{"id":7028585,"date":"2026-08-05T13:30:43","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T13:30:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/peraltafinancing.com\/uncategorized\/busting-the-myth-dogs-do-not-wander-off-to-die\/"},"modified":"2026-08-05T13:30:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T13:30:43","slug":"busting-the-myth-dogs-do-not-wander-off-to-die","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fivemor.com\/?p=7028585","title":{"rendered":"Busting the Myth – Dogs Do Not Wander Off to Die"},"content":{"rendered":"


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As much as I enjoy having social media feeds full of dogs, cats, and other animals (Jimothy anyone?), sometimes I come across things that make me furious. This week \u2026 it\u2019s a local lost dog post for a really, really, really old Labrador Retriever. Ultimately, his body was found. His body. The original poster \/ dog\u2019s family trotted out a huge myth. So, let\u2019s be clear \u2014 Dogs do NOT wander off to die. The dog wandered off (due to poor supervision) and then died. <\/strong>It wasn\u2019t intentional by the dog. It was human error and, I think, procrastination of making the decision to euthanize. <\/p>\n

Perhaps I\u2019m extra sensitive to this topic since we adopted the very Old Man Dog in November, and I often have to look carefully to be sure he\u2019s still breathing. He\u2019s mostly deaf, so he sleeps like the dead. Let\u2019s break down what\u2019s really happening in these situations.<\/p>\n

Yes, I Checked<\/h3>\n

I was pretty sure this myth was indeed total baloney, but being me \u2026 I looked it up and found confirmation about the reality of these scenarios. A veterinarian wrote this similar rant in 2014. <\/a><\/p>\n

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Wendy Smith Wilson, DVM, wrote in part\u2026 \u201cI am going to rain on that parade. Plainly and simply: animals that are old, sick and debilitated are already suffering and in need of care to mitigate their discomfort, in whatever form that has come. While the notion that they drift away to die peacefully is quite romantic, I submit that instead they wander off and are unable to return.<\/strong> Perhaps they stumble over a hillside or into a creek and are physically unable to get out. Perhaps they become disoriented (as senior citizens are often known to do) and cannot find their way home, instead traveling aimlessly looking for a safe haven.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

She goes on to say that really old dogs require as much supervision and as puppies. That means secure fencing, leashes, and constant supervision outside and regular checks inside. <\/p>\n

Our Old Man Dog, for example, likely has a long history of being an escape artist. Good Samaritans brought him to the shelter or called animal control countless times, after finding him collapsed in public. Every once in a while, when he\u2019s feeling extra good, he will test physical barriers we put up to keep him safe. A couple times recently, I\u2019ve left him alone outside for just a bit and come back to find him in dire straits \u2014 such as having fallen and gotten stuck under a patio chair. So, we have to be really careful. After all he has been through, he deserves to be safe. <\/p>\n

Myths Built into Myths<\/h3>\n

I also found this site with a detailed article about terminal behaviors in animals.<\/a> Spoiler alert \u2014 different types of animals behave in different ways when sick or dying. <\/p>\n

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It reads in part \u2026\u201dHere\u2019s where it gets interesting: two long-standing assumptions about terminal behavior don\u2019t hold up well under scrutiny.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first is that animals reliably \u2018know\u2019 death is coming and withdraw to face it alone. The second is that all species handle the end the same way. Neither is true<\/strong>, and the exceptions are what make this field worth paying attention to.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

That article goes into some details about elephants and chimpanzees and the types of behaviors that have been observed when a member of the group is sick, dying, or had died. <\/p>\n

Then, it says this: \u201cDogs and cats almost certainly don\u2019t have an abstract concept of mortality the way humans do. <\/strong>What they likely experience is something more physical and immediate, a felt sense that something in their body is deeply wrong, which then drives the behavioral changes we interpret as \u2018knowing.’\u201d<\/p>\n

Hiding Out of Instinct or Getting Clingy<\/h3>\n

That article explains dog behavior like this \u2026 \u201cDogs hide before death primarily because feeling vulnerable triggers an old survival instinct, <\/strong>one inherited from wild canine ancestors who avoided exposing weakness to predators or rival pack members. It\u2019s less \u2018I know I\u2019m dying\u2019 and more \u2018I feel terrible and unsafe, so I need cover.’\u201d<\/p>\n

But, that\u2019s not true for all dogs, <\/strong>so personality really matters. Some dogs, the article says, will become clingier as they decline. So, it depends on the dog and the details of each situation. <\/p>\n

Sometimes, for example, the Old Man Dog seems agitated and calms down if one of us goes and sits with him. Other times, he gets up and leaves if I try to hang out with him. <\/p>\n

What Else Caught My Eye<\/h3>\n

That neuro-based article on terminal behaviors also features a chart that lists signs of animals dying (divided by species, <\/a>if you want to take a look) that caught my attention because it includes things we\u2019re seeing at times in our Old Man Dog. <\/p>\n