Why does my 7 year old German shepherd want to break free?

[brasyliam]

I have a 7 year old girl who every once in a while decides to dig a hole under the fence and run outside.

I have a big yard so she’s outside all day and she’s inside the house during the night - this is what she’s used to, she needs her space to run around. I train and play with her, so I’m general I can’t say she’s bored.

She’s good for 4-5 consecutive months without running away but then she has these periods of time when she just wants to go to the street and when I realize that she’s out there I can’t bring her inside. When she does that (and she does it as soon as she finds out that she’s left unattended - meaning I’m home but I’m busy inside the house, so it can happen multiple times per day) I usually put her in a kennel for a while as punishment but I have to do that for at least 1-2 weeks before she “calms down” again and stop trying to break free again. Then we’re good for another 4-5 months.

Why does she do that? What should I do to stop this? I tried everything including electric fences etc. nothing worked.

PS: she’s unneutered but she’s not in heat when she does this.

 

[michaeltx]

@brasyliam How often do you walk her and actively interact with her?

She could just be bored and looking to entertain herself. I don’t have a gsd but i do have a husky and it’s it’s a similar thing that high energy working dogs get bored without stimulation and exercise. I’ve noticed that if I don’t give my husky a good walk for a a few days then he becomes the worlds greatest escape artist.

 

[brasyliam]

@michaeltx She get at least one hour uninterrupted time when I do stuff with her (training, play, walk etc) and of course she gets attention throughout the day as well.

My main concern is that she’s totally fine normally, and like I said she only does this periodically even though nothing really changes in her daily routine not all the time. I can’t seem to find a pattern or cause of this behavior.

I wish I could read her mind lol

 

[bodhiboy]

@brasyliam Having a big yard doesn't mean she is mentally stimulated. She needs a job (mental stimulation) and to be exercised (exhaustion). They don't do those things on their own.

 

[jcvd]

@brasyliam German Shepherds are velcro dogs and want to be next to their people. They require a lot of mental, and physical stimulation, but in their “off time” they treasure human closeness. Our German Shepherd follows my husband and I all through the house, and is our shadow. While she can go periods without us at home just fine, she absolutely is her happiest when we’re all home together.

Leaving a German Shepherd out in a yard on their own the whole day, for months on end would eventually cause any German Shepherd to feel incredibly anxious and restless without that human contact. That’s likely why she gets stir crazy and keeps trying to escape.

 

[fisheroffish]

@brasyliam Unless you are outside with her for the majority of the day, she is going to feel distressed by being alone. Is there any reason she isn’t kept indoors and let outside occasionally for play/bathroom times?

Aside from the obvious lack of mental stimulation and enrichment in her life, it’s also incredibly unethical for you to put in the a kennel for “at least 1-2 weeks before she ‘calms down’”. She would have absolutely no clue why she is being confined to a small space. There is no way for you to communicate to her the reason for her “punishment”. If you have any interest in training her in good faith not to dig under your fences, I recommend you consult a trainer.

 

[brasyliam]

@fisheroffish She has the chance to be inside anytime but she chooses not to. As I said, she sleeps inside and she decides what time she wants to come in (usually when the sun goes time and she wakes me up whenever she’s ready to start her day and go outside). Also, when she’s outside it doesn’t mean she’s all alone all the time as most of the time there’s someone at home and we’re outdoor people so we spend a lot of time in our yard.

When I put her in the kennel that doesn’t mean I leave her there for weeks…. I put her in there for like 30 minutes whenever she runs away and it usually takes 1-2 weeks for her to stop that behavior. It was advised by a trainer. I also got advised by another trainer to put her on a chain (no joke) and another one told me that there’s nothing I can do about it…

So please before you come after me and say I’m a terrible dog owner just know that I’ve tried to solve this problem and I’ve tried many things but nothing has worked yet that’s why I’m here.

 

[fisheroffish]

@brasyliam My bad, I truly thought by what you said that she lived in a crate for 1-2 weeks at a time. The extra info helps a lot. My best bet would be to redirect her to dig in a way you are okay with such as making a designated area for her to dig in like a sand pit or something similar.