First of all the scent helps to be guided on the familiar and unfamiliar area to a dog. Thanks to it, being near the house, it by all means will find it. But in a long distance other abilities and skills are necessary for an animal.
The owners of dogs who lost the pets always hope that they will be able to find a way home. Cases when the animal safely came back to the owner even through a long distance, there is a lot of. And still, they are quite rare in comparison with when the pet was irrevocably lost.
What helps a dog to find a way home?
Possessing a sensitive scent, the dog is capable to guess familiar smells from far away. Perhaps, it is the only reference point which helps it to come back home. There is an opinion that at these animals the ability to determine location of the house by the moon and the sun which is inherent in wolves remained. But there are no data which are authentically confirming this assumption.
The dog is capable to remember quickly the territory across which she is walked. With it it is helped first of all by an excellent scent, and in the second – visual memory. If the pet was lost near this territory, he by all means will be if only it is not prevented by hostile circumstances. For example, if he is not held in the house by any person. Even being at quite decent distance from the mastered space, thanks to the sensitive nose the dog is capable to orient in what direction it is.
Whether the dog will be able to find the house from far away?
Statements that the dog is capable to find intuitively the house, being from it for tens and hundreds of kilometers, are in many respects exaggerated. Unfortunately, cases when having lost in the unfamiliar place, the pet independently comes back, are very rare. Usually he throughout long time expects the owner where left it. But hunger and thirst force an animal to develop the new territory. Hunters will confirm that the dog who was lost in the unfamiliar area seldom finds a way home. But if it was here earlier, chances of successful return increase. Having been far from the house, only the case will help to find it to the dog. Having guessed the smells reminding of the owner, the animal can begin to move in this direction, but it is not enough in order that it had a right idea of where there is a house. Encourages only that having received a signal in the form of a familiar smell, the dog will begin intuitive search which will be productive. If she left the house on own initiative, there is a confidence that the animal will return. The wolf, the closest relative of a dog, has a peculiar internal compass which helps it to move with a right direction. These predatory animals are capable to overcome huge distances and again to return to former places. Perhaps, at those dogs who managed to find the house which is on the distance, far from them, the ability inherent in wolves is more developed. Therefore whether the pet will be able to return in many respects depends on what his natural data.