Wandering Mastiff question.

[MaxsMom]

Hello all, We just rescued a 1 1/2 year old Mastiff, Max, that my husband and I are both crazy about. We live on several acres. We have two other smaller mixed breed dogs. They stay in a fenced back yard during the day but often my husband or I take them out into the unfenced portion of the yard. We've noticed that if Max can't see us he will often wander off to a neighbors yard. In fact, we found him after he had wandered away from his original owners yard. (They decided to give him to us.) Our other dogs don't seem to do this. Just wondering if this is a trait of Mastiffs or just our Max.

 

[CeeCee]

Man, I don't know about the breed in general, but I have to say Zeke stays pretty close to me. I was concerned that when he hit adolescence that he might decide to test his independence and wander away on our hikes, but the boy stays pretty darn close to me.

How long has Max been with you?

 

[Rugers-Kris]

It may just that he is new to you and doesn't realize that he is "home" or maybe just him but as a rule (From what I have heard) EM's stay close. I have a 14 month old EM and he is stuck to me like glue. He will only walk a few feet from me and then turn aorund and look at me and wait. Maybe others will chime in with different opinions.

 

[musicdeb]

How long have you had Max? I assume his past owner lives close to you. If he's wandering back to his old home, it's because he doesn't know that you are his new parents.

Give him time... Might be a good idea to keep him on leash while walking.

A rehomed dog generally takes 8-12 months to totally trust their new owners.

 

[MaxsMom]

Thanks for the replies. We've only had Max for a couple of months. When we are in the yard, he walks off like he's restless and then comes back to be petted over and over. He does like to stay close most of the time. But on two occasions when we accidentally left the gate open and went inside, he ended up down the road in a neighbors yard. We now realize it is imperative that we check the gates each night. You might be right, he is still somewhat new to us. The last owners (he's been in 4 homes counting ours if you can believe that) lived a few miles from us but they only had him for a few days. They took him to keep him from going to the pound (Hard to believe that someone would send this big baby to the pound. Go figure.) They decided that our home was a much better place for him. We were and are thrilled.

 

[DennasMom]

Everything I've read suggests EM's are very home-oriented. That your Max is a wanderer makes him fairly unique, I'd say.... he's Special!

I'd suggest you just keep working with him - lots of love, treats, praise, maybe some training sprinkled in there (work on things that reinforce his 'pack' drive), and get your bond going strong. Maybe his "home" gene will activate given some time.

One thing that we do here, is EVERY time we walk in the front door, Denna gets a treat. We have a treat jar by the front door that is just for "come home" treats. We also have a treat jar by the back door, but that's just for occasional use and rewards for doing stuff (i.e. more like training treats).

Maybe if can get Max in the habit of coming in for a treat at the same time of day every day, it will help solidify his idea of "home is where I should be now"... ?

Thanks for taking him in. 4 homes in 18 months... I can see why he might be confused as to where he should be sometimes. Sounds like he found a winner this time, if he just remembers to stay there!

 

[CeeCee]

If you're not already doing so, you may want to add structured walks to your daily routine (not a sniffing around, doing your own thing walk). I find pack walks help to accelerate the bonding process.

 

[musicdeb]

How's Max doing?

 

[MaxsMom]

Sorry, Haven't checked in lately. Max is doing very well. We are discovering how sensitive he is though. Yesterday, my husband opened the gate and Max let out a little yelp. My husband wasn't sure if he accidentally stepped on his foot or what but Max wouldn't have much to do with us last night. He would go to the far side of the yard. He did let me pet him. Apparently, he forgot all about it today. He is the most interesting dog. We've never had any like him. I guess he seems more human than the other dogs.

 

[musicdeb]

He needs to time to adjust. Poor little guy...

 

[MaxsMom]

Glad to report that Max has stopped wandering off. I guess as suggested above he just needed time to really process that he was HOME. We still keep an eye on him, but lately he seems much less inclined to take off.

 

[CeeCee]

Oh that is wonderful! They are truly majestic souls. I'm so glad you guys found one another.

 

[Iymala]

That is a great update. I am sure he really appreciates the new home he has found with your family.

 

[musicdeb]

Great progress report!

 

[Robtouw]

We teach our boy's our boundries by walking the perimeter of our acreage on leash and never crossing the lines. If they do we pull them back in and circle back. It is something we do as pups, but have also done with our new addition that adopted us. It took a good deal of trips but slowly they did begin to understand that there was an imaginary line not to be crossed.

 

[MaxsMom]

I guess we are doing something similar except without the leash. We sit out in our garden every evening and Max and our other dogs roam around. We live in the country. This is outside the back fenced yard. Whenever they near the edge of the property, we call them back. It seems to be helping.