Some pets are talented escape artists, whether they jump the fence, chew through barriers, dash through a doorway or even learn how to open a gate or door. We understand how stressful these behaviors can be — it’s scary to imagine your pet being harmed or never returning home! The good news is, there are ways to manage this behavior and keep your pet safe.

Why Pets Escape

The first step to preventing your pet from escaping is figuring out why your pet is trying to leave. Once you know their motivation, you can help address it! We list the most common reasons below. 

Boredom & Social Isolation

Many pets become frustrated or bored if they are left alone for too long. This is especially true for dogs, as they are very social animals. If your pet feels they aren’t getting enough exercise or mental enrichment, they will find a way to meet these needs by escaping. Try implementing the following tips to keep them busy and engaged:

• Exercise your pet before leaving them alone. 
• Keep your pets inside while you are away and provide interesting toys that will keep them busy and their mind active. Try filling a Kong with treats or provide an interactive puzzle toy to challenge your pet’s problem-solving skills. Rotate through toys and chews to offer new choices and to keep things new and interesting.
• If your dog is very social, consider taking them to a doggie daycare or ask a friend or neighbor to walk your dog during the day.
  

  

Separation Anxiety

Pets with separation anxiety have a hard time being left alone, which can lead to destructive behaviors and escape attempts. If you only notice escape behaviors when you’re not home, this may be a sign of separation anxiety. Read more to determine if this is the cause in our articles Behavior Challenges: Destructive Chewing and Behavior Challenges: Separation Anxiety in Dogs.

Reproductive Drive

Dogs reach sexual maturity between 6-9 months of age. For cats, this happens between 4-6 months of age. Males who are not neutered are motivated by a strong, natural drive to reproduce and will go to great lengths to seek out a female, including finding creative ways to escape. A female who is not spayed may also seek out males and get pregnant if she escapes. 

Spaying or neutering your pet is the best way to prevent this unwanted behavior. Please explore our spay and neuter resources to learn more about low-cost options and find an appointment.

Fears and Phobias

Loud noises or booms such as thunder, fireworks or construction may scare your pet and cause them to flee. There are a few simple steps you can take to keep your pet comfortable and prevent them from fleeing when frightened:

• Keep them indoors on holidays and provide a comfortable space for them, such as a covered crate for dogs or a dark room for cats, where they can go when they hear noises or feel vibrations that scare them. Read more about this in our article Behavior Challenges: Fear of Loud Noises.
• Provide your pet with a bed to snuggle in and leave on the TV or play white noise to help drown out the noise.
• Give them their favorite treat or toy to keep busy and focused on something else.

Preventing Your Pet From Escaping the Home

• Keep your pets indoors when you’re not home: 
  • Create a pet-proofed area inside the home for your pet to stay when you can’t supervise them. This area should have your pet’s water bowl, toys and bed.
  • Provide mental enrichment activities to keep your pet busy and calm. 
  • Use doors, sturdy exercise pens, baby gates or other barriers to block off access to areas that aren’t pet-proofed. 
• Ensure your home is secure:
  • Remove furniture and objects that may allow your pet to climb or jump over barriers or out windows. 
  • Determined pets will chew through window screens or squeeze through open windows to get outside. Make sure all windows are closed when leaving your pet alone — and don’t forget the windows on upper levels!
  • If kids live in the home, teach them to close the door all the way. Create an extra barrier to the door using a baby gate that children can’t open on their own. 
  • Patch any holes in your fence. 
• Lock Doors: 
  • Keep doors locked when your pet is unsupervised so they cannot escape even if they are able to turn doorknobs or open doors. 
  • To prevent guests or children from unlocking and opening these doors, use a lock that can only be opened with a key. 
• Communication is key: 
  • Make sure everyone who lives in or visits the home is aware of your pet’s escape behaviors and checks that doors, windows and gates are securely closed. 

What to Do If Your Pet Escapes

It’s important to never punish your pet after they have successfully escaped. Pets associate punishment with what they’re doing at the time, so punishing your pet after they return home won’t stop the escape behavior and will only make your pet afraid to come back next time. 

To help your pet return home should they escape, make sure they are microchipped, that the microchip company has your current contact information and that your pets are wearing tags on their collars with your current contact and licensing information.

If your pet does go missing, we have a comprehensive guide on what to do next.

More Behavior & Training Resources

San Diego Humane Society offers training classes and resources to address a variety of needs for companion animals.

Our training philosophy is based on the behavioral science concepts of positive reinforcement. Training your pet using these concepts will not only help them learn new behaviors more quickly, but it will also strengthen the bond you share.

Please visit our website for a current schedule of training classes or call 619-279-5961.