What happens when a dog runs away with the leash attached?
Usually they get free of it, but not always.
What happens when a dog runs away with the leash attached?
A question I get asked sometimes is whether a dog would be stuck somewhere if he ran off with the leash attached. My answer, usually, is no. In most cases, a dog would not just be stuck if the leash gets caught. It is more likely that the dog would pull the leash and collar off. It is also very likely the dog would chew through the leash. I can think of at least three cases where the leash did remain attached. Two of those dogs were stuck, and one was hobbled by the leash wrapped around his legs. If your dog runs off with the leash still attached, you should plan most of your search effort as if the leash has come off. It is possible the leash is still attached, so you should also try to cover that scenario, even if it isn’t your primary focus.
When I got my first dog as an adult, in 2020, I was completely clueless as a dog owner. I was going to go for a walk with Porter, but I forgot something. I tied his leash to the bumper of the truck for just a moment so I could go back to the house. By the time I got to the door of the house, Porter was right behind me. He had chewed through the leash in mere seconds, and he was happily following me. That leash had a lot of knots in it from being tied back together. When Tino was a puppy, there was a time when he went through about ten leashes in a month. If I even just forgot to pay attention to him for maybe 30 seconds, he would chomp through a leash instantly. It was a game to him, to see if he could catch me off guard and chomp his leash when I was distracted. Almost all dogs, large or small, can chew through most leashes. In my work with Useless Bay Sanctuary, I have helped catch many dogs that were running around with short remnants of leashes.
On June 25th of 2019, Tino and I were asked to search for a medium sized dog named Rosie. She had run off with her leash attached, and she had been missing for five days. It was a long leash, probably 20 feet long, and she went running through a forest near a river, with thick brush. I thought there was a good chance her leash got caught on something, and I predicted she most likely would just chew through it. I thought it was unlikely she would be stuck somewhere. I also thought it was unlikely that Tino and I would be able to catch up to her after five days, and I recommended that they not use the search dog. They wanted to try it anyway, just in case, so Tino and I came out to search. We tracked the scent for about a quarter mile through the woods until we came to the top of a bluff above the river. I thought I could hear a dog barking in the distance, which wouldn’t be unusual, but the tone and cadence of the bark was like a dog who was stuck, or feeling left behind, rather than the usual barks I would expect from a dog in her own yard. The owner could not hear very well, so she couldn’t say if it was Rosie. Tino did want to track the scent that direction anyway, so we continued toward the barking. As we got closer, the barking continued in the same tone, and as it got louder, the owner said she thought it sounded like Rosie. It was a tough path to get to the sound, but eventually we could look down and see the dog beside the river, 80 feet below us, barking. She was all alone, her leash caught on a log. It appeared to be Rosie, and we went closer for a better look. When we finally got down to the river, it was Rosie, and she was very happy to see someone. She could have just chomped through her leash at any time, and I don’t know why she didn’t think to do it. She was about a mile from home. She probably could have come home on her own if only she had thought to bite through the leash. Maybe she thought she would be in trouble if she did. Although she had been missing five days, she was not dehydrated because she was right beside the river.
On July 2nd, 2022, we went to Ferndale to catch a Rottweiler named Roley. He had been running for a week with his leash attached. When we finally found him, resting in the shade under an excavator, he still had the leash on. I set the trap, and he moved toward it right away. He walked using baby steps because the leash had become wrapped around his chest and legs, hobbling him. He could still get around, but slowly. He walked into the trap and triggered it, and was caught, safe. It seemed to me that he could have reached the leash with his mouth and chewed it off at any time. I don’t know why he didn’t, why he kept the leash on for a week when it was clearly uncomfortable. It was a slip lead that had loosened up off or his neck, but didn’t come off completely. It moved back on his body until something knotted up, and then it was stuck on his midsection and legs. He was fine, and he was happy to be caught.
On July 13th, 2022, Luna went missing in Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. She was with her owner, on a leash, when she saw a deer. Her leash was clipped to his pants. She took off after the deer and ripped the belt loop of his pants, getting free. She was familiar with the area, and her owner was afraid she was stuck in the woods where the leash got caught. If she had been able to move around, it seemed likely that someone would have spotted her. Everyone in the area knew Luna. They called me for advice. One thing they specifically wanted to know was if they should focus their search close to where she went missing, under the assumption her leash was stuck? Or should they search farther, assuming she could get free from her leash and run farther? I advised them that they should not focus on the woods near where she was last seen because it was very likely she would chew through the leash if she got stuck. This was especially likely because she had chewed through straps and harnesses in the past. I thought they would have the best chance of finding their dog if they searched farther out and put up more signs. I was wrong. A friend happened to hear her whining in the bushes not far from the point of escape. She had gotten the leash wrapped around the base of a small tree. She had actually pulled the little tree out of the ground, but then she went into the brush, after the deer, until the tree got hung up. Then she was stuck in the brush, unable to back up, and unable to get her jaws around to where the leash was attached to her harness. It was a fluke that she happened to be stuck in a position that she was unable to reach the leash and chew through it. It appears she was stuck in that same spot in the brush for five days. As it turns out, the advice I gave happened to be the wrong advice in that low-probability situation. When I give advice, I have to make suggestions for people to take action based on the highest probabilities, based on my years of experience. That Luna would get stuck in the bushes in a position where she couldn’t get at the leash to chew it was highly improbable, even though that is what ended up being the case. Luna’s people had wanted me to bring the search dog. I told them I couldn’t because it was too far to travel, but I also thought the search dog wouldn’t be successful because Luna had probably run for miles, and we wouldn’t catch up. As it turned out, the search dog probably would have found Luna on the fourth day, if we had been able to search, because she was not far from the point of escape.
If your dog was missing, and she ran off with the leash attached, I would still give the advice that you should focus the main effort of your search on the high probability, 90% or more, that your dog is not stuck somewhere because of the leash. In most circumstances, the dog would pull off the collar or harness, or she would chew through the leash. In rare cases, your dog could be stuck on the leash, either because she is unwilling to chew through it, or because she can’t get at the leash to chew it, for some reason. If your dog ran off with the leash attached, do all the things you would do in the scenario that her leash was not stuck. Put up great signs, use social media, and hand out fliers to people in the area. After you have done all those things, then go back and do an area search as if she was stuck. It is unlikely she would be stuck, maybe a 10% chance or less, but you should also try to cover that scenario, just in case.
Most people would not have the experience to know the answer to the question of what happens when a dog runs off with the leash attached. Because I have 14 years of experience with finding lost dogs, I can answer questions like that. If you are someone who wants to help lost dogs, you can improve your ability to help them by taking advantage of my experience. Beginning August 8th, I will be offering an 8 week training course, on line. We will cover the behavior of lost pets, how to work with search dogs, traps, signs, and many other relevant topics. If you are the type of person who always helps lost dogs when you can, you will probably spend hundreds of hours every year helping lost dogs you read about. Taking this 8 week course will allow you to be much more effective, and it could make the difference in saving a dog’s life. Read more about it here.
Thanks....more great advice James...appreciate all that you do and your time🤗🐾❤️
Great advice. I will tell friends with dogs…