My Roaming Aussies

by KiKi
(Northern Arizona )

Hello. I have two Australian Shepherds, both rescues acquired about one year apart. The alpha girl, 8 now, is very playful and loves to roam around our 5 acres, as does our other Aussie girl who is 7. The youngster never learned to play at her previous home, but she is very energetic and loves to run. During the morning and day they get lots of play time, exercise and have jobs to do. They are best friends and always by each others side.

My problem is the two when out together on my 5 acres will jump the fence and wander off, and the alpha will even adventure off by herself sometimes. Help! Any suggestions on how to keep these girls inside my fenced land and not wandering out on these mini adventures? They once left for 3 days before making their way home!

When I supervise them closely and they don't play and run together, only sit and mope because I'm outside with them and they can't explore freely. Any kind of leash terrifies the younger Aussie and from what the rescue home told my father, she was pretty badly abused as a puppy (my guess with a leash and anything handy) and I can't bear the thought of a leash on her now since she just becomes a complete mess. These were my father's dogs before I got them and he has passed away 2 years ago. They are still in the same property, but my dad is no longer here, so we always thought they were looking for him, but now we think they are just going on adventures and exploring more interesting places. They did run away more right before and after he passed away. I'm at a loss.

Help. These girls are my life. I feel completely depleted and devastated every time they run away only to return a while later. I can't imagine if they don't come back one time and I need to find a way to stop it before then. I've had Aussies all my life, but this is the first time I've ever had a dog or set of dogs that run away constantly.

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