What To Do Before Your Dog or Wolfdog Gets Away

A wolfdog died today. We tried our best to get her home safely, but she was hit by a car eight days after escape from her enclosure.

No one likes to think about their furbabies getting loose, but there are several things you can start

My dog Bella, alive and well

doing today that may help get them home sooner.

Understand the Challenges of Animal Specific Recovery

Wolfdogs, feral, and shy dogs are especially hard to recover because they are naturally hypersensitive to their surroundings and fear the unknown.

Extreme caution is actually useful trait in the wild. It helps many animals avoid traps, hunters, and prey that might be more of a challenge than a meal.

Put yourself into the mind of an animal approaching a crate type trap. There is no visible escape exit. The sounds and echoes inside the metal or plastic space are deafening to your sensitive ears. Unless starved, you would probably leave in search of an easier meal.

A large kennel or fenced yard with a spring gate trap might be less frightening to approach than a crate.

Speaking of easy meals, I was asked if a wolfdog would raid local chicken coops. I think it’s unlikely. This is a learned behavior. They probably won’t be attracted to chickens unless they flee and the prey drive kicks in. From your perspective, does the sight and smell of live chickens make your mouth water? Even if a wolfdog eats raw chickens, there is no reason to associate live chickens with food.
Another challenge is an animal’s reaction to both real and perceived threats.

In socializing wolfdogs and ferals on trails, it was very apparent that anything out of the ordinary was regarded as a potential threat.

We could walk for miles, passing, joggers, strollers, cyclists, even mowers without incident, but a jogger on the side of the path stretching, would cause panic in many wolfdogs.

The same type of “irrational” fear goes for blowing bags, a fallen tree that wasn’t there before, and loud noises. Anything unusual is suspect, including cars slowing down or stopping to help them get home.

This is important because they can easily be frightened into changing direction which can hurt or help the recovery, depending on where you need them to be.

Frightening them into traffic is a major concern. Most animals will stay on the side of the road or avoid traffic. I’ve seen heroic videos of people approaching scared dogs on highways, but I don’t know any higher content wolfdogs or owned feral dogs who are socialized enough to allow a stranger to approach and grab them. Unfortunately, they would rather take their chances darting away.

Keep this in mind, when approaching on the road… Is there a safe place for them to flee that is away from traffic? Then proceed on the opposite side.

Establish Routines

When any dog is lost, you want to keep them in the area. Routines go a long way in keeping them close to home.

Routines are the opposite of the unknown, they are safe. More routine equals less stress. No animal (other than humans) will choose stress over the relief of a routine.

Meals on time in the same spot. Water fresh and always available. Treat time, play time, training sessions all should be a regular part of the daily routine. Being in their enclosure or around your house must be the happiest place on earth because home is consistent and stress free.

Realize, if your dog or wolfdog gets away it doesn’t mean they don’t love you. There are reasons, like something smells enticing, looks fun to chase, or is luring them the other side, like another dog.

Keep the routine going, it’s likely they will return, looking for that feeling of relief and food. They also have a great sense of smell. Unless there is a heavy rain or recent snow, they know where to find home.

Animals who stray far from home are likely to have been frightened out of the area, lack stress relieving routines, or don’t have a reason to return, which is why the next topics of canine companionship and bonding are so relevant to wolfdog and rescued feral recovery.

Canine Companionship

Wolfdogs and feral dogs naturally like the pack life. Having a canine companion can really make a difference in preventing escape and recovery. Behind being intact, canine companionship is usually the missing link between escape artists and homebodies.

If you have an anxious wolfdog, feral, or shy dog, having an outgoing, people friendly, companion of like size and weather tolerance will make a huge difference in the quality of life and recovery
if your shy dog gets away.

I’ve used outgoing dogs in socialization to build a bridge between people and shy dogs. I’ve used them to lure dogs back home, and or close enough to slip a lead on. Sometimes it’s just a matter of working the need to have what the other dogs is getting like treats, which is a wolfdog thing. Other times it’s about shy dogs trusting dogs more than humans.

In any case, a good canine companion is almost essential for wolfdogs and ferals.

The Human Bond

Even with canine companionship, bonding with a wolfdog, feral or shy dog is time consuming and ongoing, but absolutely necessary. They should at least have a sense that you are safe, consistent and are not a source of stress.

Routines and good positive encounters will earn their trust. Walks will make you a rock star. This is a lot of work, especially with these types of animals, but the rewards are huge.

Always make sure they are safely secured and make sure every experience ends on a positive. Please ask if you need tips for getting them safely out of their enclosure.

Having a great relationship with your canine will not only create a positive home environment, it will make it possible for you to go out looking for them if they stray from home.

A little side tip, shy animals tend to feel more comfortable on the move at night when all has quieted down.

Wolf relatives are crepuscular, meaning they are most active at dawn and dusk. By going out between these times, they are more likely to hear your calls and smell your lures.

Simple Recall Sounds

Recall for wolfdogs and once feral dogs is very advanced training. Unless you have something consistently better than the average, like raw meat, recall is difficult to teach, even then it’s not foolproof, which is why they should never be walked off lead.

Since the human voice doesn’t carry far and will be competing with outer sounds like, traffic, crickets, and rodents under leaves, it doesn’t hurt to establish a few recall sounds that are always followed by a high value treat.

Whistles, squeak toys, bells are all good tools for recovery.

Emergency Training

If you’ve done all of the above, you can take things a couple of steps further to help in their recovery.

Leashing is sometimes an issue, even when dogs love the sight of the leash and walks, but it’s frustrating to get so close, only to have them back away at the last minute.

Teaching them to hop in the car is another way you can recover your animal.

Following you, and, or a canine through doorways is also useful leading them into a yard or barn. All require a lot of practice and ongoing drills.

Practice putting a slip leash over their head everywhere, on and off property, even if they already have on a collar or harness, as they always should.

Getting them in the car, needs to always be followed by good times and treats. The car should never be a vet trip only routine. Wolfdogs will learn quickly that the car means fun times, but they can just as easily learn it’s a trap.

Wolfdogs and ferals also have a very difficult time going through doorways. It’s that fear of the unknown on the other side. When practicing always make crossing to the other side a big deal with lots of treats.

Another tip, practice often in various places then make adjustments as needed, as you’ll see why in the following story.

I have a feral dog, named Bella (pictured hiding). She loved the car, and by that I mean she only loved my old car.

This winter, a door blew open during a blizzard and out she went with her outgoing companion. Shortly after, a man called because my friendly husky ran right up to the stranger, he leashed her, and saw the tag with my number. He couldn’t catch Bella, who stayed close, yet far away from reach.

I drove up in my brand new car (days old) which was the same make, model, and color. I led my husky into the car, then called Bella. She got her front paws in the car before realizing, “this is not my usual car”. She bolted away twenty feet.

Luckily, my daughter was with me. She walked our husky home while Bella followed. Bella followed them both, straight into the fenced yard and we shut the gate. All were a little snow blown and colder but safe.

Easiest recovery ever because everything was in place, including a tag with a current phone number.

Get Help ASAP

Dog recovery groups are awesome. Many have tricks of their own, like, trail cameras, traps, and getting permission to search properties and set up feeding stations, but most important is they will spread the word quickly that your dog is loose.

Although we sadly didn’t recover this last furbaby, there were many concerned dog lovers who called in with sightings that helped us in tracking her whereabouts.

I’d like to thank Granite State Dog Recovery (FB) for all their efforts and showing me what a great resource these groups can be.

Be Aware of Enclosure Problems

Not all escape routes can be predicted, but you can routinely walk your pen and look for breeches in the fence or evidence of attempts to escape, like digging.


Always do rechecks after storms and windy days.

There is no judgement here. Everyone has a lost dog story.

I hope they all have happier endings.