a stick, back in the water, back to the stick...he was getting bored and started to wander. We'd call him back, he'd come...all was good. 

Then, i realized that i had not seen him for a bit...and i didnt hear him splashing in the water...didnt hear his collar jingling. I started to worry. Hubby and I went to the front of the cabin to look for him (it was about 1am, so it was chilly and pitch black). He was nowhere to be seen. We walked up the private road in opposite directions. After about 15 minutes, i heard hubby saying "get over here!" and knew he'd found him. He came running up the road toward me and despite how mad i was that he'd run off...it was "good boy, good come, good boy". I was very relieved. I was so scared that he'd wandered off and gotten lost or stuck in the woods somewhere. Or maybe he was drowning or something. OMG...i was freaking out for about 1/2 an hour before we found him. 

I put him in the car after that little episode. I was a bit too "tipsy" to watch out for him and i knew he was tired anyway. 

Scary, scary thing, to think you've lost your dog!!!


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## Devon (Nov 29, 2009)

We once took in a lab mix as a favor for one of my husband's family (her new apartment didn't take dogs) and she (the dog) and my former Golden, Jake, took off down the street one day to a pond about a two miles from our house. Jake loved to swim there, and I think the lab mix wanted to roam, so Jake decided to show her a fun place to go! Lol.

Our recent rescue dog took off down the road one night. I chased after him, thankfully overtaking him when he stopped to "do his business" on the side of the road. He's always on a leash when we take him out, and one time of his off leash behavior was enough for us. He stays on leash now, lest he take off for good or get hit by a car. 

But I've never had a dog run away overnight. I think Jake knew he had a cushy life here with us and figured why risk it by running away?


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

Overnight? OMG, I cannot even go there, I would be hysterical. My heart goes out to those here who have lost their dogs forever, never knowing (T&T comes to mind  )

Once when I was living with my sister, I was taking a nap and my sister had let Daisy out and forgot about her. I woke up to someone knocking on the door asking if there was a golden that lived here. I totally freaked, I was so scared they were going to say they hit her with their car (they had driven there). I just started screaming, I really couldn't handle the fear. Kind of embarrassing now how I reacted.

It's all about control for me now. I _always_ know where Daisy is, every second.


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## Susan6953 (Jun 9, 2008)

When we were moving last summer Jamie got out at our new house when my husband and stepson were carrying something in. We all walked and drove around the neighborhood for about an hour and I was in quite a panic before my stepson saw a man out in front of his house with a golden. Justin hadn't been around Jamie that much so wasn't sure it was him so he said "that looks like my stepmom's golden" and the man said he had followed his wife who was jogging and he figured someone would come looking for him.

Luckily we have a fenced back yard so it has never happened again. What I don't understand is how Jamie will insist on following me from room to room, even wants to come in the bathroom with me, but when outside will take off like that. I imagine he would have tried to come home but who knows if he would have found the way since we had just moved.

I think Santa will leave Justin something extra nice this year!


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## Mighty Casey and Samson's Mom (Jul 16, 2008)

Usually Casey is never more than 15 feet or so from me--about the distance his extendable leash will go when he has it on. He also has an excellent recall (knows there are ALWAYS treats for a prompt COME) When he does "go rogue" it is very scary!


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## fostermom (Sep 6, 2007)

My boys stay near me when they are off leash. When Jasmine got separated from us and my mom walked home with her dog, Danny and Jasper didn't even think about following them. They stayed right by me. Jasmine is a bit more independent. I am not sure if it's her breed (1/2 golden and 1/2 lab) or the fact she's a female. When she did get separated it wasn't intentional on her part, I think she thought we had already headed home from our walk without her and she was trying to find us.


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## paula bedard (Feb 5, 2008)

I haven't, but a member did about a year and a half back. He was a pup too, so very scary. He was found safe and sound, but boy did we all lose sleep waiting to hear news.


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## ilovemydogs (Jan 22, 2009)

No, thank goodness mine have never run away. They have never been gone for more than a few minutes. Duke used to like to take off when I was really tired in the morning after working night shift. I would just go and eat my breakfast and before I would even be finished he would be back. Now Duke has gotten very lazy and hardly ever ventures 10 ft from the house let alone leave the yard. Bailey has gone to visit neighbors when the battery in the invisible fence collar has run low, but she's never been gone long and never been more than a couple houses away.


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## cubbysan (Mar 13, 2007)

Last weekend I had a big scare with MacKenzie.

She was spayed a few days earlier, so she still had her cone on. We had been trying to keep her calm, so she was getting a lot of crate time. We brought her out to do her business, and came back in, she had been pretty quiet for about an hour, so I just asssumed my daughter put her back in her crate, like I had asked her to. I even asked one of the kids, and they told me she was in her crate.

All of the sudden, my husband starts yelling that the front door was open, and who didn't shut it correctly. I go to the door and go thank goodness MacKenzie is in her crate. I go downstairs to my daughter's room, and the crate is empty, my daughter says - I thought she was with you!

We go running outside, and she is nowhere to be found. I just look around at all the land around us and think we are never going to find her. We start calling her name, I decide to look in the house one more time, and notice a bathroom door is closed, on the other side of the door, there is MacKenzie chewing up a roll of toilet paper!!! I really think she fell asleep in there too. She must have accidentally closed the door with the cone. I must have shook for two hours afterwards. She goodness she will be trained on the IF in the near future!!!!


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## AquaClaraCanines (Mar 5, 2006)

No dog in my care has ever gotten away, however a two fosters I have placed over the years have, and both were recovered. I would absolutely FREAK out and be a basket case if one of mine was gone overnight. I can't even fathom it.


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## pburchins (Mar 11, 2009)

When our first golden,Riker, was around 2 we were out shopping and we left him in the house. It was a windy day and the front door blew open. We came home and saw the door wide open and we just freaked out. Ran into the house and found him asleep in front of the fire place. Talk about relieved..... Our neighbor came over and said we saw the door open and knew you had left so we were watching while doing yard work. They said he came off the front porch and did his business went up on the front porch and layed on it for about 40 minutes and went back inside and I guess he fell asleep. Of course, I wonder why the neighbor just didn't walk over and put the dog inside and close the door.

He was a great dog. We could let him out and he never left the yard. He knew the property line better than the land surveyor. One of the nicest comments we had was after he passed away and we got a new pup. Another neighbor asked if we were going to put him on the electric fence collar like the older one was on. I told him we never used an electric fence with him. He was just shocked at how Riker would never leave the yard with all the distractions.

We would only let him out to do his business and he would be outside 5-10 minutes at a time. but he always came back and knocked on the door to come in. Also, he would come out and supervise the yard maintenance.

I could not imagine losing a dog overnight. I could not imagine the anxiety attack.....


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## Mssjnnfer (Aug 9, 2009)

Omg, thank god no... (also knock on wood.)

Our gate to our fence sometimes blows open if the winds are strong enough. We need to get it fixed but for now have this bungee thing on it.

Well, I'm still worried that it's going to blow open, we'll let the dogs out and away they go. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't come back, too. It literally makes me sick to think about. 

ANYWAY. Now, whenever we let them out, one of us goes out there first to make sure it's shut.

I always get upset because Gary doesn't always do it before he lets them out. I told him all it will take is one time of being open. The sad thing is, I don't know if I'd forgive him for that.


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## Jo Ellen (Feb 25, 2007)

It's much easier being in control when it's just one of you :


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## Willow52 (Aug 14, 2009)

When Maggie was alive, she'd love to take off for a good run but she usually stayed on the property. This didn't happen very often though. If she did get out I'd yell "Maggie, let's go for a ride" and she'd come running. Of course then we'd go for a short ride.

I'm anal with making sure Hank doesn't get out because of the neighbor's pitbull. I talked about this in another thread though.


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## Phillyfisher (Jan 9, 2008)

Tucker has never been missing, because he rarely is off lead. We are still working on his recall, and while it is not bad, I realized it is not where it needs to be. When he goes to the neighbor's to play with another golden, I usually just let him drag his lead, as since their dog has an invisible fence, she never leaves their property. But one day their neighbor's flat coat (they had combined their invisible fences into one big one so the dogs could play) came over while Tucker and Molly were playing. Well Tucker took off after him and chased him around their house. Tucker did not even flinch when I called his name. Luckily, the flat coat and Tucker ended up in play bows, wanting to play. Once the flat coats owner let their dog back inside, Tucker came looking for me. I then realized how much more work his recall needs.... I could not imagine losing him for overnight.


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## jimla (Oct 9, 2008)

Buddy a rescue lab mix and Dolly our golden are now together at the bridge. Several years ago when visitors arrived, I opened the front door and they ran out to greet the visitors. I called them inside, but they ignored me. Buddy looked back at Dolly and took off towards the Forest Service land West of our home. Dolly followed him and I ran after them yelling, finally loosing track of them in the forest. It was a cold, rainy evening in November during hunting season. I called and searched the forest with a flashlight. I left the lights on and kept checking the yard, but they didn't return. I cringed every time I heard gun fire in the forest. 

They did not return the next day, so we put up posters over a 5 mile radius, called the shelters, placed newspaper ads, etc. Every day for a week, I drove the forest roads searching for them without success. I sadly accepted that they were not coming home.

A week after the dogs ran away, I got a call from a hunter on a cell phone who found Buddy about 5 miles from our home on a dirt road near a river. He got my phone number off Buddy's collar tag. I asked him to call for Dolly and she appeared from the brush next to the road. The hunters loaded the dogs into their pickup and brought them home to us! Both dogs had lost weight and Dolly was wet and limping from a sore paw. Bless the hunters for finding them and I'm glad the dogs stayed together.


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## Percy Lou (May 30, 2018)

Y...yes. When I was 12 he did. My father thought it was a wonderful idea to put him outside on the 4th of July, 2012


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## Izziebeth (Mar 26, 2018)

My goldendoodle, Coltrane, was gone for almost two days. I had dropped him and my other dog off at the groomer’s and headed off to get my own hair done. My phone started buzzing like crazy as I was getting my blow dry, and I answered to hear a hysterical groomer screaming, “We lost him!” (Which made it even worse because I thought she meant he was dead.)

She claimed he had a seizure while in the crate drying, so they rushed him outside because he was peeing and pooping. (My vet believes it may have been a panic attack ... he never had a seizure before or after.) When they got outside, apparently he barrel rolled out of his collar (again ... hm ... him wearing a collar doesn’t fit) and he bolted out to the town green through the center of town. He was then being chased by a screaming groomer, some joggers, a fireman and who knows who else. He traveled over a mile on hot summer pavement before they lost track of him in a cemetary on the border of a salt marsh.

This led to two days of ugly-crying, searching ... My FB post was shared hundreds of times (people can be so wonderful) and I was hounded by a group of guerilla dog finders (No! I do not want to advertise a reward yet ... Yes! I am stopping the search for the night to rest before I fall down.) It. Was. Awful.

Finally at dusk on the second day, I received a call from the town police. They had my dog. Apparently, a man who lived on the edge of the salt marsh decided it was time to bring out his Christmas tree (!!!??!!! - End of June) and found him hunkered down in the reeds. By the time I got there, Coltrane, sad and filthy, was perched on the backseat of the cop car, head down. It was the most pathetic-joyful sight I’d ever seen.

My poor boy. The pads of his paws were red meat from running on the hot pavement, and he needed hospitalization to monitor his kidney function in case he had ingested sea water. But he was safe.

I’ve attached his photo. He was the best boy who crossed the rainbow bridge just this December, right after his 7th birthday. (Teary eyed now.) Nevertheless, I sure am glad we got him back after his great escape! I still meet people who remember him from the townwide search.

PS - As you can see from the photo, he really had the most fabulous eyebrows!


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## Cpc1972 (Feb 23, 2015)

No. We are way to careful. We dont have a fence yet at our new house. She is put on her 20 ft lead if we are outside. We drop it burcthr lead is easier to grab if she does take off. We have a 100 ft one for the back yard we can let her out if we arent out. She isnt a runner and doesnt run our doors.

I will say though I now remember once we were doing yard work. My dad forgot to close the gate. We let her out. Then about five minutes later I go where is Chloe. She left the back yard and was laying in the neighbors yard chewing a stick. Lol.


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## Nate83 (Jul 13, 2017)

Nope, she will run to the neighbors house and if she doesn't come back I start to close the garage door, she comes running back.


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## puddles everywhere (May 13, 2016)

Nope... not sure why but my house has always been the place everyone runs to, not from. Even in this new place they go around back looking for a way into the yard or lay on the front porch and run into the house when I open the door and this can be a little frightening when you don't realize they are there. 
I'm the one that stops to help people trying to catch their dogs and 9 out of 10 times the dog just runs up to me to be picked up or sits and waits for me to put a leash on them. 
I can't count how many times people have given their dogs to me because they dart out the door or dig out of the yard. They come to my house, no one wants to leave?? Gratefully all of them found happy homes with no escape issues. I can't say the connection with people goes this well but dogs and cats just sort of gravitate in my direction.


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## 1oldparson (Mar 5, 2013)

A tale of 4 dogs

Gretchen was a Keeshond and the first dog we had after we had kids. She was a runner. If the front door was open for a split second too long, she was out and gone, sometimes for a day or two. She always came back. (This was before we even thought of training a dog.) She passed at home at 16 years old a day or so after my dad died. 

Cheyenne, our first Golden who we got about a year after Gretchen passed, never ran away. The kids were older and we had them take her out front to play every night with instructions to keep her on the grass. As an 8 week old puppy, the grass was longer than her legs so it was easy. She would lay under the tree in front while I did yard work, no problem. Once, while working on a project in the garage, I finished and closed up, forgetting she was out front. Looked for her a couple hours later and she was still there. She passed at 16. 

Piper, our second Golden was a stray about a year old. She was always a runner but only got away once when someone let her out and the gate was open. I chased after her and caught her. She passed away at 12. 

Ginger, our current Golden, has more training than all our other dogs combined. She’s pretty good but I don’t trust her. She’s plagued with excessive greeting disorder and would run towards anyone to get a pet or belly rub. She’s on leash any time we’re out but minds well, as long as the leash is on - even if no one is holding it. She’s 5. 

Yes, losing a dog is traumatic. Don’t ever want to feel that again.


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## seugoldenretriever (May 31, 2018)

Hello friends.... I have created a blog specializing in the breed Golden Retriever... here you have the url https://seugoldenretriever.com


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

seugoldenretriever said:


> Hello friends.... I have created a blog specializing in the breed Golden Retriever... here you have the url https://seugoldenretriever.com



Welcome!

Just an FYI to all, you'll need to translate the pages to be able to read it


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