Here, Rover
Never Let Your Dog Roam Free
Allowing your dog to roam free will make training him much more difficult. The primary reason that humans can train dogs is because of the dogs' submissive instinct. As trainers, we develop a structured pack order and use the submissive instinct to condition each dog to think of us as the pack leader. The dog's role in the pack is that of a follower. The dog who is allowed to roam free has a weaker submissive instinct. Roaming free - and doing whatever the dog pleases - is counterproductive to following direction from a pack leader.
Besides making training more difficult, allowing a dog to roam free is like playing a game of Russian roulette with the dog's life. Visit any veterinarian's office and ask for a tour. You will see the painful results of allowing a dog to roam free. You will see dogs who have been hit by cars, dogs who were attacked by other roaming canines, and dogs who had ingested poison from someone's garbage pail. These are just a few of the hazards that roaming dogs are exposed to. There are many more. Consider the following:
There are a number of dogs with gunshot wounds. These wounds were inflicted illegally by people who did not like dogs and did not want them wandering through their yards. Every year dogs running in packs are shot legally by farmers who, in many states, have the right to protect their livestock.
Dogs who roam free are sometimes caught in traps placed in the woods by hunters. Dogs have been known to lose legs or to starve to death after what we can only imagine was an excruciatingly painful struggle.
In small hometowns there are many small ponds and lakes. Every spring roaming dogs drown by falling through the melting layers of ice. This tragedy can be avoided by not allowing your dog to roam. Injury or death can happen suddenly to any dog who roams. The dogs who make it to the veterinary hospital are the lucky ones - if they can be helped. Many never get that far.
Also, neighbors do not appreciate their yards being ruined by wandering dogs. Male dogs often mark territory by lifting their legs and urinating on trees and bushes. Both males and females urinate and defecate wherever they please when they roam. No one likes to clean up - or step in - defecation from someone else's dog.
Every year pounds and shelters throughout the country put to death several million unwanted dogs. Roaming dogs - both males and females - bear much responsibility for the problem of canine overpopulation. Male dogs are uncanny about finding a way into the pen or fenced yard of a female dog in heat. Many unwanted puppies are born as a result.
In most towns and cities, it is against the law for dogs to roam free. Animal control officers can pick up roaming dogs. If your dog has been picked up, you will not get him back without first paying a fine - sometimes a very stiff one.
Get more great information by reading We Can See You In the Dark.
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